House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) said China is the greatest threat in the changing satellite communications marketplace.
“It has been over a decade since this subcommittee held a hearing dedicated to understanding the satellite communications marketplace and the FCC’s role in licensing commercial satellite communications systems. Since then, how satellite technology is used has changed drastically,” Latta said during a subcommittee hearing.
Latta said at the hearing that dramatic advances have occurred in satellite communications capabilities as operators found ways to serve customers quickly and with reliability. Satellite operators use or want to use different types of satellite constellations, with some operating in geostationary orbit and others closer to Earth in non-geostationary orbit, according to Latta. Their global nature makes developing and operating systems more complex and the use of radio spectrum adds complexities that must be addressed by the U.S. and international regulators, he said. Progress is being made by international standards bodies on technical specifications for greater integration of 5G with satellite communications technologies, Latta said.
An Orbital Today (OT) article reported that the Chinese space industry is developing rapidly and that the only country with more active satellites than China is the United States. China can launch many satellites as it has a full-cycle capability: Chinese satellites are manufactured locally and launched into space on Chinese rockets from Chinese launch sites, OT reports. As of September 2022, 562 Chinese satellites were in orbit around the Earth. From January 2022 to September 2022, China launched 63 more satellites into orbit, OT reports.
“As countries like China seek to dominate the technologies of the future, we must make the United States an attractive place to invest in cutting-edge developments that align with American values and guarantee the availability of trusted satellite communications,” Latta said in the subcommittee hearing.
Latta said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "plays an important role in licensing new or enhanced satellite communications systems, and it is important we understand the current licensing and regulatory process and the impact these rules have on our international competitiveness.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invested heavily in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 1. China is creating favorable environments for its entrepreneurs and private sector companies when paired with this latest investment to deploy and test these technologies.
“This has forced many American companies with a global footprint and American entrepreneurs with cutting-edge ideas to consider a hard decision: whether to move their operations from American to Chinese shores. It’s also allowing Chinese companies to invest and expand further, potentially endangering our own infrastructure and data security,” Bilirakis said in the posted remarks.
Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in a House Energy and Commerce Committee meeting that the global nature of the satellite industry requires international considerations on spectrum use and orbital resources unique to the industry. The U.S. must lead and ensure that its regulations encourage innovation.
Latta was first elected in 2007 to serve the 5th Congressional District of Ohio, according to his website. He is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
