A satellite permitting bill unveiled this week in the House does not include provisions included in a Senate version regarding federal spectrum or a limit on the size of satellite constellations that would automatically win federal approval after expiration of a review deadline.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology is set to hold a hearing on the House version on April 21, though no markup has yet been announced. The bill would set deadlines for the Federal Communications Commission to approve a variety of satellite and related ground station applications.
The efforts to speed up satellite licensing come as technology companies have aired interest in building satellite-based data centers. Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has applied to the FCC to launch up to 1 million satellites for its data center project.
