ESPI Calls for Stronger European Controls for MSS Spectrum

As Europe plans to reserve a portion of its mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum authorization for European operators, a European think tank argues it should go further and maximize European control across the space segment as well.

In a new policy brief released this week, the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) argues Europe needs to take a full-stack approach to building a truly European service, meaning “at minimum” European mobile network operators (MNOs), satellite operators, and spacecraft manufacturers.

The brief addresses the European Commission’s 2 GHz MSS proposal , which will determine which entities will hold the licenses to use critical MSS spectrum in Europe. Currently, Inmarsat, now part of Viasat, and Solaris, now part of EchoStar, hold the licenses. EchoStar’s spectrum was part of the SpaceX spectrum purchase.

ESPI noted the reports of European MNOs making a joint bid for the spectrum, arguing this could lead to an outcome where the spectrum goes to a group partnering with a non-European satellite operator for the direct-to-device (D2D) capability.

The report calls this a “quasi-sovereign outcome” and calls for the EC to keep room in the market for small and medium enterprises to participate and remove barriers to entry for new European D2D solutions.

“Reserving spectrum for European operators is a welcome step, but it is not enough,” wrote Elisabeth Clemmons, ESPI research fellow. “If European spectrum and European brands end up unlocking scale for foreign space assets, Europe will have kept the label and lost the substance. That is why we need a full-stack approach.”