Interference and Coexistence: The Fight over Power Limits
Why do satellite power limits matter so much for direct-to-device, and who argues over them?
Chapter summary
When a satellite uses a mobile operator's terrestrial band, its signal also reaches areas served by other operators' towers in the same or neighbouring bands, and across borders.
Key takeaways
- 1
To prevent interference, the US Supplemental Coverage from Space rules set a limit on out-of-band emissions, the power that spills outside the satellite's assigned channel, of −120 dBW/m²/MHz at the ground.
- 2
SpaceX argued this was too strict for useful service and in 2025 obtained a waiver allowing up to −110.6 dBW/m²/MHz, ten times more power, under conditions.
- 3
Other operators, including AT&T and Verizon, and AST SpaceMobile objected during the proceedings that higher limits risk interference with terrestrial networks.
Keep reading with Space access
This chapter (1 exhibits, 793 words) is part of Space & aerospace. Space access opens every chapter of all 11 Space reports, with the interactive models, Excel downloads, Ask and named Atlas records.
- Global Market Analysis: Deep Space Economy
- Space-Based Datacenters: Feasibility Study
- Commercial Space Stations: Feasibility Study
- Defence Space and Missile Defence: Golden Dome and the SDA Architecture
- Launch After Starship: Prices, Capacity and European Sovereign Launch, 2026–2035
- Satellites to Phones: Direct-to-Device Connectivity, Spectrum and Economics, 2026–2035
- Space Supply Chain Bottlenecks: Components, Minerals and Capacity, 2026–2030
- Lunar, Cislunar and Settlement Economics: What the Moon Costs and Who Pays, 2026–2060
- Earth Observation and AI Analytics: What a Square Kilometre Is Worth and Who Captures It, 2026–2035
- In-Space Manufacturing and Microgravity Biotech: Products, Platforms and Economics, 2026–2035
- Space-Based Solar Power: Physics, Costs and the Path to Firm Power from Orbit, 2026–2050
€199 a month or €1,490 a year per sector, after a 7-day free trial. Cancel any time. Need several sectors? All sectors: €999 a month.
Spectrum I: Mobile Bands, Satellite Bands and the US Rules
Next →Spectrum II: WRC-27, Europe and the Global Rules
Check the live record Constellation Deployment Monitor · Space Claim Check · Space Contracts & Tender Radar (free)
Ask about this chapter
Answers drawn from every Setcoin report and the live Atlas. Each statement links to the passage behind it.
Ask is included with every subscription
Cited answers across every report and the Atlas, with follow-up questions and a hand-off to the opportunity finder.
Research for professional investors. Not investment advice, and not an offer of any security or fund interest.