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My February birthday fund-raising campaign for this website, Behind the Black, is now over. Despite a relatively weak initial three weeks, the last week was spectacular, making this campaign the second best ever.

 

Thanks to every person who donated or subscribed. It continues to astonish me that people who can read my work for free like it enough to donate money voluntarily. Words cannot express my appreciation for that support, especially in these uncertain times.

 

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FCC votes to create its own space bureaucracy, despite lacking statutory authority

On January 9, 2023 the commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission FCC voted [pdf] to create its own space bureaucracy designed to regulate the lifespan of new satellites, despite lacking legal authority to do so.

As noted almost as an aside by this news article,

In order for the planned changes to go into effect, the FCC will first have to obtain congressional approval for the reorganization and place a notice in the Federal Register.

This vote pushed forward the plan announced in November that attempts to expand the regulatory power of the FCC beyond its legal authority. Expect Congress to push back somewhat, but right now most power in Washington is held by unelected bureaucracies like the FCC, not the elected legislators as defined by the Constitution. The FCC will continue to push hard, and mostly win in this power game. Congress right now is too divided and weak to fight back.

The result will be new regulations on satellite construction made by non-engineers and paper-pushers in the FCC, not engineers and managers in the companies actually building the satellites.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • Chris

    I think i have an assignment for the newly elected Republican House.

  • Sippin_bourbon

    Power grab. All this will do is add to the administrative bureaucratic process that is already required to launch.

    The swamp is starting to sense that this sector is going to grow, and wants to make sure it has as many reigns of control are in place that it can muster. Taxes will soon follow, so they can start picking winners and losers.

  • Eric

    Great reporting as always Bob. I saw a video today from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that included the Commissioner of the FCC and I found it quite encouraging. He seemed to acknowledge that the FCC is approving licenses too slowly and they need to find a way to speed the process up.

    Here is a link in case you are interested: https://youtu.be/USxDUIk8lHo?t=7260

    The link starts during the commissioner’s final words but the whole video is pretty fascinating.

    At one point he mentions the term “Shot Clock”. I’m not too sure what he means but I would imagine that he means for established companies like SpaceX the FCC should have a limited amount of time to deny a license otherwise it is automatically approved.

    I always look forward to hearing your sessions on the John Bachelor Show and I appreciate the work that you do!

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

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