FCC Updates GSO Satellite Reference Links for Spectrum Sharing in Satellite Broadband Rules

The FCC Space Bureau has updated the initial set of FCC GSO satellite reference links adopted in the Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband Report and Order, with the update published in the Federal Register on 5 November 2026 (document 2026-22600). The stated purpose is to ensure the GSO reference links appropriately reflect typical and widespread GSO satellite operations in the United States and thereby promote efficient spectrum sharing among today's broadband satellite systems. The underlying item, DA 26-467, was released on 12 May 2026.

GSO reference links are the baseline link parameters the Commission uses as the yardstick for protecting geostationary satellite networks when non-geostationary systems share the same spectrum. If the reference links do not match how GSO networks are actually operated in the United States, the protection calculation is measured against a network that does not exist in practice — either over-protecting idle configurations or under-protecting real ones.

That is the precise problem the Space Bureau identifies. In the Federal Register text, the Bureau states that it "updates the initial set of geostationary (GSO) satellite network reference links adopted in the Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband Report and Order," and that "ensuring the GSO reference links appropriately reflect typical and widespread GSO satellite operations in the United States will promote efficient spectrum sharing among today's broadband satellite systems."

The reference links were not adopted in isolation. They were introduced as part of the Commission's broader rework of how NGSO and GSO systems coexist in the shared Ku- and Ka-band satellite broadband allocations, and they are the input dataset against which NGSO-GSO interference protection is assessed.

The Space Bureau revised the initial set of GSO satellite network reference links first adopted in the Report and Order. The vehicle is DA 26-467, a Bureau-level item released 12 May 2026, and the corresponding Federal Register publication dated 5 November 2026.

The sequence is documented across three official records. First, the Report and Order adopted an initial set of GSO reference links. Second, the Space Bureau issued a public notice seeking comment on potential revisions to those reference links — published in the Federal Register on 28 May 2026 (document 2026-10617), titled Space Bureau Seeks Comment on GSO Reference Links. Third, following that comment round, the Bureau adopted the updated set, published 5 November 2026.

The measure is adopted, not proposed. The signal record for this item classifies the stage as adopted and the confidence as verified, with the Federal Register publication serving as the primary instrument.

The Report and Order is the framework instrument; the GSO reference links are an input to it. Per the official record, the Bureau's November 2026 action amends only the reference link set — it does not reopen the framework itself.

I will not characterise the substantive content of the Report and Order beyond what the official sources in front of me state. The Federal Register entries describe the Order as the instrument in which the initial GSO reference links were adopted, and describe the purpose of the reference links as supporting efficient spectrum sharing among broadband satellite systems. Secondary commentary describes the Order as replacing equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits with a performance-based coordination framework adopted on 30 April 2026, but that characterisation appears in law-firm and trade commentary rather than in the official text available here. Treat the EPFD-replacement framing and any degraded throughput methodology detail as unverified practitioner intelligence until confirmed against the full text of the Report and Order and the codified Part 25 rule language.

Operators and counsel should read the adopted rule text in the Federal Register document itself rather than relying on summaries, because the reference link parameters are numeric inputs and a summary cannot substitute for the table.

Directly. The reference links define the GSO network configuration against which an NGSO system's interference contribution is evaluated. A change to the reference link set changes the input assumptions in every NGSO interference analysis that relies on them.

For NGSO operators with pending or granted Part 25 authorisations in the shared satellite broadband bands, the practical consequence is that any interference analysis, coordination submission, or compliance demonstration built on the initial reference link set is now built on superseded inputs. Analyses must be re-run against the updated set.

For GSO operators, the question is whether the updated reference links accurately represent your own deployed networks. The Bureau's stated objective is that the links reflect "typical and widespread GSO satellite operations in the United States." If your network's operating parameters diverge materially from the adopted reference values, your protection baseline may not match your actual exposure.

The affected market is the United States. The affected category is Part 25-licensed satellite broadband systems — both geostationary networks and non-geostationary constellations operating in the shared bands, plus US market access grants held by foreign-licensed systems.

First, pull the Federal Register document published 5 November 2026 (2026-22600) and DA 26-467 released 12 May 2026, and extract the adopted reference link parameter table in full. Do not work from a summary. These are numeric inputs; a paraphrase is useless for an interference analysis.

Second, identify every active filing, coordination submission, and internal interference study that used the initial reference link set from the Report and Order. Re-run each against the updated values and document the delta. If a result moves across a compliance threshold, that is an engineering change decision, not a paperwork exercise.

Third, for GSO operators: compare the adopted reference link parameters against your actual deployed network configurations. Where they diverge, document the divergence now and preserve the technical record. The Bureau ran a comment round in May 2026 specifically to calibrate these values; if your operations were not represented, that record matters for any future revision request.

Fourth, for NGSO operators: review coordination agreements and any commitments made to GSO operators that reference the prior link parameters. Where an agreement incorporates reference link values by reference to the Order rather than to a fixed table, confirm with counsel whether the update flows through automatically.

Fifth, brief your spectrum engineering team and your outside regulatory counsel in the same meeting. The failure mode here is an engineering team that re-runs the analysis without knowing the regulatory consequence, or a legal team that files without knowing the analysis changed.

The Federal Register publication date is 5 November 2026. The underlying Bureau item, DA 26-467, was released 12 May 2026. The effective date of the updated reference links is set out in the Federal Register document itself and should be read directly from that notice — I am not going to state an effective date that the sources available to me do not confirm.

The item is a Bureau-level action under delegated authority, which means the usual route for a party that disagrees is an application for review by the full Commission. The sources available here do not state whether any such application has been filed.

Three things. Whether the Space Bureau issues a further public notice refining the reference link set — it has now done so once following a comment round, and the Bureau characterised the original set as "initial," which signals the dataset is maintained rather than fixed. Whether the codified Part 25 rule text is updated to reflect the revised values or whether they remain in a Bureau-maintained dataset outside the CFR. And whether any party seeks Commission review of DA 26-467.

Put the Federal Register document of 5 November 2026 in front of your spectrum engineering lead this week. Everything downstream of it — coordination positions, interference studies, filing exhibits — depends on which version of the reference link table your models are using.