FCC Chair to Europe: If You Restrict US Satellite Providers, We'll Ban You Here

Reciprocity or retaliation? The Federal Communications Commission is warning it could start a trade war with the European Union over satellite technology as anti-Elon Musk sentiment simmers on the continent. 

FCC Chair Brendan Carr argues that the EU is proposing regulations that threaten to block US satellite companies from the European market. If the EU follows through, Carr tells Politico that he won’t hesitate to push European satellite providers out of the US.  

Politico described the response as “retaliation.” But in a tweet on Wednesday, Carr called it “reciprocity,” while indicating he views it as a matter of fairness. Carr was at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, where he met with European telecom regulators.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Carr already kicked off a process to potentially restrict foreign satellite players in the US. The FCC is now soliciting public comment on "satellite market access reciprocity."

“For decades, the US has welcomed foreign satellite operators into our market. But restrictions on US operators in other countries have persisted. And now, new barriers are emerging that constrain US businesses operating abroad, including in the draft EU Space Law and their Digital Networks Act,” Carr tweeted on Monday. 

Carr is facing criticism on social media, with critics noting that President Trump has long taken an “America First” approach, including imposing tariffs on European allies, so why is it wrong if Europe does the same for itself?

SpaceX, meanwhile, is also at MWC to promote its satellite-to-phone service, Starlink Mobile, to wireless carriers, including those in Europe. Some carriers, most recently Deutsche Telekom, have signed up to offer the service to their customers, giving them a way to provide satellite connectivity in cellular dead zones.  

But it’s also no secret that Europe is searching for alternatives to SpaceX. Although the broadband-focused Starlink has become crucial to the war effort in Ukraine, the Trump administration reportedly threatened to cut off access a year ago if the Ukrainian government refused to agree to a mineral deal. Last year, an online spat even erupted between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and a European official over the Starlink access in Ukraine. 

To maintain “digital sovereignty,” the EU has been pouring billions into a homegrown Starlink-like system called IRIS². But the constellation remains years away. Meanwhile, SpaceX continues to grow as the leading provider of satellite internet services. At the same time, US-based Amazon Leo and the startup AST SpaceMobile are also emerging as potential rivals. 

Still, Carr sees a threat in the EU’s proposed Space Act, which would regulate “both EU and non-EU operators providing space services in Europe.” The draft regulation calls for stricter rules on space safety, debris mitigation, and the environment, including measures to reduce a satellite’s brightness in the night sky. Carr says it's protectionist.

The US Commerce Department argued the same in November, telling the EU that the regulation risked imposing "unacceptable regulatory burdens on US providers of space services to European customers.” Also that month, SpaceX told the EU, “the proposed draft goes too far in imposing requirements that are incorrect, inflexible, or infeasible,” pointing to the brightness mitigation requirements for satellites as an example.