The Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) granted satellite exploration rights to the companies SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, and Swarm.
Space Exploration Holdings, through its legal representative (Starlink Brazil Holding Ltda), now has the right to explore the Starlink non-geostationary satellite system until March 2027.
Meanwhile, Anatel granted the right to Swarm Technologies to explore and use radio frequencies for the Swarm non-geostationary satellite system. Thus, exploration can be carried out through the company's legal representative, Swarm Brazil Satellites, until September 7, 2035.
SpaceX intends, in the medium term, to put the Starlink constellation, composed of 4,408 satellites in non-geostationary orbit, into operation. According to board member Emmanoel Capelo, “it is in the company’s interest to provide broadband internet access to customers distributed throughout the Brazilian territory, which will certainly be very opportune for schools, hospitals, and other establishments located in rural or rural areas remote”.
Swarm Technologies, in turn, should also, in the medium term, put into operation the Swarm constellation, composed of 150 satellites in non-geostationary orbit. With this, it will be possible to provide bidirectional data transmission services for telemetry and telecommand oriented to the Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
According to a decision by Anatel, any change in the number of satellites in non-geostationary systems will require a new authorization by the Agency. In his vote, Campelo highlighted that “the new satellite constellations are not only composed of hundreds or thousands of artifacts but also already have promises of expansion of these numbers”.
