France approves Starlink
February 22, 2021
By Chris Forrester
The French communications regulator, ARCEP (l’Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques), has approved SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system for use and access to the nation. But the residents of a small village near Mont Saint-Michel abbey on the English Channel are saying a very firm “no”.
The village, Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, population 350, is fearful of the impact the 3 metre satellite ground station antennas and radomes might have. “This project is totally new. We don’t have any idea of the impact of these signals,” said Noemie Brault, the deputy mayor of the village. “As a precaution the municipal council said no.”
SpaceX has permission to erect nine domes at Saint-Senier and at three other sites throughout France. Starlink Internet Services can use frequencies 10.95-12.70 Ghz for space-to-Earth and 14-14.5 GHz for Earth-to-space transmissions and was confirmed by ARCEP on February 18th.
France’s various regulators have stressed that the domes and transmissions present no risk to residents, and that there are similar Earth stations across France doing similar work.
The company handling the Starlink installation say they will be making a fresh submission for local permission.