(Bloomberg) -- US Senators Ted Cruz and Jacky Rosen plan to introduce legislation as early as Thursday that aims to speed the regulatory process for approving new satellites that companies want to launch to space, Cruz’s office said.

The proposal, which hasn’t been previously reported, targets the Federal Communications Commission, which is responsible for granting licenses for new satellites. The agency manages which radio channels satellite operators can use to communicate with their spacecraft.

Primarily, the proposed Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act would add a shot-clock to the FCC’s satellite approval process. It would mandate that the government agency either approve or deny licenses for new satellite systems, known as constellations, within one year of receiving an application,  according to details provided by Cruz’s office. It would also add a one-year shot clock for approving earth-based stations used to communicate with satellites.

The FCC declined to comment on the new legislation.

Cruz has been particularly vocal against “burdensome” regulations in the past surrounding space, including those required by the Federal Aviation Administration for licensing launches of rockets. “We need to cut red tape around all the various types of permitting that permeate commercial space,” he said during a hearing in October.

The main motivation for the legislation, which expands on a failed bill introduced last year by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, and Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, is to address the growing number of applications for satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit. It’s a region of space near Earth that has become attractive for satellite operators to launch large numbers of broadband and telecommunications satellites, including SpaceX’s massive Starlink project and the forthcoming Amazon.com Inc. Project Kuiper.

“Sadly, innovative companies that seek to expand broadband access to Americans face a regulatory process that is outdated, leading to massive delays as they seek to deploy new satellite technologies,” Cruz said in a statement. Cruz represents Texas, where SpaceX has established its sprawling Starbase launch site in Boca Chica. Elon Musk is also seeking to move the company’s business incorporation to Texas, having previously shifted Tesla Inc.’s headquarters to Austin. 

SpaceX also voiced frustration over long processing times to the FCC in a letter from 2022, while awaiting approval for an upgraded system of Starlink satellites. “The Gen2 application has now been pending for two years, and the record is complete,” a SpaceX executive wrote in the letter, arguing that the FCC should “act expeditiously” to grant approval for the system.

Read More: How Musk’s Starlink Sparked a New Kind of Space Race: QuickTake

A report in 2022 found that the average time of satellite approval ranged from two to three years. In writing the bill, Cruz and Rosen — a Democrat from Nevada — coordinated with the FCC on the text of the draft. The FCC already has a rule in place that mandates the agency has 30 days to put out a public notice for comment when receiving a satellite application.

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