In FY 1999, the FCC continued with great strides in ensuring that satellite regulation and policy were in the public's best interest. The FCC made a number of significant authorization decisions during this time: (1) the authorization of NewSkies, a spinoff of INTELSAT, to provide domestic and international Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) in the United States for the first time; (2) the merger of U.S. Satellite Broadcasting and DIRECTV, which would enable DIRECTV to become a stronger competitor in the multichannel Direct Broadcast Service video programming distribution market; and (3) the authorization of direct access to the INTELSAT satellite system for international service to benefit U.S. users of INTELSAT by allowing them to deal directly with INTELSAT for satellite services, thus eliminating go-between expenses. In February 1999, the FCC made available to the public electronic filing for satellite and Earth station licenses. Currently, approximately 10 percent of all filings are done electronically and save 30 to 50 days in processing time.

The FCC authorized two commercial satellites for launch in October 1998: WorldSpace's AFRISTAR, providing multimedia broadcasting, and GE Americom's GE-5, an operational Ku-band satellite. The FCC also approved SEDSAT, an experimental nongeostationary satellite (NGSO), for launch in October. The FCC authorized the launching of two PanAmSat geostationary commercial satellites: PAS 8 in November 1998, providing C/Ku-band operations in the Asia-Pacific region, and PAS-6B in December 1998, providing Ku-band "direct-to-home" broadcasting to Latin America. In May 1999, Loral launched Orion 3. The failure of the launch vehicle resulted in the satellite being in lower-than-expected orbit without the possibility of recovery. In September 1999, Echostar launched Echostar 5, providing coverage to Alaska and Hawaii and extending the available lineup to 500 channels. Furthermore, the Echostar 5 satellite transmits high-definition programming, Internet, and interactive services.

In addition, the FCC authorized 43 NGSO's for launch in FY 1999. The provisioning of Globalstar's NGSO communications network constituted the bulk of the satellites (32) distributed among 8 launches, with 4 satellites in each launch. Iridium launched nine NGSO satellites, and Space Imaging Corporation launched two NGSO satellites, Ikonos 1 (which experienced launch failure) and Ikonos 1B (which provides commercial remote imaging).