The US government said Monday it had exempted SpaceX’s Starlink routers from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ban on foreign-made routers. The exemption, approved by the Department of War (Department of Defense), remains in effect until February 1, 2028.
The FCC updated its Covered List to include all consumer-grade routers made at least partly outside the US, except those granted exemptions — devices deemed to pose unacceptable national security risk.
Netgear (the first, on April 14) and Amazon (for Eero routers and its Leo satellite service) have previously received exemptions; TP-Link, founded in China but now US-headquartered, has not. SpaceX has a Texas factory, though some Starlink routers are made in Vietnam.
Drone makers face the same process, as the FCC added drones to the Covered List last year; Chinese drone company DJI has sued the FCC over the ban.
