The ViaSat-3 Flight 2 satellite, which will more than double Viasat's bandwidth capacity, is scheduled to launch in the second half of October, the company said Thursday. United Launch Alliance is set to do the launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, it said. CEO Mark Dankberg said the F2 satellite "will significantly scale performance and number and density of users, and enable exciting new connectivity services alongside our in-flight entertainment and monetization business models." Viasat's F1 satellite, launched in 2023, developed antenna deployment problems that significantly reduced its capacity (see 2408050002).

Amazon's Kuiper said Thursday it landed its first in-flight connectivity customer, JetBlue. Select JetBlue aircraft will offer Kuiper-delivered Wi-Fi starting in 2027.

AST SpaceMobile has received the go-ahead to put more satellites in orbit but not to begin offering supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service with them. In an order dated Aug. 29 and posted Wednesday, the FCC Space Bureau said it was allowing AST to launch an additional 20 satellites and to perform telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) operations with them once they're in orbit. The bureau deferred consideration on the other 223 satellites AST has requested while it continues to review the company's request to provide SCS service. The FCC previously authorized the launch of five satellites and TT&C operations with them 13 months ago (see 2408050026). The latest order said that while commenters have claimed there already has been harmful interference from AST's already-operational satellites, the bureau hasn't received any complaints of that.

Expanded uplink allocations for non-geostationary orbit broadband in parts of the W band represent a serious interference risk to scientific and weather forecasting interests, including the Tomorrow Companies' own earth observation work, according to the satellite operator. In a docket 25-180 filing posted Friday, Tomorrow said data from the 90-92 GHz and 115-122 GHz passive bands is hugely important to weather prediction and storm structure analysis, and those measurements can't be done in another swath of spectrum. Low-level out-of-band emissions from NGSO uplinks could mimic natural atmospheric signals, it said. Tomorrow urged "strict, enforceable" limits on such emissions and "sufficient separation" between uplink allocations and passive science bands. The FCC adopted a Further NPRM in May asking about opening parts of the W band to satellite communications (see 2505280055).

Some federal agencies could struggle to meet the large reform agenda laid out in the White House's space launch executive order issued earlier this month (see 2508140004), Pillsbury space lawyer Jodi Goldberg wrote last week. Some agencies mentioned in the order have experienced budget and staffing cuts in recent months, with more potentially coming, she said. The Department of Transportation and NASA -- key to the order's execution and the White House's space priorities -- are currently under the same leadership, she noted. "With fewer resources and a recalibration of institutional knowledge within the agencies, the Administration’s ability to deliver widescale meaningful reform in each area identified, and on the timeline set by the EO, may be an accomplishment on the same level as successfully launching a rocket to Mars."

Launch provider Rocket Lab cut the ribbon Thursday on the U.S. launch site for its Neutron rocket, which is targeting the satellite megaconstellation market. The launch site is at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.

The White House's commercial space launch executive order, issued earlier this month (see 2508140004), will likely lead to the elimination of duplicative analyses that the FAA and other government agencies do, Covington staffers wrote Sunday. Space Force already does extensive analyses, such as calculating the expected casualty risks for every launch mission, and the FAA has said it would defer to federal range-safety processes for launches from the Eastern and Western ranges, wrote Stephanie Barna, Alan Estevez and Ethan Syster. However, they added, in practice the FAA still certifies those Space Force results independently, meaning launch providers and their customers can face two layers of scrutiny for the same safety models and data, which can increase confusion and delay. The FAA's ongoing review of its Part 450 space launch rules, backed by the order, "could address these pain points."

Any changes to the geostationary/non-geostationary orbit spectrum-sharing framework needs more study about the protection of other incumbent services, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory said Monday (docket 25-157). The U.S. should refrain from unilateral changes to the framework, the group said, adding that there's an indication that such rule changes might mean NGSO constellations could be smaller, which would benefit radio astronomy.

Astranis hopes to launch a pair of small geostationary orbit (GSO) broadband satellites as soon as December. In an application Sunday, it asked for permission to launch and operate its Astranis 121W system of two MicroGEOs, small GSOs that would provide broadband to North America and parts of South America. The 121W satellites would operate in the Ka band from 121 degrees west, said the company, which currently operates five other MicroGEO satellites. The 121W MicroGEOs would be the functional equivalent of a GSO system, Astranis said, and thus it applied for both in a single application.

AST SpaceMobile is seeking FCC approval for two years of testing off-the-shelf cellular handsets receiving supplemental coverage from space service using FirstNet's Band 14. In an experimental license application last week, AST said the testing would be done in a 24-kilometer-radius area in Texas using 758-768 MHz downlinks and 788-798 MHz uplinks. Such testing would allow AST to continue evaluating its Bluebird satellites' capabilities to transmit and receive broadband communications to and from mobile handsets in the Band 14 network footprint, it said.