The last of Iridium's original satellite constellation satellites were deactivated Tuesday, simultaneous with its 65th and 66th Next constellation satellites being activated and completing the company's $3 billion replacement of that first-generation constellation, CEO Matt Desch told reporters in Washington Wednesday. "I can't believe we are done," said Chief Financial Officer Tom Fitzpatrick. The final Next launch was in January (see 1901110024). Iridium built 81 Next satellites, with 66 now in operation, nine spares in orbit and another six spares on the ground, Desch said. Since there haven't been any Next failures, that constellation should have a lifespan of at least 15 years, with the company not having to start contemplating replacing Next satellites for at least a decade, Desch said. Fitzpatrick said instead of $435 million annually in capital spending, Iridium anticipates spending $35 million yearly for the next decade on maintenance. Desch said 47 satellites from its original constellation have de-orbited, five others are in the process and the remaining 13 will de-orbit over the next couple of months.

Satellite-TV providers are primed to have the biggest losses from cord cutting, S&P Global Ratings reported. Cable TV companies are projected to lose nearly 2 percent of subscribers in 2019, but overall losses will be cushioned by revenue from broadband service accounts, it said last week. Satellite providers “are particularly vulnerable without the option of internet,” and satellite subscriptions are forecast to slide 6 percent this year, while Dish Network subscriptions could fall as much as 9 percent. Dish didn’t comment. The largest cable companies “are likely to be able to hold their own,” said S&P, but telecom and midsized cable companies will have varying degrees of loss or gain “as consumers disengage from cable.”

Telesat signed agreements with launch company Blue Origin and Alphabet's Loon for work on its planned low earth orbit broadband satellite constellation, it said Thursday (here and here). Telesat said it will modify Loon's software-defined network platform for its satellites' use, and Blue Origin's New Glenn rockets will be used for deployment under the two companies' multi-launch agreement. Telesat said last week it was talking to two separate companies -- Airbus and a consortium of Maxar and Thales Alenia -- about constellation system design.

C-Band Alliance critics are anticompetitive, while T-Mobile says CBA’s C-band clearing plans run contrary to FCC precedent, according to rival docket 18-122 postings Thursday (see here and here). Opposition is motivated by some seeking to delay 5G deployment for competitive reasons, such as the cable industry wanting to keep its broadband monopoly, CBA, Intelsat and SES representatives told Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. SES and Intelsat said they would cover "all reasonable costs" for any C-band transition by their customers or customers' customers, including broadcasters and cable operators. NCTA didn’t comment. The CBA said a combined T-Mobile/Sprint (see 1901310047), with ample mid-band spectrum for 5G, would like to keep others from accessing similar mid-band spectrum. T-Mobile said the FCC hasn't ever given new or expanded rights to incumbent licensees with the intention those rights would be then sold, contrary to what the CBA argued (see 1901020031). The carrier said precedent shows an auction would let market forces determine the value of C-band spectrum.

The commercial space industry is closely watching the FCC-proposed update of rules governing orbital debris (see 1811020003) to ensure the agency "threads the needle" between avoiding undue burdens on industry and addressing a growing concern, said Vector-Launch Washington operations Director Courtney Stadd on a Space Foundation panel Wednesday. He said nations need to be more aggressive about debris. Panelists agreed commercial space has strong momentum, though Made in Space CEO Andrew Rush called the industry “simultaneously strong but really fragile." Allen Herbert, vice president-business development and strategy at commercial space station company NanoRacks, said emerging new players in space such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Africa could help drive more commercial opportunity. "The jury is out" on what kind of collateral effects the federal shutdown had on commercial space, said Stadd. He said the FAA's draft regulatory overhaul of launches will be pushed further out. Rush said the shutdown "pinched" a hiring push at his space manufacturing company, though it's now tentatively resuming. Inmarsat Senior Vice President-Government Strategy and Policy Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch said shutdowns mean an even slower regulatory process, leaving her company to look to other nations for launches. Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor said the industry faces challenges of workforce and educational focus and to explain developments and measure them. Stadd said miniaturization of satellites is leading to an "unbelievable change in the economics" of deploying assets and should lead to “unbelievable” new applications. Rush said just as the launch industry has moved from expendable to reusable rockets, the satellite industry is next with reusability via reconfigurable and repairable satellites.

There should be 294 nano/microsatellite launches in 2019, up 17 percent from 2018, SpaceWorks Enterprise said Monday. By 2023, launches in that 1-50 kilogram range could top 500 yearly, and 2,000-2,800 nano/microsatellites will launch over the next five years. Commercial demand for such applications as earth observation and communications is forecast to increase, and military applications growth has been slow.

With the satellite industry's increasing focus on data, the ground segment is of more importance and very small aperture terminal platform revenue is expected to grow nearly fivefold over the next 10 years, Northern Sky Research's Lluc Palerm-Serra blogged Tuesday. Vendors need to innovate technology and business models to serve applications such as consumer broadband and mobility, given heavy competition, he said. The analyst said VSAT vendors need to offer network management support or share go-to-market risks.

The U.S. needs a civil space guard to license and regulate civil and commercial space activities other than what's done by the FCC, Commerce Department and FAA, the National Space Society (NSS) said Monday. A space guard also would monitor and guide U.S. civil and commercial space activities' compliance with international treaties, enforce civil and commercial space regulations and collaboratively work with other space players globally, NSS said. In the future, the space guard could license and regulate civil and commercial orbital debris removal technologies and missions, it said.

There were 114 orbital launch attempts worldwide in 2018, with China accounting for 39, surpassing the U.S.' 34, Jonathan McDowell, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer, tweeted Monday. He said the U.S. had more launch attempts in three of the four previous years, with the two nations tying in 2016. Of those 114 launch attempts -- 112 successful -- 24 were by commercial operators under host government contract and 28 for commercial customers that included foreign governments. The year had 461 satellite launches, up from 441, with the U.S. having 205. Of the 190 with mass of 100 kilograms or more, 62 were U.S. manufactured, with China at 58. McDowell said 18,995 objects in orbit or beyond were cataloged by Dec. 31. Fourteen geostationary satellites were retired last year, with seven satellite breakups or debris events.

Blue Origin broke ground on a rocket engine production facility Friday in Huntsville, Alabama. The launch company said engines from the plant will be used for the reusable first stage of its New Glenn launch rocket, in the upper stage of its New Shepard rocket and in United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rockets.