Dish Network-designated entities Northstar Wireless and SNR Wireless are asking an appellate court to hold in abeyance their appeal seeking a review of the FCC's July order (see 1807130003) reaffirming FCC Wireless Bureau procedures for the DEs to comply with the court's 2017 remand. In a consent motion (in Pacer, docket 18-1209) for abeyance filed Thursday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the two said the FCC is "proceeding with additional actions" that could give rise to more proceedings before the court related to the issues of the case and a consolidated case. They asked the cases be held in abeyance until those issues can be consolidated with the pending cases. The D.C. Circuit last year upheld FCC denial of AWS-3 auction bidding credits to the DEs but gave them a chance to negotiate a solution to Dish's de facto control (see 1708290012).

ViaSat got an eight-year contract for in-flight broadband and connectivity services for U.S. senior leader and VIP aircraft, it said Thursday. It said the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency contract has a total cumulative value of up to $559.8 million.

With its Horizons 3e satellite set to launch Sept. 25, Intelsat is asking the FCC International Bureau for special temporary authority to do in-orbit testing while at 164.2 degrees east and then drift to its permanent location of 169 degrees east. Wednesday's filing said testing is expected to last close to 40 days, the drift about 10.

Allowing small satellite operations in the 137-138 MHz band is feasible, though additional protections of air traffic control and airline operational control communications might be needed, Boeing filed in FCC docket 18-86 Wednesday. One such possible protection is not allowing the 137-137.025 MHz portion of the band to be used for smallsat communications, it said. The company said that the smallsat procedures streamlining NPRM appears to contradict itself on the issue of satellite-to-satellite communications between fixed and mobile satellite services and said the agency should reconsider whether its language prohibits intra-satellite communications.

Proposals for reallocating part of the C-band for terrestrial services carry different benefits and drawbacks, said R Street Institute Technology Policy Fellow Joe Kane Wednesday. He said one problem with the current system of C-band earth station registration is the complexity of the FCC form, and it should be streamlined or the agency should solicit satellite provider help in identifying earth station locations. Kane said the satellite industry consortium idea to negotiate for all satellite users of the band would mean lower transaction costs but would bring to market less spectrum at higher costs than in a more-competitive market. Going to a competitive market model isn't viable due to inevitable technical and legal delays, he said: The satellite consortium model might need the FCC to stipulate that more spectrum than the 100 MHz Intelsat, Intel and Eutelsat have committed to be clear, such as 300 MHz. Auction of overlay licenses is problematic due to the full-band, full-arc characteristics of the band, while reforming the full-band, full-arc policy may be "untenable," said the report.

Critics of Ligado's plans are taking their arguments to the Commerce Department. In a letter dated Sept. 4 to Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace and White House Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios and copied to the FCC chief, the satellite, aviation and weather data interests argued that U.S. space leadership relies on stable spectrum for satellites and consistent interference protection, and that Ligado's plans run contrary to those needs. They said satellite users of the L-band rely on spectrum allocation protection and on harmonization with international allocations, and Ligado's plan to use 40 MHz of L-band for mobile broadband/IoT terrestrial service "runs afoul" of those principles. It would "fundamentally change" the nature of the band and cause harmful interference to adjacent satellite services, they said. They said it would hamper efforts to protect domestic satellite companies "from ill-conceived international interference-causing proposals," especially as Ligado "surely" seeks to get similar approvals from other nations. Signatories include the Aerospace Industries Association, American Meteorological Society, American Weather and Climate Industry Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, Iridium and National Weather Association. Ligado emailed Wednesday that the letter "presents again the false choice that policy makers should choose either satellite or mobile broadband services to support the Internet of Things. Ligado, which for twenty years has been in the satellite business, realizes as others in the industry and policymakers do that limited spectrum can and must support a number of national priorities -- critical IoT applications, satellite services, broadband and more. The expert spectrum agencies at NTIA and the FCC understand these complexities and are working tirelessly to make timely and balanced decisions that advance all sectors of the U.S. economy.”

Iridium signed a letter of intent with Rolls-Royce Marine for Iridium to join RRM's autonomous vessel development program. The agreement will look at incorporating Iridium L-band satellite service into RRM's Ship Intelligence offerings, Iridium said Thursday. It said the International Maritime Organization is defining the regulatory environment for maritime autonomous surface ships.

The ViaSat-3 payload module structure, built by Boeing, was delivered for the start of payload integration and testing for the first ViaSat-3 class satellite, which is scheduled to start providing broadband over the Americas in 2020, ViaSat said Thursday. It said a subsequent ViaSat-3 satellite will target Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the third planned for Asia-Pacific.

The International Bureau's public notice on satellites with coordinated power levels beyond FCC routine limits (see 1807270015) needs clarification, Eutelsat said Thursday in a docket 12-267 petition for clarification or declaratory ruling. Last month's PN listed 50 such satellites and said they aren't obliged to further coordinate power levels with applicants and operators who are seeking U.S. market access and file requests after the date of notification. In its petition, Eutelsat said the agency needs to make clear that continuation of those nonroutine transmission levels is limited to previously authorized power levels and that any inaccurate notification information about power levels can't be used to allow higher-power operations or constrain satellite operations at routine power levels.

Iridium hasn't shown any technical analysis to back its opposition to earth stations in motion (ESIM) sharing the 29.25-29.3 GHz band with its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) mobile satellite service feeder link station operations, ViaSat said in an FCC docket 17-95 posting Thursday. It said the 29.25-29.5 GHz band "is clearly underutilized," with Iridium using only 50 MHz. It said with ESIMs operating in the same envelope as very small aperture terminals, there's no reason ESIMs shouldn't be allowed to share the spectrum. And it said any aggregate inference to Iridium satellite receivers could be monitored and resolved down the road, the same way the FCC is committed to address aggregate interference from multiple NGSOs into geostationary satellites. Iridium outside counsel didn't comment.