SES/O3b is backing the push for the FCC to dump the domestic coverage requirement for non-geostationary orbit satellites (see 1711150029). A docket 16-408 reply posted Monday said with several NGSO systems planning to offer ubiquitous domestic coverage, the FCC has no compelling policy reason to keep the requirement and constrain system designs for future applicants. O3b said in a filing that in meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai, the four other commissioners and the International Bureau, it argued proposed NGSO processing round application amendments and the petitions for reconsideration of the NGSO report and order would inject "significant uncertainty" into the Ka-/Ku-band and V-band processing rounds. It said FCC precedent handles all the relevant issues brought up by the applications, such as specifying changes that can be made to a processing round application without disqualifying it from consideration as part of the round.

ViaSat wants FCC International Bureau approval to operate two aircraft-mounted earth station antennas to provide broadband service via its ViaSat-2 satellite. An application Tuesday sought approval for the Mantarray M40 antenna and the Global Mantarray GM40 antenna. The company said ViaSat-2 is expected to start commercial service in Q1 and that granting the application would allow for broader in-flight connectivity service provision.

Eutelsat wants U.S. market access for its French-flagged Eutelsat 33C satellite. In FCC International Bureau filings Monday (see here and here), it also asked that the Ku-band satellite be added to the agency's permitted space station list at the 133 degrees west orbital slot and that its petition receive expedited consideration. It said the satellite was launched in 2005 and the end of its operational life will be October 2022 or later. It said the satellite -- currently at 33 degrees east -- will begin operating from 133 degrees west in the middle of this year. The company said 33C is intended to provide near-term service to the U.S. and other markets until a purpose-built Ku- and Ka-band satellite is deployed to 133 degrees west by 2021.

Iridium and SES/O3b are continuing objections to regulatory approval Intelsat is seeking for its planned Galaxy 15R satellite. The dearth of detail about the 15R satellite isn't acceptable since its Ka-band communications will include the 29.25-29.3 GHz band Iridium uses, Iridium said in an FCC International Bureau reply Monday. It said it would be "completely arbitrary" for the FCC to grant Intelsat's application without conditioning it on the company coordinating with Iridium, since Intelsat doesn't explain how it would comply with the coordination obligation, even while it's amenable to similar conditions in other shared or adjacent bands. The FCC "might not need a lengthy dissertation at this stage," but it needs Intelsat to do more than acknowledge the rules exist. In a separate bureau filing Monday, SES/O3b said Intelsat hasn't shown Galaxy 15R can operate on a noninterference basis with non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service systems, nor has it submitted the required interference analysis for Ka-band geostationary orbit FSS operations. Intelsat didn't comment Tuesday. The company said it wants to launch 15R in 2022 as a replacement for its Galaxy 15 (see 1705250004).

Dish Network bowed its latest HD DVR, the Alexa-compatible Hopper Duo, it said Monday. The DVR delivers Dish service to up to two TVs for homes with “smaller-scale” home entertainment systems, said the company. Two tuners can record two programs simultaneously, and the 500 GB hard drive stores up to 125 hours of HD recordings, it said. The finder feature lets users locate the remote by pressing a button on the Hopper's front panel, causing the remote to beep. The Duo is $10 monthly.

Streaming service Spider TV, being sued by Dish Network for copyright infringement (see 1801190004), told us Sunday it closed its company in the U.S. a "long time ago" and, with its main focus on Europe and the Middle East, it doesn't need the U.S. market.

The fifth launch of Iridium's Next broadband satellite constellation is scheduled for March 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Iridium said Monday. The launch of 10 satellites is to be the first of four Next launches this year, with the remainder to be completed by mid-year, it said.

The European Commission is pushing the FCC to act on its request for a waiver of FCC licensing requirements to allow nonfederal, receive-only earth stations in the U.S. to operate with galileo radionavigation-satellite service signals. In a meeting with agency officials, the EC said Galileo has been in operation for more than a year and its capabilities are being incorporated into smartphones and other devices sold in the U.S., and U.S. companies want to see the waiver approved so they can use those capabilities. The FCC said the application is being considered internally and in consultation with government departments and gave no indication when a decision might come, the EC said. The meeting was recapped in a docket 17-16 ex parte filing posted Monday. Among attendees: International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan, Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and Jean-Luc Bald, first secretary-space, of EU's U.S. delegation.

Letting earth stations in motion (ESIM) operate in the same frequencies as non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) mobile satellite service (MSS) feeder links is premature, Iridium said in a docket 17-95 FCC filing posted Thursday. It said the satellite industry has been unable -- despite years of effort -- to determine whether earth stations in constant and unpredictable motion around an NGSO MSS earth station would cause feeder-link interference for NGSO mega constellations. So the proposed ESIM rules (see 1705180042) would put networks like Iridium's at risk, the company said. At best, the result would be big exclusion zones blocking ESIMs from operating in shared spectrum and questions how such zones could even be enforced, it said. Authorizing ESIMs in the 29.25-29.3 GHz band -- where NGSO MSS operators have co-primary rights but that is being considered for ESIM use -- "would be a fool's errand," Iridium said.

Smallsat manufacturing is early in what will become an active period of mergers and acquisitions once competition grows, and that consolidated landscape will benefit operators through broader portfolios of solutions and wider engineering expertise, Northern Sky Research analyst Carolyn Belle blogged Tuesday. The looming M&A means smallsat makers and component providers need to aggressively grab market share or they run the risk of being acquisition targets themselves or being elbowed out, she said.