Sling TV is available on select Samsung smart TVs, making it the first live and on-demand over-the-top service brought on to the Samsung platform, said Sling Tuesday.
Skynet Satellite wants to eke out five extra years of use for Telstar 12, it said in an FCC International Bureau application Monday asking for an extension of the satellite's license term through Nov. 30, 2022. It said the licensed term expires at month's end and extension would let it continue to provide service pending launch of a replacement satellite that has been authorized by Canada.
Planet Labs wants to use some of its Flock earth imaging constellation satellites to demonstrate automatic identification system (AIS) receiver capabilities, it said in an FCC International Bureau application Monday. It wants to equip up to three of its earth exploration satellite service satellites with a software-defined radio receiver and antenna wire tuned to receive AIS signals, with AIS data to be transmitted to Planet Earth stations.
ViaSat subsidiary ViaSat Antenna Systems and European industry will jointly work to develop components for the ViaSat-3 satellite broadband system under a public private partnership agreement between the company and the European Space Agency, ViaSat said Monday. It said the $78.8 million partnership, Project Aidan, is being co-funded by Switzerland, the Netherlands and Romania and will focus on producing fixed and mobile user terminals, including development of a fully electronic phased array, and ground segment equipment and gateways.
Two non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellations seeking U.S. market access now have it, with a pair of orders issued Friday. Space Norway's approval is conditioned on the company internationally coordinating with other operators and on the ITU giving it a favorable or "qualified favorable" rating on its equivalent power flux density limit demonstration before initiating service, the FCC said in an order. The regulator also approved a Space Norway-requested waiver of geographic coverage requirements, saying its Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission system is intended to cover only the pan-Arctic region and that would help provide connectivity to unserved and underserved areas of Alaska. In its Telesat order, the agency denied a OneWeb request that Telesat approval be conditioned on maintaining a 125 km buffer zone with other NGSO systems, saying collision concerns are best addressed "through inter-operator coordination."
Iridium is dropping its 2013 petition seeking reallocation of the 1616-1618.725 band from CDMA and CDMA/TDMA shared use to TDMA mobile satellite service (see 1302130047). In an RM-11697 filing posted Wednesday, Iridium cited the inactivity in the FCC docket -- there were no filings this year and the last one not by Iridium was in 2015 -- and unspecified "changes in the regulatory environment." Iridium said it sought the spectrum in response to Globalstar's plans to use its lower big low earth orbit spectrum for terrestrial operations. Globalstar opposed Iridium's petition (see 1407210045).
Iridium wants an OK to extend the lifespan of its first-generation satellite constellation so it has enough time for its Next constellation to become fully operational. In an FCC International Bureau filing Monday, the company asked that the license term be extended by 18 months, until July 31, 2019. It said delays in the initial Next launch -- which happened in January (see 1701060064) -- required altering the schedule for the constellation's full deployment. The company asked for approval to continue to use a storage orbit for first-generation satellites to act as spares and to maneuver satellites in the spare and operational orbits as needed to continue providing service.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will put $1 billion into Virgin's space companies Virgin Galactic, Spaceship Co. and Virgin Orbit, with an option for an additional $480 million, under a nonbinding memorandum of understanding, Virgin announced Thursday. Virgin founder Richard Branson said its Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight business and Virgin Orbit launch business are close to operational, and the investment will help it develop future smallsat satellite launch capabilities and accelerate its plans for point-to-point supersonic space travel.
Citing hurricane damage wrought this year by Harvey, Irma and Maria, the Satellite Industry Association put together a compendium of information about satellite use in forecasting, rescue and recovery after such an event. Posted Wednesday in docket 17-183, the SIA filing also notes specific satellite company initiatives after those storms, including Hughes' support of Federal Emergency Management Agency shelters in Texas, Inmarsat terminals providing Internet and communications services across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and SES providing C-band services to relief workers in Puerto Rico.
“Capacity constraints inherent” to SiriusXM’s satellite system “will fall away” with deployment of the 360L connected-car platform with “a major automaker" to be announced at January's CES, CEO Jim Meyer said on a Wednesday earnings call. “With a better, more adaptable user interface, we will drive new functionality, such as time-shifting content on demand, personalizing music stations, and improving the display and accessibility of our sports content.” Embedded two-way connectivity of future cars "will enable us to understand user behavior in 360L cars and, over time, develop sophisticated recommendation engines to aid discovery across our deep line of content," he said. The company’s biggest challenge in contacting would-be paid subscribers is “breaking through the clutter, highlighting our exceptional content and easy-to-use service, and speaking directly to our trial customers," and improved “data analytics” through 360L deployment “will greatly benefit these marketing efforts," Meyer said. SiriusXM soon will begin beta-testing a new version of its Android and iOS apps and it “will be rolled out fully in 2018,” offering subscribers “a new way to personalize our music stations,” he said. Having recently closed on the final phase of its $480 million “strategic investment” buy of 19 percent of Pandora (see 1709210035), “eventually, there will be areas where it makes sense for SiriusXM and Pandora to work together,” he said. “We will take our time getting to know their business and thoughtfully considering these options.” Meyer and Chief Financial Officer David Frear “are spending a prudent amount of time understanding how things work” at Pandora, mostly on the streaming service’s “advertising side,” just “understanding how their model works and what the various levers are,” Meyer said in Q&A.