Rockwell Collins is trying to develop Ku-band phased array antenna technology, said an FCC Office of Engineering and Technology experimental license grant Friday. Rockwell said it plans to start testing Aug. 1 on a proof-of-concept receiver using commercial satcom Ku-band parabolic antennas for the transmit side of the link. If successful, the company said it will show low-profile Ku-band antenna technology can be used for aircraft-based communications systems.

The third launch of Iridium Next constellation satellites is scheduled for Sept. 30 on a SpaceX Falcon rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, the company blogged Friday. Iridium said the 10 satellites would bring the number of Next satellites deployed to 30, with the goal being a total of 75 Next satellites in orbit. It said Oct. 1 is a backup date in case of inclement weather. The fourth Next launch is to happen in late November, it said.

DigitalGlobe shareholders voted to approve the company's proposed takeover by SSL (see 1703210008), it said in a news release Thursday. DigitalGlobe said shareholders of SSL parent MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates approved in a separate vote issuing MDA common shares to holders of DigitalGlobe stock and certain equity awards. It said the deal is expected to close in or shortly after Q3.

SpeedCast Americas is seeking FCC International Bureau approval for a transfer of control of UltiSat's 17 earth stations in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Midway Island, Puerto Rico, Texas and Wake Island as part of its acquisition of UltiSat, said a filing Thursday. SpeedCast has announced plans to buy UltiSat for up to $100 million payable over two years, the amount depending on the financial performance of the company. It said it hopes to close on UltiSat in Q4, pending regulatory approvals, and UltiSat CEO Mohammed Abutaleb will lead SpeedCast Americas' new government division that will focus on communications offerings to government and international government organizations customers.

Thales' FlytLive Ka-band in-flight connectivity service should be commercially available by year's end, now that the company has FCC authorization for its airborne terminals communicating with the EchoStar XVII, EchoStar XIX, AMC-15 and AMC-16, Thales said in a news release Thursday. The International Bureau approved Thales' application this month. Thales said it seeks other regulatory approvals in the Americas. It said the SES-17 satellite, which is being designed for aeronautical connectivity, will join the FlytLive network after its 2020 launch.

SpaceX wants to add the 12.75-13.25 GHz, 19.7-20.2 GHz, and 29.3-29.5 GHz bands to its plans for is proposed 4,425-satellite broadband and communications constellation (see 1611160010). In an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday, SpaceX said expanding the range of Ku-band spectrum available for user links and Ka-band spectrum for gateway links would create spectrum diversity. It said the beam-forming and digital processing technologies that were part of its original application would allow sharing the spectrum with other satellite and terrestrial users.

SiriusXM is “on track” to launch its “360L” connected-car platform with a “major automaker” in early 2018, said CEO Jim Meyer on a Thursday earnings call. SiriusXM expects “to reveal the final product with this OEM” at January CES, he said. The company sees 360L as “a game-changer for us,” he said. “It gives us data on customer usage,” and allows the company “more control” of a “much-improved” user interface, he said. Features include one that “enables personalized content recommendations, and gives us the ability to convert and upsell customers on-screen directly in the vehicle,” he said. On the company's impending $480 million investment in Pandora (see 1706090005), Meyer underscored Pandora’s “permanent free offering” in contrast to SiriusXM’s trials and discount offerings. “If you don't want to pay for our service, we don't have a place for you,” and that’s what Pandora brings to SiriusXM, he said. But he moderated his stance on entering the free radio market, saying, “the jury is still out” on whether the Pandora ad-based offering can deliver cash flow. The investment in Pandora “will help us find an answer and give us a great toehold in this area on advantageous terms,” he said. Through Pandora, SiriusXM will learn more about the subscription interactive business “and how our two companies might work together in the future, be it on upselling, cross-selling, sharing content, or sharing technology,” Meyer said. Cautioning on pending government approval and a minority investor role, he said the investment “is not predicated on any kind of cooperation or synergies.” More information will be available after the agreement closes later this year, he said. Also, Meyer said, SiriusXM is working with OEMs on new “consumer-focused features” that add value to a vehicle subscription, including Alexa integration. “Think, 'Alexa start my car and turn on the air conditioning,'” he said.

Likening its proposed constellations' orbital pattern to a walking juggler, New Spectrum Satellite (NSS) is seeking FCC International Bureau approval for its planned 15-satellite non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation. In a bureau letter of intent Thursday, Montreal's NSS said its Virtual Geo constellation would use the C-, Ka- and Ku-bands and optical inter-satellite links to provide the backbone to global content delivery networks, plus direct-to-home digital services including broadband. It said the 15 satellites are the first stage of what eventually could be 300 satellites in elliptical orbits deployed and owned by various operators. It said Virtual Geo would be "virtually geo-synchronous," with the satellites following the Earth in unique geosynchronous ground tracks -- the advantage being it and other virtual-geo constellations could operate interference-free from each other and from geostationary orbit satellites. It said in a virtual-geo constellation, satellites are in elliptical orbits with the apogees over intended users and appear to hang there, only to be replaced by the next satellite in the array. NSS said it's affiliated with Virtual Geosatellite, which in 2006 received FCC authorization for a similar highly elliptical orbit constellation (see 0612260113) but subsequently surrendered its license months later (see 0702120110). The letter of intent was to participate in the FCC's recent processing round for NGSO-like satellite systems; that processing round saw 11 companies put forward plans for a total of more than 5,000 NGSOs (see 1611160010).

Questions about interference to certified aviation GPS receivers continue to hover over Ligado's terrestrial low-power service plans. In a docket 11-109 filing posted Tuesday, Mike Stanberry, president of air medical services company Metro Aviation, said it's confident Ligado operations wouldn't interfere with safe helicopter operations and disagrees with the assertion Ligado's proposal wouldn't protect safe helicopter navigation. Metro said Ligado's commitment to keep its transmit power below FAA minimum operational performance standards, except in areas 250 feet horizontally distant or 30 feet above any Ligado antenna, should mean it won't affect safe helicopter operation. Aviation interests raised GPS receiver concerns in June (see 1706210030). Garmin Tuesday cited an RTCA review of Ligado's proposal that it said showed unresolved issues that potentially could affect aviation safety. Garmin said the issues include whether Ligado will provide a public database of base station locations, concerns of helicopter operators about relying on GPS-based navigation and GPS-enabled capabilities for obstacle avoidance when near Ligado standoff cylinders, signal acquisition scenarios that haven't been analyzed, and lack of agreement about base station antenna height and inter-site distance Ligado. The GPS device maker said there should be no Ligado authorization until the FAA acknowledges operation of the Ligado network is compatible with certified aviation devices. Meanwhile, in a LinkedIn column Wednesday, Roberson and Associates CEO Dennis Roberson criticized the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board (PNTAB) for insisting on a 1 dB noise floor interference metric as the best way to assess the effects on GPS (see 1706290043). He said 1 dB metric advocates have been asked repeatedly for references to standards or documentation for use of a noise floor in identifying out-of-band emissions problems, but none have been identified. He also said PNTAB calling Ligado's plans within the 1526-1536 MHz band an "existential threat to GPS" lacks scientific grounding, since there's "a very expansive 27 MHz 'guard band' " between the lower edge of GPS signals and the proposed Ligado terrestrial network.

The FAA gave ViaSat supplemental type certificate approval for its second-generation in-flight entertainment and connectivity system, the company said Tuesday. ViaSat said the certification lets it offer internet service on Boeing 737 aircraft, with the first installation of the equipment certified on a Qantas 737-800 aircraft in June.