OneWeb Satellites -- a joint OneWeb/Airbus venture -- cut the ribbon on its satellite assembly line in Toulouse, France, it said in a news release Tuesday. OneWeb Satellites said its pipeline of work includes 900 satellites for OneWeb's planned low earth orbit constellation, and the Toulouse facility will be used to validate the production methods for the larger OneWeb Satellites high-volume production facility in Florida (see 1612190060). It said the initial 10 Toulouse-built satellites will be the start of OneWeb's constellation, with the first launches to take place in 2018.
A $280 million fine against Dish Network is stayed while the company files its notice of appeal with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough of Springfield, Illinois, said in an order (in Pacer) Monday. Myerscough ordered the fine earlier this month after a jury found Dish guilty of Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaints brought by the FTC and states (see 1706060069).
Allocating spectrum for commercial space launches would streamline commercial launch licensing, which is needed as the pace of such launches and the number of new launch companies grow, SpaceX Vice President-Satellite Government Affairs Patricia Cooper told Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan at the Kennedy Space Center. The meeting was recapped in an ex parte filing in docket 13-115 posted Tuesday. SpaceX said it also discussed its applications for operating a non-geostationary orbit constellation in the Ku-, Ka- and V-bands and said the agency can "lead global thought on how best to develop fair and modern rules for NGSO systems" through its pending Part 2 and Part 25 rules NPRM and its ongoing NGSO processing round. The FCC Monday received comments and petitions to deny in the processing round (see 1706270014).
Lockheed Martin's second GPS III satellite, GPS III SV02, has been assembled, with a third to follow soon, having just received its navigational payload, the company said in a news release Monday. GPS III SV02 is expected to launch in 2018, after environmental testing this summer, it said, saying eight more contracted GPS III satellites are in the works. It said SV01 was put into storage in February ahead of its expected launch, also next year.
With AMC-9 no longer responding to commands, SES Americom's plan to restore long-term service to customers involves moves by both its AMC-4 and AMC-6 satellites. In a pair of FCC International Bureau filings (see here and here) Friday, it asked for special temporary authority to relocate AMC-4 satellite to 85 degrees west to take over the traffic carried by AMC-6, letting AMC-6 move to 83 degrees west to restore traffic hit by an anomaly on AMC-9. It said it can't keep AMC-9 in its assigned station-keeping volume and "a significant portion" of its traffic is now being carried by AMC-6, which was recently relocated to 85 degrees west. It said its plan to restore long-term service to customers who had been using AMC-9 is to temporarily stop AMC-4 -- which recently began drifting 134.9 degrees west -- at 84 degrees west on or around June 29 and transfer AMC-6 traffic to AMC-4. The company said once that transfer is done, AMC-6 can be relocated to 83 degrees west, at which point SES will transfer that traffic back to AMC-6 and then resume the AMC-4 drift.
Globalstar should acknowledge that it must continue to meet emissions levels in the 1559-1610 MHz band from ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) base and user stations previously agreed to with NTIA, the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) said in FCC International Bureau comments posted Friday. GPSIA said Globalstar hasn't addressed the commitment in its bureau applications. Friday was the deadline for comments on Globalstar's request for modification of its satellite and earth station licenses to implement its planned ATC service (see 1705250011). In a joint filing posted Friday, Globalstar and the Wireless Communication Association International said the two have come up with a baseline protocol to govern responses to complaints of broadband radio service (BRS) and educational broadband service (EBS) licensee interference. They said they may refine the protocol in the future, and individual BRS or EBS licensees can sign an agreement with the company establishing a different protocol. They said Globalstar's terrestrial service in the 2483.5-2495 MHz band will include a 24-hour toll-free network operating system hotline and website for receiving interference complaints, and Globalstar -- if it determines it has base stations in the area of the interference -- will have 24 hours to determine whether its service access points there are operating up to specifications. The two said if an access point is found to be malfunctioning or not within licensed requirements, it will be shut off until repaired or replaced. They said if all access points in a geographic area are found to be operating within specifications, Globalstar will take mitigation steps of turning off, powering down or relocating them or take other remedial steps to find the interference. And they said that if those steps determine Globalstar access points are at fault, Globalstar and the interfered-with service provider "must work in a commercially reasonable manner" to come up with long-term mitigation modifications.
Dish Network launched an app allowing music from TV audio systems and DTS Play-Fi speakers to be in sync when playing throughout a home. TVs can display the metadata for the music, with Dish Music including Amazon Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, Pandora, SiriusXM and Tidal, the company announced Thursday.
Hughes Network Systems is seeking FCC International Bureau approval to launch its Ka- and Q/V-band geostationary orbit satellite, HNS 95W. In a bureau application Wednesday, Hughes said it will provide broadband at speeds "significantly in excess" of the FCC's current 25 Mbps download/3 Mbps upload definition and is intended to support such applications as 5G and IoT. It said HNS 95W will replace Spaceway 3 at 95 degrees west. It said the cut-off date has passed for Q/V-band non-geostationary orbit satellite applications (see 1611010060), but the public notice didn't apply to GSO applicants and it requests waiver of any applicable cut-off deadline.
The precedents that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency cites for dismissal of Orbital ATK's lawsuit (see 1706120016) confirm DARPA's Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program is a final agency action subject to court challenge, Orbital ATK said in a reply (in Pacer) posted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Orbital ATK said it wasn't an RSGS program bidder but instead put in noncompliant submissions to the request for proposals to get DARPA to recognize the company's concerns about competing in the commercial space market "with a highly subsidized entity" already promising cheaper pricing due to "the unfair massive injection of taxpayer funds" that is coming from RSGS. Space Systems Loral received the DARPA contract. Orbital ATK said DARPA mischaracterized its arguments and there's no government need for the RSGS program, the evidence being DARPA acknowledgements no federal agencies expressed a need for servicing of their geostationary orbit assets. And Orbital ATK said the court's 1974 decision in National Broiler Council v. Federal Labor Relations Council, also dealing with Administrative Procedures Act claims grounded in an executive order, like Orbital ATK's complaint, establishes its standing. DARPA counsel didn't comment Wednesday.
Ligado's plans to protect certified aviation GPS receivers from interference still leave helicopter navigation in potential interference danger, said aviation and aerospace representatives. In a meeting with FCC officials, they said results of a Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics review of Ligado-conducted studies about possible interference to those GPS receivers were inconclusive and incomplete. They urged looking at the yet-to-be-released Department of Transportation Adjacent Band Compatibility assessment of the possible impact of Ligado handsets on precision and other noncertified GPS handsets. They said they share Iridium concerns (see 1703280064) that Ligado's ancillary terrestrial component handsets could bring out-of-band interference to satellite communications and said Inmarsat's system could be similarly affected. The aviation interests said the cost of retrofitting aircraft with new satcom receivers would be immense, and who would pay for such a retrofit isn't an issue Ligado raised. A filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-109 recapped the meeting. Participants included the Aerospace Industries Association, Airlines for America, Aviation Spectrum Resources and Helicopter Association International and representatives from the Wireless, International and Public Safety and Homeland Security bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology. Ligado didn't comment.