The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals failed to follow its own 2011 In re DBSD ruling on the Bankruptcy Code when it approved LightSquared's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan, former CEO Sanjiv Ahuja said in a petition (in Pacer) for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc filed Wednesday with the court. The 2nd Circuit rejected an appeal by Ahuja, who was a major stakeholder in the satellite company (see 1603230021) and who complained previously and again in the petition that majority shareholder Harbinger Capital was made more than whole. In his petition, Ahuja said, "Self-dealing and manipulation of the reorganization process by controlling shareholders ... was exactly the abuse that DBSD ... sought to curb." In a statement Thursday, LightSquared -- now Ligado -- said it's "confident the court will stand by its decision."

Airlines now can get Gogo's 2Ku in-flight connectivity system installed on new Airbus A350 aircraft by the Airbus Corporate Jet Centre through an agreement with Airbus, Gogo said in a news release Wednesday. Gogo said Delta Air Lines is a customer and will receive its first 2Ku-equipped A350 in 2017.

The iHeartRadio music streaming service is now available on DTS' Play-Fi music systems via iOS and Android apps, DTS said Tuesday. The free digital radio and music streaming service gives users access to thousands of radio stations covering genres including pop, country, hip-hop, R&B, alternative, rock, talk, news, sports and comedy, and iHeartRadio listeners can also create custom, commercial-free stations from its 20 million song library, the company said. Play-Fi owners also have access to Pandora, Rhapsody, SiriusXM, Spotify and Tidal streaming services. Play-Fi hardware partners are Acer, Anthem, Definitive Technology, HP, MartinLogan, McIntosh, Paradigm, Phorus, Polk Audio and Wren. On the video side, DTS said Tuesday Lionsgate's Gods of Egypt will be available on Blu-ray Disc in the DTS:X immersive sound format on May 31.

De-orbiting maneuvers of Intelsat 702 are expected to start in early September, and until then Intelsat is seeking a 75-day extension of its license to continue operations at 32.9 degrees east. In an FCC International Bureau filing Friday, Intelsat said the license for 702 expires July 18 and the de-orbit schedule is based on manpower and schedule constraints. The de-orbit should take two to three weeks, Intelsat said.

The FTC and DirecTV are jointly asking a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco for more time for discovery in the agency's lawsuit alleging the direct broadcast satellite company wasn't properly communicating early cancellation fees that subscribers face if they sign up and then quit the service before two years (see 1503110042). In a stipulated motion Friday, the two said that while the court has indicated reluctance in making major changes to the case schedule, they proposed moving the close of fact discovery from April 22 to July 22, the close of expert discovery from July 26 to Nov. 10, and the bench trial start from Dec. 5 to Jan. 30. While there has been "considerable" discovery so far, the two said, more time is needed to deal with unexpected discovery issues including disruptions due to DirecTV's purchase by AT&T, FTC staffing issues and "unresolved disagreements and technology problems involving attempts to recover historical version of DirecTV's website." More time also would let them better resolve disputes before resorting to letter briefs, they said.

Inmarsat's Global Xpress mobile broadband service is now commercially available through resellers for enterprise customers, the satellite company said in a news release. It said satellite services company Global RadioData Communication is the first company to have an enterprise Global Xpress terminal go live commercially. It's being used in Africa by a mining organization, Inmarsat said.

Ligado and Inmarsat extended their 2007 spectrum coordination agreement that expired Thursday. The agreement, announced by Inmarsat in a news release Friday, involves 30 MHZ of L-band spectrum. Inmarsat said it and Ligado still are in talks regarding details of the plan, including payments Ligado will make to Inmarsat in exchange for that company's spectrum coordination and management. Inmarsat previously said it made $88.6 million from the former LightSquared in 2015. In a statement, Ligado said it "has taken a step to deepen its long-standing relationship with Inmarsat and solidify its spectrum coordination. This puts the company in a strong position to deploy a network once the necessary government approvals have been obtained. We’ve worked closely with Inmarsat on spectrum coordination over the years, and today’s announcement is another step in that direction.”

SES Americom wants to relocate its AMC-2 satellite and extend its license term. In an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, SES said it sought authority to drift AMC-2 from its current 80.85 degrees west to 84.85 degrees west -- where it would supplement the Ku-band services being delivered by EchoStar's AMC-16 satellite at 85 degrees west -- and to extend its license to Dec. 31, 2017. AMC-2's current license expires May 31, and the satellite has enough fuel onboard for the proposed extension and for its subsequent deorbit, SES said, saying current AMC-2 customers will be transferred to other satellites before the relocation.

SES will team with ARTE, the European culture channel, to broadcast the Le Corsaire ballet Saturday live in Ultra HD from the Vienna State Opera, the companies said in a Tuesday announcement. The show will be beamed via the Astra satellite at 19.2 degrees east to Ultra HD screens equipped with H.265 decoders, they said. SES Platform Services will manage the live-encoding and satellite uplink, they said. “Broadcasting in Ultra HD is becoming increasingly relevant for broadcasters,” said SES.

While waiting for FCC approval of its 13 Lemur constellation earth stations (see 1603170009), Spire Global is requesting special temporary authority (STA) for 60 days to start operations at the 13, starting April 8, it said in 13 FCC International Bureau filings Thursday. Spire said since the applications for permanent authority to run the earth stations can't be processed and granted before deployment of the nine Lemur satellites launched March 22, an STA is needed to communicate with the satellites for in-orbit testing and transmission of telemetry, tracking and command signals.