Non-geostationary orbit satellite operators' share of the commercial in-flight connectivity marketplace is set to rocket from 1% in 2024 to 63% in 2034, Novaspace said this week. It said that this year, NGSO networks will likely start replacing at scale older geostationary orbit systems using the Ku and Ka bands or air-to-ground systems.

Given increasing GPS signal jamming and spoofing against merchant ships, now might be the time to shift to quantum gravity measurement for navigation, Valour Consultancy blogged Wednesday. Quantum gravity readings provide better accuracy than GPS, but the technology isn't ready for large-scale production, Valour said. It predicted that it will likely be five or so years before commercially available quantum gravity navigation aids are available. However, global navigation satellite systems' vulnerabilities are "unacceptable for world trade, so alternative solutions are almost mandatory."

Eutelsat wants to raise $1.76 billion, which will affect its ownership and in turn require a transfer of its licenses, it told the FCC Space Bureau on Wednesday. In applications covering its OneWeb and Satelites Mexicanos subsidiaries that have U.S. market access, Eutelsat said the proposed fundraising transaction would see the French government increase its share of capital to 29.65%, up from 13.59%. It said other key shareholders will also participate, and the transaction will give France three board seats, compared with the one it has now. The additional financing will let Eutelsat accelerate its investment in existing low earth orbit projects and new initiatives, it said.

The budget cuts proposed for the Commerce Department's Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) are somewhat inexplicable because there's no one in the Trump administration or elsewhere pushing for them, space industry leadership said Wednesday on Aerospace Corp.'s Space Policy Show podcast. Commercial Space Federation President David Cavossa and Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup agreed that the proposed cuts are a head-scratcher, with Cavossa noting that DOD has remained steadfast that it doesn't want to resume responsibility for space situational awareness for commercial space operations -- a responsibility TraCSS was to take over. TraCSS' cost -- $50 million a year -- is tiny compared with what the Trump administration is putting into air traffic control, he said. The federation is "doing everything we can to get people to understand how important that air traffic control equivalent is in space and that we need to keep that moving forward.”

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the FCC will help the U.S. beat China in “Space Race 2.0” and praised SpaceX’s purchase of EchoStar’s AWS-4 spectrum in remarks Tuesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Aerospace Summit. “That deal is a potential game changer for the American consumer -- it promises to light up new spectrum and bring new sources of competition to the wireless and connectivity market.” The U.S. needs to deploy more satellites than China because the latter suppresses information, Carr said. “A world where [China] is providing internet access and controlling the access of information to billions across the globe would be less prosperous and more dangerous.”

SpaceX's consumer subscriber base will likely reach 8.2 million by year-end, with consumer revenue of $10.3 billion by 2026, Quilty Space said Tuesday. Quilty predicted that maritime installations will hit 130,000 by next year, and in-flight connectivity revenue will grow nearly tenfold due to "marquee airline deals ... and a steady installation cadence."

The ViaSat-3 Flight 2 satellite, which will more than double Viasat's bandwidth capacity, is scheduled to launch in the second half of October, the company said Thursday. United Launch Alliance is set to do the launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, it said. CEO Mark Dankberg said the F2 satellite "will significantly scale performance and number and density of users, and enable exciting new connectivity services alongside our in-flight entertainment and monetization business models." Viasat's F1 satellite, launched in 2023, developed antenna deployment problems that significantly reduced its capacity (see 2408050002).

Amazon's Kuiper said Thursday it landed its first in-flight connectivity customer, JetBlue. Select JetBlue aircraft will offer Kuiper-delivered Wi-Fi starting in 2027.

AST SpaceMobile has received the go-ahead to put more satellites in orbit but not to begin offering supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service with them. In an order dated Aug. 29 and posted Wednesday, the FCC Space Bureau said it was allowing AST to launch an additional 20 satellites and to perform telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) operations with them once they're in orbit. The bureau deferred consideration on the other 223 satellites AST has requested while it continues to review the company's request to provide SCS service. The FCC previously authorized the launch of five satellites and TT&C operations with them 13 months ago (see 2408050026). The latest order said that while commenters have claimed there already has been harmful interference from AST's already-operational satellites, the bureau hasn't received any complaints of that.

Expanded uplink allocations for non-geostationary orbit broadband in parts of the W band represent a serious interference risk to scientific and weather forecasting interests, including the Tomorrow Companies' own earth observation work, according to the satellite operator. In a docket 25-180 filing posted Friday, Tomorrow said data from the 90-92 GHz and 115-122 GHz passive bands is hugely important to weather prediction and storm structure analysis, and those measurements can't be done in another swath of spectrum. Low-level out-of-band emissions from NGSO uplinks could mimic natural atmospheric signals, it said. Tomorrow urged "strict, enforceable" limits on such emissions and "sufficient separation" between uplink allocations and passive science bands. The FCC adopted a Further NPRM in May asking about opening parts of the W band to satellite communications (see 2505280055).