The number of in-flight connectivity-equipped aircraft topped 38,000 last year and is expected to exceed 60,800 by 2033, Novaspace said Thursday. As aircraft operators shift from legacy geostationary orbit-based systems to non-geostationary orbit-based (NGSO) ones and hybrid services, bandwidth consumption is rising, it said. Total leased capacity, 90 Gbps in 2023, is expected to reach 1.8 Tbps by 2033, it said. NGSO services such as SpaceX's Starlink and Eutelsat's OneWeb "are set to revolutionize in-flight connectivity" through greater bandwidth at lower capacity costs, Novaspace said.

The ITU Radiocommunication Sector's SpaceCap software for filing satellites and earth stations needs updating that would allow for more detailed coordinates of earth stations' locations, Access Partnership Engineering Manager-Space & Connectivity Abubakar Manzo blogged Thursday. Geographical coordinates are mandatory for earth station filings, but SpaceCap goes down only to geographic minutes and seconds, he said. That can create licensing, coordination and protection problems when dealing with antennas close to one another, such as at antenna farms, he said. SpaceCap accepting fractions of seconds would make for better notification and coordination procedures, he said.

AST SpaceMobile Chairman/CEO Abel Avellan met with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss the company's near-term plans for testing direct-to-device commercial satellites, potential timing of full commercial deployment of D2D service and regulatory approvals needed, said a posting Thursday in docket 20-32.

Globalstar and SpaceX are jousting over SpaceX's request that the FCC reverse its August partial approval of Globalstar's plan to replenish its first-generation HIBLEO-4 non-geostationary orbit satellite system (see 2408190003). A reversal of that order and a loss of the HIBLEO-4 license "would destabilize the Big LEO regulatory environment, undercut investment, disrupt and delay Globalstar’s [mobile satellite service] offerings," the company said in an opposition filing Tuesday. A reversal also would raise questions about the future of Globalstar's MSS business, it said. Globalstar said the FCC Space Bureau order followed "well-established" agency precedent in determining that the Globalstar satellites qualify as replacements. In its application last month for review of the August approval, SpaceX said the Space Bureau actually signed off on an entirely new constellation for Globalstar, letting it cut in line ahead of other operators that applied first to use the same spectrum. The agency should treat Globalstar the same as other operators that have had their applications put on hold pending a rulemaking on sharing the 1.6/2.4 GHz band, it said.

Consideration of license transfers from Intelsat to SES as part of SES' planned $3.1 billion purchase of Intelsat (see 2405310004) is on hold pending a review by Team Telecom, the FCC Space Bureau said. The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector is Team Telecom's formal name. In docket 24-267 comments this week, cable and satellite interests raised the idea of conditions related to New SES' C-band assets on the requested license transfers. Cable operators and programmers distribute video programming using Intelsat’s and SES’s C-band downlinks, and the FCC should ensure that they continue providing the same quality of service in the C band, said NCTA. It said SES and Intelsat assertions that cable operators can use terrestrial fiber for distribution are "untrue." The FCC, NCTA added, shouldn't accept commitments about New SES' use of C-band licenses that would jeopardize video distribution in that spectrum. SES and Intelsat each control just shy of 50% of the video content distribution by satellite market in the U.S., said Eutelsat/OneWeb, and the FCC should consider whether conditions are needed on SES/Intelsat to address competitive impacts. Eutelsat/OneWeb didn't suggest possible conditions. The SES transaction would seem to help ensure Intelsat can continue following the core principles set out in its 2001 reorganization from an international organization to a private company, said the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, which owned and operated Intelsat pre-2001. ITSO said Intelsat in recent years hasn't provided sufficient funding to the organization, and a better funding approach needs to be established.

The FCC posted on Friday an order approved 5-0 on Thursday addressing satellite operations in the 17 GHz band. The agency adopted rule changes enabling non-geostationary orbit-fixed-satellite services to operate in the 17.3-17.7 GHz band for downlinks on a shared, co-primary basis with geostationary satellite orbit services and on a co-primary basis with other incumbents (see 2409260026). “Our action today provides a contiguous 1300 MHz of spectrum for NGSO FSS downlink operations, allowing for technologically innovative and enhanced satellite services to the benefit of American consumers,” the order says: It also aligns “the U.S. Table with the International Table of Allocations to provide a more cohesive global framework for FSS operators and maximize the efficient use of the 17 GHz band.” Only Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks attached statements.

Air France will begin next year rolling out free in-flight connectivity for passengers via SpaceX's Starlink service, the airline said Thursday. Analysts had seen Starlink's United Airlines deal announced earlier this month as a sign of it becoming a more-prominent player in in-flight connectivity (see 2409130002).

Satellite position, navigation and timing company TrustPoint joined the GPS Innovation Alliance, GPSIA said Thursday. GPSIA Executive Director Lisa Dyer said the company's plan for developing a complementary PNT constellation "offers an innovative new dimension in satellite navigation. They will be a valuable addition in our efforts to heighten awareness of the vital contributions of these technologies to public safety, critical infrastructure, and the global economy.”

The satellite industry faces an electric propulsion thruster supply bottleneck, with the largest producer -- Russia's EDB Fakel -- banned from Western supply chains and numerous other EP vendors unable to fill the gap, Quilty Space's Caleb Henry wrote Monday. "As it turns out, [EP] thrusters, especially the Hall-Effect thrusters [proliferated low earth orbit] operators fancy, are extremely hard to manufacture at scale," he said. While several U.S. companies have developed Hall-Effect thrusters of their own or licensed the technology, almost all are still struggling to scale production after years of effort, he said.

AST SpaceMobile's first five commercial BlueBird satellites for direct-to-device service successfully launched Thursday, the company said. In an earnings call with analysts last month, it said the five will provide non-continuous cellular broadband service nationwide across the U.S.