The 10 satellites making up Iridium's third Next constellation launch are at Vandenberg Air Force Base and scheduled for Oct. 4 liftoff, the company said Wednesday. The launch originally was planned for Sept. 30 (see 1707280016), but SpaceX required more time for rocket preparation, Iridium blogged last month. Iridium Next eventually will consist of 81 satellites -- 66 in operation, 15 on-orbit spares and six ground spares -- and the October launch will be the third of what eventually will be eight, with the constellation to be operational next year, it said.

ViaSat, meeting with FCC International Bureau staffers about high-band spectrum, said satellite operators should retain access to the 40-42 GHz and 48.2-50.2 GHz bands, and satellite should have "meaningful access" to the 47.2-48.2 GHz and 50.4-52.4 GHz bands on equitable sharing terms with terrestrial uses, according to a docket 14-177 ex parte filing posted Monday.

The FCC proposal to replace avoidance angle rules with a trigger based on system noise temperature in the draft non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites rules order on next week's commissioners' meeting agenda (see 1709110030) is coming under fire from some operators. SpaceX in docket 16-408 filings posted Monday (see here and here) recapped meetings with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and with International Bureau staff at which the company said the agency's proposed definition of in-line events "could be workable," though with uplinks it could result in "unintended but detrimental consequences" due to the wide variety of NGSO system architectures being proposed. It said any "one size fits all" approach to in-line events will raise the likelihood of having to resort to band splitting for uplinks. SpaceX said the FCC should add a topic to the Further NPRM, specifically defining in-line uplink event parameters, which would minimize those events and promote spectral efficiency. Also raising red flags about the fixed separation angle issue is Telesat Canada, which in a filing in the docket posted Monday recapped discussions with aides to Pai and to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel (see here, here, here, here and here). It said the agency's proposed separation standard is as unworkable as its current fixed avoidance angle rules. It also said operators can't exchange information on many of the data items needed to make a trigger based on system noise temperature calculations in advance or in real time. Telesat Canada said "the only workable solution" is through ITU coordination. Intelsat said it's concerned geostationary orbit satellites wouldn't be adequately protected from harmful interference due to some NGSO operators seemingly not meeting equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits required by the ITU. The company said the FCC needs to independently check the data of NGSO constellation applications it's reviewing and ask for corrections to ensure EPFD requirements, or, at least require the NGSO applicants to provide a set of input information for EPFD showing that third parties could verify. In a filing posted Tuesday, Space Norway said it particularly backed the draft order's proposed elimination of the global and domestic coverage requirements.

High-throughput satellites, non-geostationary orbit satellite constellations and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) are starting to offer global broadband connectivity and could play a key part in "a truly ubiquitous and affordable broadband ecosystem," reported ITU's Working Group on Technologies in Space and the Upper-Atmosphere Monday. It said advantages of space and upper-atmosphere platforms include wide area coverage, geography agnosticism, ease of deployment and reliability. The group said policymakers need to ensure sufficient spectrum protection for such platforms and globally harmonize spectrum where possible for satellite and broadband HAPS. It recommended "technology-neutral policy making" by regulators and streamlining of satellite and HAPS licensing, urging governments to ensure ITU and other bodies develop HAPS standards expeditiously.

With the handoff of traffic of Ku-band traffic from AMC-1 to SES-15 looking to be "unusually complicated," SES is asking for FCC International Bureau approval to modify its authority to serve the U.S. market with SES-15 from 129.15 degrees west. In an application Thursday, SES said AMC-1 is being relocated from that orbital slot to 130.9 degrees west before SES-15 arrives, but it wants to provide overlapping services from both orbital locations during AMC-1's drift. It said the traffic transfer complication is because AMC-1 is a traditional wide-beam satellite while SES-15 is a high-throughput satellite with multiple spot beams, so dual illumination of the two when they're collocated isn't technically feasible since the wide area beam and spot beams would cause interference. It also said customers' network configurations are very different on SES-15, and customers need more time to configure and test their networks on it.

Black TV News Channel is continuing to advocate for waiver of the requirement that programming carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial reserved channels be commercial-free. In an FCC docket 14-77 filing Friday, BTNC recapped meetings in July and August with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss its request -- dating back a decade (see 0710300131) -- for a three-year waiver.

With monetary penalties being uninsurable under Colorado law and Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory damages being penalties under Colorado law, a U.S. District judge in Denver was right in holding that Dish Network's Ace American Insurance policies don't cover the TCPA litigation brought by the federal government and four states, Ace said in a docket 17-1140 reply brief (in Pacer) Wednesday in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The TCPA lawsuit also seeks equitable remedies, but those remedies don't qualify as damages under Colorado law or Ace policies, it said. The insurer also said Dish can't invoke coverage that covers insureds in the broadcasting business, which Dish is, or coverage of damages from an "occurrence" of accidental or fortuitous events, since none of the alleged telemarketing conduct fits that bill. Dish didn't comment Thursday. Dish also is in litigation with National Union Fire Insurance Co. over indemnification of it in the combined federal/state TCPA complaint (see 1708220024).

SES will use the IBC 2017 show in Amsterdam to demonstrate the world’s first live Ultra HD transmission of HDR10+ content via satellite, SES said in a Thursday announcement. HDR10+ is the dynamic-metadata-based high dynamic range platform that Fox, Panasonic and Samsung plan to begin licensing as a royalty-free open standard in 2018 (see 1708280018). At IBC, SES also will team with LG Electronics and others to broadcast Ultra HD content at 100 frames per second -- double today's standard in TV broadcasting in Europe -- via satellite at Astra 19.2 degrees east, the company said. The content will feature fast-action scenes and will be received and displayed on an LG OLED TV fitted with prototype high-frame-rate firmware, SES said. The IBC 2017 exhibit floor opens Friday for a five-day run.

Pointing to the need to support Irma recovery operations in the Caribbean and Florida (see 1709140057 for storm coverage), Inmarsat is asking the International Bureau for special temporary authority to operate all terminals licensed under a blanket earth station license to communicate with the Inmarsat 5F2 satellite. The company is licensed to operate the terminals in the 29.5-30 GHz uplink and 19.7-20.2 GHz downlink bands and the STA would let it operate also in the 29.25-29.35 GHz uplink and 19.45-19.55 GHz downlink bands, it said in a bureau application Wednesday.

Sling TV added an antenna bundle deal, it said in a Wednesday blog post. New customers who qualify for an over-the-air antenna, based on their location, can prepay for two months of Sling TV and get a free Winegard indoor antenna valued by Sling at $59, it said. The antenna is available online at several sites for under $30. Or, consumers can prepay for three months of Sling TV for an AirTV player, adapter and Winegard indoor antenna for $70 (a $189 retail value, according to Sling). Customers who don’t live in an area where local channels are available through the service can get Sling + OTA and receive channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC without an additional Sling TV subscription, it said.