LightSquared is seeking another extension of the life of its MSAT-2 space station. In an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday, the satellite company said it wanted extension of the license term of MSAT-2 through Dec. 31, 2016. It received a similar one-year extension in 2015, saying then that it wanted to keep MSAT-2 in operation as backup for its SkyTerra-1 satellite and to continue to provide service to customers who hadn't been transitioned to SkyTerra-1.
Intelsat hopes to launch its Intelsat 36 satellite in August. In an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday, it sought IB approval for the launch and to operate the satellite at 68.5 degrees east, where it would co-locate with Intelsat 20 and provide additional capacity in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The company said Intelsat 36 will operate at some of the same frequencies as Intelsat 20, as well as at 3650-3700 MHz, 6675-6725 MHz, 11,200-11,450 MHz, 11,700-12,500 MHz, 13,000-13,250 MHz and 17,300-18,100 MHz.
A federal judge's denial of a motion to stay in a putative class action against an auto parts retailer is being cited to bolster arguments against a motion to stay filed by Dish Network in a related suit. The plaintiffs in Ernst et al. v. Dish and Sterling Infosystems on Tuesday filed a copy of a Dec. 18 ruling by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays of Kansas City, Missouri, in which Kays shot down a motion to stay by O'Reilly Automotive Stores in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit brought by a woman who charges she was unfairly denied employment there after O'Reilly ran a credit check on her. Dish and background check company Sterling face a similar FCRA-related suit for their use of credit reports to do background checks on prospective employees or subcontractors. Dish and Sterling are seeking a delay in the plaintiffs' motion for class certification, saying the Spokeo v. Robins case now before the Supreme Court -- which also involves alleged FCRA violations -- will affect class certification and court jurisdiction issues (see 1512160017). In Kays' ruling -- submitted as part of the Ernst et al. filing -- the judge said O'Reilly "will not be irreparably harmed if the stay is not granted" while the court waits for a decision in Spokeo. "Granted, Defendants face a risk of incurring what may turn out to be unnecessary expenses if the case is not stayed and the Supreme Court issues a favorable decision, but a risk of a monetary harm is not 'irreparable harm,' " Kays said. "Even if it were, the Court's interest in managing its docket and resolving this case in a timely fashion weighs against granting the motion."
As part of its internal corporate restructuring, General Dynamics has received FCC International Bureau approval of pro forma transfer of control of various fixed-satellite service licenses and authorizations. In an IB filing Monday, General Dynamics said that effective Jan. 1, General Dynamics' C4 Systems and Mission Systems would merge into General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. All of the company's licenses would remain under General Dynamics control, the company said.
The 11th and last of the Orbcomm Generation 2 satellite constellation is in orbit, and the company is seeking a waiver of the fifth satellite performance milestone, it said in an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday. As justification, Orbcomm pointed to the FCC's new Part 25 satellite licensing rules adopted earlier this month (see 1512170036) and the exemption given nongeostationary (NGSO) replacement satellites from performance bond and milestone requirements. Short of a full waiver, Orbcomm said it then requests a partial waiver. The most-recent Orbcomm Generation 2 launch was Monday, and the satellites are replenishing the company's non-voice NGSO mobile satellite service constellation that began commercial operation in 1995, it said.
A $1.5 billion lawsuit against Dish Network and CEO Charles Ergen is over. U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres of Manhattan signed a voluntary dismissal without prejudice Wednesday. The complaint was filed by Harbinger Capital in July, with the investment firm alleging Dish and Ergen conspired to get LightSquared-held spectrum through fraud and racketeering (see 1507220024). The suit also named investment banker Stephen Ketchum and his Sound Point Capital Management as defendants. It was similar to a complaint Harbinger -- at the time a major investor in LightSquared -- brought a year earlier in U.S. District Court in Denver (see 1407100060), which was thrown out in April on summary judgment. The dismissal was sought by post-bankruptcy LightSquared, the successor in interest to the claim. LightSquared didn't comment.
The AMC-8/Aurora III satellite has at least four-plus more years of operational life, SES Americom and Alascom said in an FCC International Bureau filing submitted Tuesday requesting an extension of the satellite's license term to June 30, 2020. The holders of a joint license on the satellite also requested authority to deorbit AMC-8 at the end of its life. The C-band satellite began operations in 2001 and is at 139 degrees west, and its current license term expires March 1. Apart from solar array circuit failures that have affected the power available to it, AMC-8's "overall health is good," SES and Alascom said.
Intelsat is again seeking more time to drift Intelsat 16 from 76.2 degrees west to 58.1 degrees west. In an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, Intelsat said an unspecified "unexpected delay" has caused a late start to the drift, which it now expects to "begin ... shortly," and asked for a 30-day extension in its special temporary authority through Feb. 1. The drift had been expected to begin Nov. 4 (see 1509280024), and the satellite company cited similar reasons when at the end of that month it asked for an extension through Jan. 2 in its special temporary authority (see 1512010014).
TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), which is being bought by Comtech Telecommunications, is asking the FCC to reassign its licenses for its C-band fixed satellite earth stations and Ku-band very small aperture terminal earth stations to Comtech. In a pair of International Bureau applications filed Wednesday (see here and here), TCS said Comtech has put up a tender offer of $5 per share for all outstanding TCS stock. The communications services companies, in announcing the $431 million combination last month, said they expect the deal to close by March.
Kymeta and Intelsat finished initial mobility-related testing of Kymeta's flat-panel antennas on Intelsat's satellite network for maritime and automotive applications, they said in a news release. The automotive testing involved embedding a Kymeta Ku-band antenna into an auto roof and using it to acquire and track satellite signals while mobile. Kymeta also built and tested a glass-on-glass thin-film-transistor-based antenna for maritime use, it said Tuesday.