As part of its planned $7.3 billion purchase of Inmarsat parent Connect Topco (see 2111080038), Viasat asked the FCC International Bureau to allow foreign ownership of Viasat to exceed 25%. In a bureau petition for declaratory ruling Monday, Viasat said the transaction would give CT's four foreign investment fund owners 37.5% of Viasat. It said total foreign ownership of Viasat, including those investment funds, would be around 40%, which would be well within the 49.99% threshold the agency previously allowed for Inmarsat investors and their foreign owners.

Citing SpaceX's criticisms of Dish Network and RS Access opposition to Kepler Communications' application for the 12 GHz band (see 2201310053), RS Access emailed Monday that the FCC declined to authorize earth stations in motion license applications in the 12 GHz band. RS said the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology granted SpaceX's ESIM request only after removing the band from the scope of operations. It said both SpaceX and Kepler "have fallen short of overcoming the FCC's restrictions on ESIM operation in the band as we have stated in multiple filings."

Dish Network and RS Access opposition to Kepler Communications' application for the 12 GHz band (see 2201040058) is filled with "egregious misrepresentations of the Commission’s rules and precedent," SpaceX told the FCC International Bureau last week. It said Kepler's planned use of the band for earth stations in motion would involve receiving signals, not transmitting, and thus couldn't interfere with other spectrum users. The FCC affirmatively prohibited non-geostationary satellite ESIM operations in some bands, but it specifically didn't do so in the 12 GHz band, SpaceX said. SpaceX called RS Access and Dish petitions an attempt at "protect[ing] the dwindling likelihood of a successful arbitrage play" as they look to sell their multichannel video distribution and data service spectrum licenses to mobile operators. Dish and RSA didn't comment Monday.

SpaceX's pending second-generation satellite constellation application (see 2201110006) should be put in abeyance until the company has a chance to calculate its power levels and provide parties with the input data files for the calculations, Dish Network told the FCC International Bureau last week. It said SpaceX indicated it hadn't done those calculations when it told Dish it was revising its equivalent power flux density data now. "It is inconceivable for the Commission to proceed with evaluating the Gen2 application as amended based on representations that are not based on reality," Dish said. SpaceX didn't comment Friday.

SpaceX's planned configuration of its second-generation constellation (see 2201100004) could mean more conjunctions as satellites in higher altitudes that are deorbiting pass through the 360 km altitude where SpaceX plans to have 3,600 satellites operating, Kepler told the FCC International Bureau Monday. Kepler said SpaceX's operational satellites should bear the responsibility for resolving such conjunctions with the passively deorbiting non-maneuverable satellites. SpaceX didn't comment.

SES wants FCC OK to modify its U.S. market access grant for its NSS-11 fixed satellite service satellite that would allow reorienting its Ku-band beams, it said in an International Bureau application Friday. It said the repointing won't affect NSS-11 customers or adversely affect other operators.

Comments are due March 25, replies April 25, on an FCC proposal in docket 21-456 that spectrum sharing protections for non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite system systems be limited to systems approved in the same processing round, with later OKs protecting earlier-round systems, said Monday's Federal Register. Commissioners adopted the NPRM 4-0 in December (see 2112140062).

Swarm plans to launch 16 satellites Feb. 20 on an Astra Rocket 3, it told the FCC International Bureau Thursday. Fifteen will have propulsion capabilities and one won't, it said. The 16 will have operational altitudes of 300 km to 525 km, it said.

AST has agreements and memorandums of understanding signed with mobile network operators with 1.5 billion subscribers, it told FCC International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan, discussing the status of its planned SpaceMobile constellation for satellite-based mobile connectivity. In a filing Thursday, it said construction of its satellite operations center and network operations is underway in Lanham, Maryland.

Viaast rolled out large-aperture, 19.7 to 24 meter antennas for use in space-to-ground communications for upcoming Earth observation missions, missions to the Moon, Mars and other deep space and DOD initiatives. It said Thursday features include full-motion pedestals with tracking to support multi-orbit missions and an integrated RF architecture to allow operation from the L band to above Ka band.