Representatives of Amazon's Kuiper, meeting via teleconference with acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, urged a further NPRM on non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlinks the 17 GHz band, said an International Bureau filing Thursday in docket 20-330. Doing so would up the throughput and capacity of next-generation broadband satellites and not disrupt incumbent users, Kuiper said.
Lynk Global signed its first commercial agreements, with the Bahamas' Aliv and Central African Republic's Telecel Centrafrique, to provide satellite-based mobile phone connectivity, it said Wednesday. It said its commercial service is to launch in 2022.
Spaceflight’s next Sherpa mission is scheduled for launch between April 1 and May 15, it said in an FCC International Bureau application Wednesday for special temporary authority to operate its Sherpa-FX5. It said the mission, like past FCC-OK'd Sherpa missions, would see the Sherpa vehicle deploy up to eight small satellites for such clients as Lynk Global, HawkEye 360 and DOD.
Fixed satellite services need E-band access, and satellite services should be able to coexist with services to aircraft and terrestrial backhaul, SpaceX representatives said in a call with FCC International Bureau staffers, per a filing Wednesday.
Spire Global is partnering on Myriota's planned satellite-based IoT network, using Spire's low earth orbit nanosatellites, Spire said Wednesday: That will let Myriota more rapidly expand its constellation coverage beyond its existing footprint that includes North America.
SpaceX opposition to opening the 12 GHz band to terrestrial 5G is nothing but "rhetoric and misrepresentation that distract from the serious policymaking," RS Access CEO Noah Campbell told FCC Wireless and International Bureau staffers, per a docket 20-443 filing Wednesday. It said there has been no rebuttal of or counters-study to its evidence showing compatibility. SpaceX didn't comment.
The FCC repeatedly described its April approval of lower orbits for more than 2,800 proposed SpaceX satellites as "reasonable," in an appellee brief Tuesday (in Pacer, docket 21-1123) at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The agency said SpaceX certified it would meet ITU-set interference limits. The FCC said appeals based on supposed environmental effects lack standing since they don't assert an injury within the National Environmental Policy Act zone of interests. Dish Network, Viasat and Balance Group are challenging the SpaceX sign-off (see 2106020036). Appellant outside counsel didn't comment Wednesday.
OneWeb completed its acquisition of satellite communications services firm TrustComm, it said Tuesday. The deal was announced in May (see 2105100002).
A big hurdle to widespread free in-flight Wi-Fi -- limited satellite capacity -- could be lifted in three to five years due to intense competition from low-earth-orbit satellite constellations, plus more supply from high-throughput satellites, Northern Sky Research analyst Joseph Ibeh blogged Tuesday. That could spawn improved service and a sharp reduction in recurring monthly costs, making free Wi-Fi more feasible for many airlines, he said. Advertising-supported user portals and sponsored content also could become more of a norm, he said.
Mega constellations like SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper raise a common issue of how the FCC can enforce equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits on non-geostationary orbit systems when the NGSO is using multiple ITU filings, SES/O3b told the International Bureau Monday. To protect geostationary orbit operations, it recommended requiring NGSO systems divulge their EPFD calculation results from ITU's validation system and the data needed to verify those results.