Operational satellites in orbit topped 2,400 in 2019, up about 50% from 2017, the Satellite Industry Association's annual industry report said Thursday. Satellite industry revenue was $271 billion, SIA said: In the satellite services sector, TV transmission was by far the largest slice, at $92 billion.

SpaceX's ask to move more than 2,800 satellites to a lower orbit (see 2004200003), where another 1,600 of its Starlink satellites are authorized for deployment, would mean an orbital shell with more than eight times the mass it has today, Astroscale said in an FCC International Bureau posting Tuesday. The agency has many issues to consider while assessing the license modification request, including increased risk from more frequent close approaches. It said the FCC can't make a decision on the license mod without knowing SpaceX's risk threshold for executing maneuvers and targeted maximum residual risk for such maneuvers. It's not clear moving those Starlink satellites to a lower orbit with higher atmospheric drag outweighs the more near-term risks of a substantial increase in congestion, it said. SpaceX didn't comment Wednesday. SpaceX said Dish Network's red flags (see 2006170002) are baseless. Its data show it would operate in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band within applicable limits, and the company offered to make the data available to interested parties.

DOD might be well-served partnering with the Department of Transportation on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (S-4049) requirement that gives Defense a two-year deadline to start producing resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals that also are available to commercial and civilian users, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Monday. DOD has been clear it doesn't like that civilians use GPS because it hampers the military, so working with DOT -- the federal lead for civil PNT -- "some really good solutions for both the military and civilians can be found," it said.

Opponents of Ligado’s L-band plan are “within their rights” to mount “a vociferous campaign to get Congress ... to overturn” FCC, but it’s “disturbing” how far they have “gone to distort important substantive aspects” of the commission’s reasoning, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said Monday. He denied opponents’ claim “that the FCC’s unanimous decision somehow came out of the blue, somehow surprising” DOD and other entities “that now oppose the agency's action.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the commission’s process during a recent Senate Commerce Committee hearing (see 2006240069).

SiriusXM’s 360L interactive system will debut on 2021 Ford F-150 trucks and be featured on all future vehicles with Ford’s Sync 4 connected car platform, said SiriusXM Friday. The 360L system gives listeners access to more than 10,000 hours of on-demand content. It will be available on F-150s by year-end, SiriusXM said.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals won't reconsider its affirmation of a lower court's $280 million verdict against Dish Network for Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations, the appellate court said Thursday (docket 17-3111, in Pacer), denying a Dish petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc (see 2006110053). Dish didn't comment.

NearSpace Launch, New Space New Mexico and Vox Space joined the SmallSat Alliance, it said Friday.

SpaceX as a U.S. company would likely still need an FAA license under the Commercial Space Launch Act, even if it was launching rockets from international waters, space lawyer Laura Montgomery blogged Friday. Company founder Elon Musk tweeted last week it's moving toward "floating, superheavy-class spaceports for Mars, moon & hypersonic travel around Earth."

Comments are due Thursday, replies June 30, on PSSI's request for a stay of the FCC's C-band order pending judicial review, the Wireless Bureau said. In its stay ask, PSSI in docket 18-122 said clearing 300 MHz of C band without sufficient interference and power level protections essentially renders its licenses "worthless."

Small satellite operators (SSO) ABS Global, Empresa and Hispasat's ask for a stay of the FCC's C-band clearing order (see 2005180036) didn't show they would be harmed without one since the deadline for ending operations is December 2025 and their compliance is easy because they aren't using the band to serve U.S. customers. That's according to the FCC Thursday in a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit response (in Pacer, docket 20-1142). None of the initial transition steps of the next year-plus would harm the SSOs and the court has plenty of time to consider and decide before any payments are made to any satellite operator, it said. Joining the FCC were CTIA, AT&T, and Verizon, which said (in Pacer) they backed an expedited decision on the challenges to the order before the Dec. 8 C-band auction commences because that would "provide certainty that benefits the public and prospective auction bidders." They said a stay would cause "tremendous harm ... throughout the entire wireless ecosystem and the broader economy." Also opposing a stay, SES said (in Pacer) the C-band order was justified by the FCC's broad authority and the alleged economic harms to the SSOs aren't real. SSO outside counsel didn't comment.