Globalstar announced a licensing deal with Jeep for its Spot satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies. Spot offers off-road enthusiasts and back-country adventurers connectivity in remote areas of the world, said Globalstar.
Citing logistical issues due to the pandemic, Dish Network asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an extra 30 days to petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc of the appellate court's decision in the company's appeal of a $280 million lower court verdict against it for Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations, in a docket 17-3111 motion (in Pacer) Tuesday. The deadline would be June 10. The 7th Circuit decision by Judges Frank Easterbrook, Michael Kanne and Michael Brennan, penned by Easterbrook, affirmed the lower court's verdict against Dish except for its holding that dish was liable for "substantially assisting" order-entry retailer Star Satellite. That judgment and Star Satellite's measure of damages was vacated and that portion of the case was remanded for further proceedings.
Intelsat hopes to put up its high-throughput Ku/Ka-band Intelsat 40e satellite in Q3 2022, it said in an FCC International Bureau posting Monday seeking OK for launch and operation at 91 degrees west.
Satellite broadband startup AST wants U.S. market access for its planned 243-satellite constellation licensed by Papua New Guinea, with operations expected to begin in 2023, it said in an FCC International Bureau petition Monday. It asked for authorization to use the V band for gateway communications and to use some LTE frequencies. It said its low earth orbit constellation can provide broadband access to any handset and any LTE or 5G enabled device without modifications or use of special chipsets, and that it plans to partner with carriers, allowing them to provide nationwide 5G coverage even in places without terrestrial infrastructure. It said it has partnership agreements with multiple global mobile network operators. AST said it has raised $128 million, enough to fund its next test satellite, a buildout of its Texas satellite manufacturing facility and launch of the first tranche of 18 of its SpaceMobile satellites in 2021. It said investors include American Tower, Rakuten and Vodafone.
Ligado arguments that it reached coexistence agreements with major GPS receiver manufacturers ignore that those agreements didn't resolve to use a 1 dB standard as benchmark for harmful interference to GPS receivers, the GPS Innovation Alliance emailed us Monday. It said a 1 dB standard "is the only reliable mechanism that provides the predictability and certainty." Ligado opposes using a 1 dB limit (for example, see 1911250038).
Establish a baseline for guaranteeing how solid a satellite applicant's analysis of collision probability is or if an applicant meets the proposed safety metric, ViaSat officials told International Bureau staff, per a docket 18-313 posting Monday. For low earth orbit mega constellations, the failure rates of satellites' maneuvering capability need to be kept low by ensuring continued functioning of propulsion and satellite communications/command systems, and ensuring enough propellant, it said.
April 24 is the deadline for makers of commercial GPS equipment used in critical infrastructure and by critical infrastructure owners and operators to apply to participate in a Department of Homeland Security GPS equipment testing event this summer, said a request for information for participation.
FCC-proposed orbital debris rules on April 23's agenda (see 2004010063) would require amateur satellite operators to personally indemnify the federal government for the satellite's operators, and satellite owners should be the ones indemnifying, Radio Amateur Satellite representatives told International Bureau staff, per a docket 18-313 posting Friday. It said finding an individual amateur radio licensee willing to bear that risk personally "would be difficult to impossible." It urged implementation later than April 2022 of the requirement satellites in orbit above 400 kilometers be designed with collision avoidance maneuvering capabilities, since amateur satellite designs are done often by volunteers and can take years. The firm proposed April 2025.
Omnispace's first two non-geostationary orbit S-band satellites are expected to launch in 2021, it said Thursday. It hired Thales Alenia Space to develop the satellite infrastructure for its hybrid narrow-band IoT/mobile network.
The COVID-19 pandemic will have "limited" effects on FY 2019 revenue to the tune of about $22 million, though the pace of new business will likely slow, Eutelsat said Thursday. It said Q3 launch of its Quantum satellite is likely delayed, and the deployment of gateways for its Konnect satellite also will likely be partially delayed. It said its board is cutting its stock dividend 30% and its share buyback program is suspended.