Ligado wants to relocate its MSAT-2 satellite from 103.3 degrees west to 106.5 degrees west, it said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority request posted Friday.
Citing technical difficulties with its International Bureau Filing System (IBFS), the bureau signed off on OneWeb's request to extend the deadlines for comments on its V-band petition and its proposed expansion of its non-geostationary satellite constellation granted U.S. market access in June (see 1808080003). In its approval Thursday, the bureau said IBFS suffered unspecified technical problems between July 30 and Aug. 8 that affected filings in the two proceedings. OneWeb requested an extension to Aug. 27, but the bureau said legal staff of parties that had filed comments in the proceedings and were potentially affected by an extension asked it be lengthened to past the Labor Day holiday; the bureau set the new deadline for Sept. 12. Asked about the IBFS issues, the FCC didn't comment Friday.
The FCC's not having a seat on the National Space Council is "a glaring omission" given the agency's satellite service licensing and "oversight of airwaves" being important for space issues going forward, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted Thursday.
Karousel's non-geostationary orbit satellite application, put on circulation last week (see here), is consistent with the other NGSO applications that have come before the commissioners and likely will have the same end result, an FCC staffer told us Friday. The staffer said the commissioners haven't voted on it. Karousel is planning a 12-satellite constellation for video delivery (see 1611160010). Commissioners have OK'd NGSO constellation applications by Audacy, O3b (see 1806050057) SpaceX, OneWeb and Space Norway (see 1803300014).
SES wants an extra 2.5 years of life for its AMC-7 satellite operating at 135 degrees west. In an International Bureau posting Wednesday, it said the C-band satellite's current license term expires Oct. 25, and it intends to stop inclination control in December and that would allow the satellite to operate longer. It asked for a license extension to Feb. 28, 2021.
A proposed five-year cap on smallsat on-orbit lifespans and the idea of requiring those satellites to have active maneuvering capability when deployed higher than 400 kilometers (249 miles) got disagreement among satellite interests in docket 18-86 reply comments Wednesday. The FCC's proposed streamlining of authorizations for small-satellite operators also hasn't received clear consensus on what constitutes a smallsat (see 1807100014). A five-year cap restricts launch opportunities and could make the streamlined process "commercially impracticable," the Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association (CSSMA) said. It said on-orbit lifetime limits should apply on a satellite-by-satellite basis and not cover all satellites on a given license because of launch delays and launch spacing. But SES/O3b said the cap, starting when the satellite is in its authorized orbit, will create incentives to limit constellation sizes only to what's necessary. And Iridium said a cap, paired with rules letting the FCC terminate authorizations due to in-orbit satellite failures, could help ensure there won't be "a mushrooming accumulation" of space debris. Audacy criticized the proposed five-year on-orbit lifetime and said the agency should allow three-year extensions atop that. Multiple parties argued against excluding from the streamlined process applicants without propulsion capability that want to deploy higher than the International Space Station. SpaceX said there could be new smallsat maneuvering strategies or technology changes that make propulsion more commonplace. But Iridium said the fact some smallsats will deploy maneuvering techniques that don't rely on propulsion doesn't mean all of them will. Multiple parties also agreed propulsion shouldn't be a requirement for going through the streamlined process, with CSSMA saying there are other issues beyond altitude -- such as spatial density and relative velocity -- that also define the risk of a constellation. There was also lack of agreement on limits on the number of applications an individual entity can file under the streamlined process, with multiple parties backing the idea of no limit, but Orbcomm said that in turn raises risk of collision or harmful interference that makes the streamlined treatment inappropriate. Audacy backed limiting the number of satellites under the streamlined process to 10 per license, which the Commercial Spaceflight Federation opposed (see here). Audacy also said small satellites should be exempt from processing round procedures and bond requirements for streamlined process applicants, but SES/O3b disagreed with eliminating the bond requirement. And Iridium argued against allowing smallsat uplinks in the 1616-1626.5 MHz band, which it uses for service links. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. said evaluating authorization of an amateur radio service mission shouldn't need to look at issues like ownership or mission funding sources.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) gave Virgin Orbit an experimental license for use of an S-band transmitter at its Long Beach, California, ground station to test its satellite launch vehicle tracking abilities. OET, in granting the application Monday, said the license expires Feb. 6.
With 62 small satellites being sent into space in Q1 of this year, launch demand should grow to 11,740 smallsats launched by 2030, Frost & Sullivan said Tuesday. It said there will be particular business opportunities due to high-volume subsystem demand, on-demand launch services for smallsats, capacity expansion of global ground station services and simplified standard platforms for downstream services. It said almost all the smallsat launch revenue between now and 2030 is expected to come from commercial operators, with SpaceX and OneWeb the major contributors.
An average of 580 small satellites will be launched annually by 2022 as initial constellations are deployed, Euroconsult said Monday. The numbers should jump to 850 a year in 2027, it said. It said broadband communications will be the biggest application, accounting for close to 3,500 smallsats expected to be launched between now and 2027. It said earth observation smallsats will almost triple, growing 540 to close to 1,400 by 2027. It said information for data collection and narrowband communications for IoT and ADS-B is a growing market, with 850 satellites expected. It said the 7,000 smallsats to be launched between now and 2027 are a $38 billion manufacturing and launch market. It said smallsat launch services are expected to generate $16 billion over the next 10 years.
Boeing withdrew two non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service applications after also withdrawing its plans to try to hand off those applications to SOM1101 (see 1807310031). In an FCC International Bureau filing last week, Boeing said it's still pursuing authorization for its third proposed NGSO constellation, which would -- like one of its withdrawn applications -- operate in the V-band. Boeing didn't comment Monday.