Some space station operators with coordinated power levels above “'routine' limits'" need not coordinate any "properly notified power levels" under a two-degree spacing policy with applicants and petitioners for such U.S. market access who later filed complete requests, said a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. It listed space stations including with AMC, Intelsat, SES and Sky in their names.

The Commerce Department's Office of Space Commerce needs more personnel and funding to take on commercial space regulatory overhaul, grow the export market and maintain U.S. leadership in space commerce, Aerospace Corp. said in an issue brief Monday. It said space traffic management likely will get significant attention due to its importance and urgency but said other challenges that need to be addressed include rules or standards for inter-orbital transportation, private-sector space stations and exploitation of extraterrestrial resources and locations.

With its two remote sensing satellites, SkySat-14 and SkySat-15, due to launch Sept. 30, Planet Labs wants approval for 180 days to use 8374.75 MHz and 8375.25 MHz for telemetry transmissions, it said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority application posted Wednesday. Without the approval, the two satellites -- to be released in a tight cluster -- would be indistinguishable from one another by earth stations for the first few days on orbit. It said within 60 days, the satellite orbits will have diverged enough that the two will be distinguishable and both will transmit from 8375 MHz.

The FCC partially rejected and partially granted a 2005 petition for reconsideration by satellite operators on the agency's emergency alert system report and order (see 0601040124). In an order in Wednesday's Daily Digest, commissioners rejected the ask by Intelsat, SES and the former PanAmSat, which was acquired by Intelsat, that EAS obligations for Ku-band fixed satellite service licensees move to the video programming distributors that lease transponder capacity from the licensees. It rejected an alternative ask that it not apply FSS EAS rules to FSS operations covered by lease agreements already in place when the EAS requirements took effect. It said over the past decade in which the rules have been in effect, it hasn't heard from FSS licensees about big problems with rules implementation. But the agency said it adopts more specific criteria for determining when EAS obligations are triggered for FSS licensees whose satellites provide programming aimed primarily at consumers outside the U.S. The FCC said another pending petition for partial reconsideration of the EAS order by the former XM Radio seeks reconsideration of unrelated issues and will be addressed separately.

The amended operational terms Ligado is pledging for its proposed ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) broadband network don't fully resolve the GPS interference issues they are supposed to, or address aviation safety and operational efficiency concerns, Aviation Spectrum Resources said in a docket 11-109 filing posted Wednesday. It said given the minimal progress over the years on resolving such issues, the FCC should deny the modification applications unless the issues are promptly addressed. It said Ligado's planned 500-foot diameter standoff cylinder around transmitters raises numerous operational issues that need answering before the agency should OK the applications. It said there need to be other terms in the modification applications dealing with site spacing and base station tower density, among other issues, to safeguard GPS receivers. Ligado in a statement said it's deferring to the FAA, and its amendment reflects that agency's analysis. Also in the docket Wednesday, autonomous nautical craft-maker Marine Advanced Research, which worked with Ligado on a technology demonstration, said the FCC should support Ligado's amended license modification applications. Ligado supporters and critics have been at odds over the ATC license modification application amendment (see 1807190002).

Wireless advocates and Globalstar remain at loggerheads about increased interference in the 5.1 GHz band that Globalstar is blaming on sharing that band with outdoor Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure operations. Numerous wireless advocates in RM-11808 reply comments posted Tuesday repeated their arguments that the company hasn't shown it's suffering harmful interference or proven any such interference is due to U-NII-1 operations (see 1807090003). Globalstar, citing more than 800 noise measurements taken globally since May 2014 that show a sizable increase in the 5.1 GHz noise floor since the FCC allowed outdoor U-NII-1 operations, said opponents haven't shown any data of their own despite knowing about the company's issues since at least November. It said its own consultant considered and dismissed all other possible sources, and no one else has identified a plausible alternate source. Without an FCC investigation and exploration of possible fixes, rising noise levels might hit "extreme levels in the near future" and seriously degrade Globalstar service, it said. Since rules protect Globalstar's licensed operations from unlicensed harmful interference, the company hasn't explained why the U-NII order framework for addressing interference issues in the U-NII-1 band is deficient, CTIA said. It said what Globalstar seeks would put "unnecessary costs and burdens" on Wi-Fi and LTE-U operations and "the mere issuance" of an NOI could chill investment due to regulatory uncertainty. Globalstar is relying on "deeply flawed" measurement data and technical analysis, NCTA said. It said the company's only supporters are its own customers and "opportunistic" satellite companies wanting to use Globalstar's inquiry about U-NII-1 rules as a proxy for their own concerns about terrestrial sharing in other bands. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance and Open Technology Institute at New America said the FCC should be "skeptical" of incumbents challenging band sharing and that adopting the Globalstar petition would set "a regrettable precedent" undermining agency and NTIA efforts for more efficient spectrum use. Qualcomm said Globalstar's interference analysis includes signals from outside the U-NII-1 band and alleges interference from nationwide U-NII-1 operations using measurements from a single point over the Midwest, while the claimed 2 dB increase in the noise floor comes from a technique that measures noise levels in 1 dB increments. It said Globalstar claims run contrary to U.S. advocacy at the ITU that the FCC’s U-NII-1 framework be applied worldwide. Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Ruckus Networks similarly opposed the petition (see here and here).

Citing a recent public statement by a Boeing executive that the company isn't currently building satellites for its proposed non-geostationary orbit satellite constellation, O3b said it's clear Boeing's NGSO processing round applications are "impermissible speculation," said a letter to the FCC last week. It said the FCC should dismiss Boeing's proposal to transfer two of its applications to SOM1101 (see 1801020007) and to dismiss the underlying applications. It said allowing the SOM1101 transfer or letting Boeing's "stalled" applications to proceed would increase uncertainty for other processing round applications and reward such speculation. Boeing didn't comment Monday. Iridium, SpaceX,Telesat Canada and O3b have challenged the proposed SOM1101 transfer (see 1803230004).

Beam Communications received an order for 5,000 units of the Iridium Go portable satellite hot spot, it said Friday, bringing the total order number since 2014 to 35,000. Delivery will be second half 2019. Michael Capocchi, Beam Communications CEO, said the order reflects increasing end-user demand for a device providing a global voice, messaging and SOS emergency activation in one unit. Apps for Microsoft Exchange, Gmail and weather have added functionality, it said. An Iridium Go hot spot was selling on www.satellitephonestore.com Friday for $795, with airtime plans starting at $59 monthly for 40 minutes on a one-year contract.

Comments on proposed frequency coordination with a dozen British Columbia satellite earth stations operating in the 3700-4200 MHz and 5925-6425 MHz bands are due Aug. 20, said an FCC public notice Friday. The agency said if no adverse comments come by then, the earth stations will be considered satisfactorily coordinated.

Ligado bashers and backers continue to clash over its license modification application amendment for its proposed ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) broadband network (see 1807100046), in replies in FCC docket 11-109 that were due Thursday and posted through Friday. NTIA didn't comment on when it expects to have its own recommendation to the FCC. Ligado supporters noted the need for spectrum for mobile and 5G uses. "Seize this opportunity to promote more efficient use of spectrum," the Competitive Carriers Association asked. L-band user Inmarsat said Ligado's proposed operations in the band will comply with rules and there's an inter-operator cooperation agreement between the companies on interference concerns for Inmarsat transceivers. Ligado has made "extraordinary efforts" to keep its commitments to address potential interference to neighboring services, and acted to address concerns, said the Wireless Infrastructure Association. The record's clear that GPS devices, including certified aviation ones, will be protected, and other stakeholders won't face harmful interference from the ATC deployment, Ligado said. Arguments that unmanned aircraft operating within a 250-foot cylinder of a Ligado transmitter might lose some navigational accuracy aren't backed by data, it said. Ligado said outside analysis shows Iridium won't have harmful interference from Ligado activity in the 1627.5-1637.5 MHz band. Weather and aviation interests said industry concerns about Ligado's ATC "have only intensified" over the past year. They said changes to the ATC proposal made to address the concerns of aviation interests don't address interference concerns involving uncertified GPS systems, satellite communication services or the concerns of the weather data community. They said aside from the harmful effects to a variety of GPS receivers, planned Ligado operations in the 1672.5-1637.5 MHz band also raise red flags about interference to mobile satellite systems. The 27 signers included AccuWeather, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the American Meteorological Society, Iridium, Lockheed Martin, the National Weather Association and Rockwell Collins. The Free State Foundation, which backed Ligado's application (see 1803140014), said since the license modification was filed in December 2015, the mid-band spectrum has gone unused, and once NTIA weighs in on Ligado's network proposal, the FCC should move quickly.