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.

The space economy globally was $383.5 billion in 2017, with the U.S. accounting for 57 percent of global governmental space spending, the Space Foundation said Thursday. It said the U.S. share of global orbital launch activities was 33 percent, and the U.S. share of global spacecraft deployed was 65 percent.

Intelsat joined the Seamless Air Alliance, it said Wednesday. Other members of the in-flight connectivity standards consortium started earlier this year include Nokia, Air France, OneWeb, Airbus, Delta and Sprint (see 1806040059).

With not much growth projected at satellite-connected oil and gas production sites by 2027, service providers and satellite operators instead should look to invest in capacity and infrastructure allowing maximum bits per site, Northern Sky Research analyst Brad Grady blogged Tuesday. He said demand will increase for latency-sensitive digital applications at such sites, plus numerous applications where data pipe size will be of greater importance.

Satellite startup Swarm, subject of an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation of a previous unauthorized satellite launch (see 1805030034), is asking for agency approval to downlink orbital data from those satellites. In an Office of Engineering and Technology application earlier this month, Swarm said it wants a 180-day special temporary authority for downlinking the data, which then would be made available to other satellite operators and to federal agencies to ensure interested parties have current orbital parameters for four SpaceBee satellites. It said the four are in orbit at roughly 500 kilometers altitude. The company didn't comment Wednesday; the FCC said the investigation is ongoing. Swarm also has a pending experimental license application for launch of more cubesats (see 1806110004).

The FCC's NPRM on opening up the C-band to terrestrial use approved last week (see 1807120037) shows the agency isn't looking to protect and serve existing users serving public interests but is interested in appeasing wireless and big data financial interests and generating government revenue, SkyAngel Vice President-Engineering Sherrod Munday blogged Friday on LinkedIn. He criticized Intelsat's role in a plan to clear part of the C-band of satcom operations and said any satcom company willingly giving up spectrum "obviously must have done so out of a desperate and final play to survive ... yet that's not the perspective or playbook shared by any terrestrial broadcasters with common sense and a heartfelt mission to serve the public." The FCC, by acting months before the C-band earth station registration window has closed, is the agency "showing disregard for the information it said it wanted," Munday said. He urged broadcaster and other satcom user involvement in the NPRM. Intelsat didn't comment Monday.

Satellite operators don't primarily rely on real-time data for coordination but instead use models showing system noise temperature changes, and a real-time approach to a coordination trigger as proposed by Telesat Canada/OneWeb would make spectrum sharing tougher, satellite startup Karousel said. In an FCC docket 16-408 posting Wednesday, it said the non-geostationary orbit spectrum sharing rule isn't band splitting, as OneWeb painted it, but the equitable sharing terms are a motivator to make sure parties coordinate in good faith. Conversely, the first-in-line approach of the ITU incentivizes spectrum warehousing and speculation and discourages good-faith coordination, Karousel said. OneWeb petitioned the FCC to revisit the band-splitting portion of NGSO rules adopted last year (see 1801180060). OneWeb and Telesat outside counsel didn't comment.

EchoStar hopes to get four additional years of life out of EchoStar 9. In an FCC International Bureau filing Monday, it requested a license term extension to Aug. 31, 2022, pointing to the satellite's estimated fuel consumption and end of life. The current license term for EchoStar 9 -- which launched in August 2003 and operates at 121 degrees west -- expires Aug. 18.

Hispasat will invest in LeoSat in a deal that they said will complement Hispasat's geostationary fleet with LeoSat's planned low earth orbit (LEO) constellation and give the Spanish satellite operator a route to new data market verticals. Pointing to a similar 2017 investment in LeoSat by Sky Perfect, LeoSat and Hispasat said Tuesday the LEO operator will work with both for their commercial and regulatory expertise and on such efforts as vendor selections for customer premise equipment and ground operations and further optimization of the satellite platform. LeoSat said launch of its constellation is expected to begin next year.

Dish announced integration with Google Assistant for voice control when paired with a Google Home speaker, Android phone or iPhone. Customers can ask the Assistant to set recordings, adjust volume and launch apps including Game Finder, Netflix and Pandora, it said, and use voice commands to navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor or genre. Search results are displayed for Dish programming and Netflix TV shows and movies, it said.