Pointing to its goal of protecting positioning, navigation and timing services delivered via GPS, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation (RNTF) in an FCC docket 11-109 letter posted Thursday to Chairman Ajit Pai and the regular commissioners opposed "any efforts" resulting in harmful interference to PNT services. It also included recent opinion pieces by members of the National Space-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board (see 1708070025) and by the Phoenix Center (see 1703210060) that questioned Ligado's planned terrestrial low-power broadband service as potentially being a major interference threat to GPS. RNTF didn't mention Ligado in its filing and didn't comment Friday. Ligado didn't comment.

OneWeb's ask to double the size of its proposed V-band broadband constellation (see 1801050002) and to employ the 12.2-12.7 GHz band constitutes a "newly filed application" and should go to the back of the queue and trigger a new processing round. That's what MVDDS 5G Coalition representatives including from Dish Network, Go Long Wireless and Vision Broadband told International and Wireless bureau staffers, according to an IB proceeding filing posted Wednesday. The coalition said at minimum, the FCC shouldn't consider the OneWeb proposed amendment until it's placed on public notice. It said members hold numerous licenses in the band for multichannel video and data distribution service and direct broadcast satellite services and it has been urging the FCC to open up that band to 5G. OneWeb didn't comment Thursday.

Since 2000, startup space ventures -- companies that began as angel- and venture capital-backed startups -- have attracted $18.4-plus billion in investment, Bryce Space and Technology reported Tuesday. Most of that has come in recent years, with $2.4 billion in 2015, $3 billion in 2016 and $2.5 billion last year, it said. The early 2000s had an average of four funded space companies starting annually, but the average has been 19 annually over the past six years, Bryce said. It said 2017's $2.5 billion figure involved 164 investors putting money into 73 startup ventures -- up from 136 investors and 65 ventures the year before. About 75 of all investment -- and 90 percent of seed and angel investment -- came from U.S. investors since 2015, it said.

With satellite on the verge of being a notable competitor in broadband services and a key part of the IoT (see 1803130029), the FCC needs to build on its history of promoting fixed satellite service broadband and keep approval of new, satellite-based services a top priority, Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Seth Cooper blogged Wednesday. He said the agency needs to continue to prioritize streamlining satellite service rules and clearing spectrum for commercial satellite use, urging making "suitable spectrum available in a timely fashion for new satellite technologies and services" and pointing to Ligado's proposed broadband terrestrial low-power service.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo of Brooklyn is recommending plaintiffs Dish Network, TVB Holdings, China Central TV and China International Communications collectively be awarded $46.14 million in statutory damages and that the defendant, alleged streaming video pirate HTV International, be enjoined from transmitting CCTV or TVB programming, including programming for which Dish has the copyright. That was the finding of a docket 16-cv-1489 report and recommendation (in Pacer) filed Friday with U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York. It said HTV mounted no defense and plaintiffs' allegations are enough to establish vicarious infringement. Dish and the Chinese programmers sought a certificate of default a year ago (see 1703230067).

Globalstar launched Globalstar Automotive, a division aimed at supporting the expected connected and autonomous vehicles and intelligent transport markets, it said Monday. Former Inmarsat Connected Car Program President Greg Ewert will head the division, reporting to President Dave Kagan, Globalstar said. (See the personals section in this publication's issue.)

Its cash reserves dwindling, Vancouver-based earth observation satellite operator UrtheCast said Friday it replaced CEO and co-founder Wade Larson with board member Greg Nordal as interim CEO. It said it started a search for a permanent CEO, and Larson will be a special adviser to the board focused on strategic business development. UrtheCast also said it hired FTI Consulting Canada to advise it on cost reduction and financing options, and it's shifting its business focus to construction and development of the UrtheCast constellation. UrtheCast also said it remained in negotiations with an unnamed investor on closing on financing for the constellation.

Telesat will collaborate with satellite operator Optus Satellite in live, over-the-air trials of its low earth orbit Phase 1 satellite launched in January, Telesat said Friday. It said its broadband constellation is expected to have 120 satellites by 2021. It said beyond joint Phase 1 testing, the Optus agreement also opens the door to joint services and market development plans.

Four O3b satellites were launched Friday on an Arianespace rocket and are heading to medium earth orbit (MEO), SES CEO Steve Collar tweeted. SES, which owns O3b, said the Ka-band satellites will join 12 broadband MEOs already in orbit. It said four more O3b satellites are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2019.

Consideration of ViaSat use of the Ka-band for inter-satellite links (ISL) should be put on pause until technical studies are done, EchoStar officials told an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai, according tlo a docket 16-408 ex parte filing posted Friday. EchoStar said Ka-band hasn't been authorized for ISL use largely because there's plenty of spectrum available already for ISL, and ViaSat hasn't shown why a non-conforming use should be allowed. At the least, the agency should defer ViaSat consideration until standards for antenna pointing accuracy and interference avoidance can be addressed internationally and in the U.S. It also repeated its call for the agency to keep the domestic coverage requirement for non-geostationary orbit constellations (see 1801030039). And it said streamlining of earth stations in motion rules should include use of off-axis equivalent isotropically radiated power density limits instead of antenna pointing accuracy requirements, and ending what it said were needless data logging requirements. ViaSat outside counsel John Janka of Latham & Watkins said ViaSat isn't proposing ISLs but satellite-to-satellite links connecting a medium earth orbit constellation with a geostationary orbit constellation and that the FCC and ITU tables of frequency allocation covering fixed satellite service (FSS) include such links. Meanwhile, in a docket 14-177 ex parte filing Friday on a meeting with International Bureau staff, EchoStar said it also backed allowing individually licensed FSS earth stations in the 24.75-25.25 GHz band, but opposed employing spectrum frontiers-like limits on deploying satellite gateways in the bands above 95 GHz, and instead sharing rules should be put off until satellite and terrestrial technologies for those bands are developed.