Apple TV now supports the SiriusXM app, allowing for listening via Apple TV 4K and the fourth-generation Apple TV, SiriusXM said Thursday.

Boeing no longer intends to launch and operate the V-band non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation it submitted an application for in 2016 (see 1606230050), handing off its plans to an company owned entirely by OneWeb founder and Executive Chairman Greg Wyler. In an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday, the company asked for permission to amend its V-band constellation application to substitute in Wyler's SOM1101 as the one authorized to launch and operate the broadband constellation. Boeing denied its initial application was a case of spectrum speculation, saying it submitted it "in good faith with intent to construct a satellite system," but it and SOM1101 concluded "it would be more appropriate" for SOM1101 to be the licensee with Boeing "remain[ing] available to provide manufacturing and advisory service as needed." Boeing said SOM1101 "is well-positioned to bring innovative services to market." It said it won't profit from a SOM1101 license transfer when it's partially reimbursed for part of its NGSO application costs. It has been common for satellite manufacturers to file "on spec" for different systems as a means of spurring interest in new technologies, so it wouldn't be fair to suggest Boeing never had any intention of operating its own system, said Andrew D’Uva, president of satellite and wireless consultancy Providence Access. If Ku-band systems are "oceanfront properties," D'Uva said in an interview, V-band "is tomorrow’s river or bay-front real estate" -- requiring development but inevitably built on. He said Wyler's record in NGSO constellation concepts like O3b, being brought to operational fruition by subsequent investors, means any project in which he's involved "is likely to attract wide attention and interest." Boeing, OneWeb and O3b didn't comment.

The V-band satellite market, while speculative, could have 2.6 million installed sites by 2030, generating more than $25.8 billion in cumulative annual revenue, Northern Sky Research said Wednesday. NSR said those looking at V-band opportunities should consider launching programs that would support multiple terabits per second, and more than 5 Tbps could be generated 2023-30, not counting such segments as mobility. It said V-band deployment challenges include landing rights in key countries, hardware development and rain fade. Satellite operators are seeking FCC approval for the constellations (see 1703020036).

LeoSat signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a possible service agreement with enterprise connectivity company Globecomm Systems, the two said Wednesday. LeoSat said it's finalizing manufacturing plans for its planned low earth orbit constellation (see 1611160010) with Thales Alenia Space.

Hughes wants to permanently extend coverage of its EchoStar XIX satellite to encompass the U.S. Virgin Islands. In an FCC International Bureau filing Monday, it said the extension would let it provide broadband service for consumer applications, plus disaster recovery and emergency operations services. It's providing broadband services as part of Hurricane Maria recovery efforts under special temporary authority granted last month.

Commercial, civil and defense space stakeholders agree now is the time for the federal government to start deciding what space operations it will maintain and what can be done through the commercial sector or international partners, said the authors of a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies paper issued Tuesday. There's general concurrence on direction, but specifics are being debated, said Aerospace Corp. Senior Policy Analyst James Vedda: He and George Washington University Space Policy Institute faculty member Peter Hays found broad agreement all satellites should have either passive or active tracking capabilities, but no concurrence on whether that should be mandatory. There's debate over how big a role government should have in fostering and encouraging commercial space debris removal offerings, said Vedda. The paper, done in collaboration with Aerospace Corp., said most experts favor moving space situational awareness activity from the Defense Department to a civil agency such as the FAA. It said there's general agreement that the expected smallsat boom means the current compliance rate for existing debris mitigation and end-of-life disposal guidelines must be strengthened, with the 25-year rule for post-mission disposal "shortened dramatically." Many said the 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Cause by Space Objects needs clarification and better common understanding about issues like what defines dangerous interference and encroachment, maybe in the form of a variety of separate bilateral or multilateral agreements, according to the paper. It noted calls for better valuing and protecting spectrum used in space-based telecom, remote sensing and positioning, navigation and timing service as that spectrum is increasingly sought for terrestrial mobile networks. It said respondents suggested indemnification for systems that support national security. Hays said there have for years been calls for government to make decisions about what space capabilities it will keep in-house and what it will outsource, and the breadth of commercial offerings coming online creates opportunity and impetus.

Intelsat and Intel are pushing their joint plan for clearing some C-band for 5G with Chairman Ajit Pai's staff. The two in a docket 17-183 ex parte filing posted Monday recapped a meeting with a Pai aide in which the companies asked the agency to act on an NPRM suggesting the Intelsat/Intel sharing framework the two put forth in October (see 1710020047). They "stand ready" to work on hammering out implementation details.

Dish Network and Lilly Broadcasting signed a multiyear carriage deal for the broadcaster's channels in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and markets in Pennsylvania, New York and Hawaii, Dish said Thursday. Terms weren't disclosed. Carriage talks between the two resulted in a blackout in October (see 1710030066).

The Trump White House, like the Obama White House, seems particularly focused on enabling commercial space operations, and the resurrected National Space Council (see 1710050042) could provide a route for getting regulatory agency consensus on tackling such issues as orbital debris, said Moon Express Vice President-Government Affairs Ben Roberts in a Policy Studies Organization talk Friday. In most administrations, the president is making only the toughest decisions, and the key to space policy thus comes in choosing the staffers and advisers who formulate most of the policy, said Roberts, who most recently was in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Obama administration. But Planetary Society Space Policy Adviser Jason Callahan said those staffing decisions aren't enough because of the competing interests, like Congress, requiring that the president have ongoing engagement. Callahan said that has been a space policy failure in the U.S. for years, with presidents setting a space policy goal and then moving on to other issues and that policy going nowhere. The burgeoning commercial space industry is changing that dynamic, making the transition from one presidential administration to another less dramatic, said Commercial Spaceflight Federation Director Tommy Sanford: "The Elons and the Jeffs ... they're continuing to do their thing regardless of who is in office," referring to Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, founder of spaceflight company Blue Origin. The most dramatic space activity in coming years will be among commercial operators, and the Trump administration has shown an inclination to partner with them, Sanford said. Added Roberts, the Trump White House seems likely to approach civil space efforts in a coalition with the private sector. The space industry's best resource currently "is a bunch of nerdy billionaires," he said. Commercial space companies have the biggest incentives to deal with orbital debris, Sanford said, saying the federal government is a huge generator of debris and often breaks its own 25-year deorbiting rule. A big challenge to addressing orbital debris is having the federal government follow its own rules, he said. Added Callahan, governments likely will look for -- and use -- effective commercial solutions to debris when they emerge.

Whether the FCC should enforce orbital debris requirements on commercial and private satellites, since its mission has little to do with space, is a big open question in orbital debris mitigation policy, said Aerospace Corp.'s Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) in a white paper Thursday. The paper covers various agencies' space regulations and is aimed at nontraditional missions seeking regulatory preapproval. CSPS also said there has been confusion among experimental and federally connected missions about whether to go through the FCC or NTIA for spectrum access.