Satellite operators are pushing the FCC for more time to respond to suggested updates to Part 2 and Part 25 rules to accommodate the boom in non-geostationary orbit constellation plans. In a docket 16-408 filing posted Monday, the satellite companies said moving the reply deadline by 14 days, to April 10, would make sure there's enough time to address the "complex technical propositions that will require significant effort to analyze." The joint motion was filed by Boeing, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Iridium, OneWeb, SES/O3b and Telesat Canada. Initial comments were received last month (see 1702280018).

Non-geostationary orbit satellite operators should have to share ephemeris data, such as current and predicted location, as a route to avoiding in-line interference, but the FCC needs to be flexible about how that data sharing happens and not require the operators to be part of any particular data-sharing organization, Planet Labs Director-Launch and Regulatory Affairs Mike Safyan told International Bureau personnel, according to an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 16-408. The agency is looking at proposed ephemeris data sharing requirements as part of its Part 2 and 25 rules update NPRM (see 1612150066).

Dish's Sling TV made its Cloud DVR service available to subscribers using Amazon Fire devices, it said in a news release Thursday. Sling announced the Cloud DVR service in 2016 for Roku users (see 1611280058).

Comments are due April 3 to Canada's Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) agency on proposed changes to the country's non-geostationary orbit licensing rules. A public notice last week said ISED is considering a limit on the number of licenses given per frequency band to some commercial systems, changes to the nation's coverage and capacity requirements, eliminating coexistence as an assessment criteria, and possible ways to address domestic frequency coordination disputes. ISED also said it's looking for input on clarification of satellite first-come, first-served licensing rules.

Eutelsat will be Blue Origin's first commercial launch customer, with the inaugural launch likely in 2021, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer announced Tuesday at Satellite 2017. Bezos said Blue Origin's aim is to significantly reduce launch costs through both operational reusability and the expertise the company gains by multiple flights of its New Shepard suborbital space tourism launches. He said Blue Origin is focusing on reclaiming its launch boosters through vertical landings, instead of parachutes, because that new approach is particularly scalable to larger booster rockets. And Bezos said by lowering launch costs, satellites “will be less precious; you will be able to take more technology risks.” The result “will be a much larger industry," he said.

ViaSat and Eutelsat will jointly launch a consumer retail service in Europe, in a partnering arrangement the two announced in a news release Monday. The companies said the partnership is intended to expand Eutelsat's existing wholesale broadband business. The joint wholesale service offering will involve broadband and mobility services in Europe and the Mediterranean, and feature Eutelsat's broadband business, in which ViaSat is buying a 49 percent stake, they said. The retail services business will involve broadband offerings in Europe and the Mediterranean, with ViaSat owning 51 percent, they said.

Starting March 18, DirecTV wants to begin drifting its SkyB1 satellite from 33 degrees west to its permanent home at 43.15 degrees west. In a request for special temporary authority filed Thursday with the FCC International Bureau, DirecTV said the in-orbit testing of the satellite -- launched last month -- began Wednesday and is expected to run until March 18. It said the drift is expected to take about 10 days. DirecTV said it will begin in-orbit testing of Ka-band frequencies after the satellite relocates due to coordination challenges.

Hearst and Dish Network are blaming each other for suspended retransmission consent renewal talks that resulted in a blackout. In a news release Friday, Dan Joerres, president-general manager of Hearst's WBAL-TV Baltimore, said Dish "has continued to insist on including material terms that are less favorable than our current agreement [and] is seeking the right to carry our stations at below market rates, which is neither fair nor reasonable." Hearst said WBAL and 29 other stations are no longer being carried on Dish. Dish, in a news release, said Hearst "has used the move to gain deal leverage as it seeks above-market rate increases nearly double the current DISH rate, and other unreasonable demands. Hearst has also refused DISH’s offer to match the rates paid by other pay-TV providers." The American Television Alliance said Hearst is responsible for the majority of carriage disruptions this year, with it also part of a AT&T-owned DirecTV disruption on New Year's Day (see 1701030046). It said Hearst is proof "there’s nothing to stop broadcasters from hitting consumers on the nose with more blackouts and higher fees." The group's partners include AT&T and Dish.

SES wants to reorient Ka-band beams on its AMC-15 and AMC-16 satellites. In FCC International Bureau applications Wednesday (see here and here), SES said customer demand was driving the need for more coverage, and the reorientation of ARC-15 would cover the continental U.S., Gulf of Mexico, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean and Central America, and reorienting ARC-16 would cover the U.S., Canada and parts of the Caribbean. The company said no existing Ka-band customers would be affected and there would be no change in the satellites' Ku-band operations.

The Federal Aviation Administration is "ready today" to move from ground-based radar to the GPS-based automatic dependent surveillance -- broadcast network and the agency "look[s] forward" to the Jan. 1, 2020, deadline for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast equipment being installed in aircraft, said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta Thursday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit, according to posted remarks. Huerta said as aviation increasingly includes such participants as unmanned aerial vehicles and commercial rocket launchers, the agency "must find a way to balance these often-competing priorities." Huerta said that balancing act "has raised important questions about how our air traffic control system should be operated and who should pay for it" and called for collaboration on answers.