As of the end of 2024, the C-band relocation payment clearinghouse (RPC) has finished reviewing lump sum and non-lump sum claims and satellite operator claims, and it has moved to claims reconciliation, the RPC said in a docket 18-122 status report posted Friday. It said it reviewed $83.8 million worth of claims in Q4, and that reconciliation work will result in determinations of what adjustments might be needed to amounts reimbursed to satellite operators. Once reconciliation is done, the RPC will start work on the final accounting and audit, with the goal of finishing its C-band work by June.

Plummeting prices are a challenge for geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite operators, but they ultimately could be a boon by opening markets and otherwise increasing demand, Eutelsat Vice President-Pricing and Analytics Mark Kirley said. During a Global Satellite Operators Association event Thursday, he and other GSO executives said price competition from SpaceX's non-geostationary orbit Starlink system is hitting some markets and applications harder than others. "It's a tough time for [GSO] satellite operators," said Glenn Katz, Telesat chief commercial officer.

SiriusXM's SXM-9 satellite has wrapped up in-orbit testing and is fully operational, the company and satellite maker Maxar said Wednesday. Launched Dec. 5, SXM-9 will help provide coverage of North America, they said. Bridget Neville, SiriusXM's general manager-signal distribution engineering, said SXM-9 going into service and the expected launches of SXM-10, 11 and 12 "will strengthen the health of our satellite fleet for decades to come." SXM-10 is expected to launch later this year (see 2407190034).

Viasat subsidiary Inmarsat is objecting to Ligado's proposed debtor-in-possession financing plan to keep it afloat during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The $115 million in financing from secured lenders comes with $110 million in fees -- a "highly objectionable" provision, Inmarsat told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in its objection Wednesday (docket 25-10006). Inmarsat said that with no official committee of unsecured rectors in the case, it must "fill the [role] of estate watchdog and ensure some adversarial process is effectuated to ensure that any DIP Financing is in the estate’s best interest." Ligado is suing Inmarsat in conjunction with its bankruptcy, claiming that Inmarsat failed to hold up its end of a deal regarding use of the L band (see 2501100001).

The European Space Agency and Viasat are exploring a joint direct-to-device (D2D) service, ESA said Tuesday. Under the partnership agreement, Viasat would develop "a partner-funded satellite constellation" to provide smartphone and IoT connectivity, it said. Viasat is "fully committed to the development of D2D space capabilities" that combine existing geostationary assets and a new low earth orbit satellite constellation "that meets the needs of users in Europe and across the world," CEO Mark Dankberg said. "We will be deploying our expertise alongside a host of European partner companies in this important work."

Mobile operators may be unsure about dedicating large amounts of unimpaired terrestrial spectrum for direct-to-device service on a multi-region basis, or even near cities, Summit Ridge Group's Armand Musey and consultant Tim Farrar wrote in a white paper Monday. They said using terrestrial spectrum for D2D will spur patchwork coverage and restricted spectrum access across a limited number of countries. While use of mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum provides wider coverage, access for new entrants to MSS spectrum comes with its own challenges from incumbent use in some allocations, they said. Moreover, spectrum sharing would be disruptive to those MSS incumbent users. D2D devices like smartphones, with their small, omnidirectional antennas, might necessitate what is essentially band splitting to avoid operating in the same bands in the same geography with one another, they said. But further band splitting becomes impractical as the number of D2D-connected devices grows, and incumbent spectrum gets more heavily used, they said. The three primary MSS bands possibly available to new D2D providers -- L, 2 GHz and big low earth orbit -- are licensed to existing satellite operators that serve millions of MSS devices globally, they said. Commercial agreements between D2D providers and MSS operators are the best way of guaranteeing that critical applications are protected. The report was commissioned by Globalstar, which has an MSS partnership with Apple for provision of D2D service to iPhones.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas Horan of Delaware signed off on Ligado paying AST SpaceMobile up to $200 million in breakup fees if Ligado vacates or abridges the restructuring agreement between the satellite operators. Under Ligado's Chapter 11 restructuring agreement, AST agreed to pay Ligado upfront and annually for access to Ligado's L-band spectrum, as well as for use of Ligado's satellites and ground station assets. AST would use substantially all of Ligado's SkyTerra-1 satellite capacity under the agreement. In his order Monday (docket 25-10006), Horan said the fees were "good, compelling, sufficient, and sound" and negotiated in good faith, and AST "is unwilling to remain obligated" to consummate the transaction without approval of the fee and reimbursements. According to the agreement, the fee is in recognition of AST "having expended considerable time and resources in connection with this Agreement and the negotiation thereof." Horan also approved AST being reimbursed for expenses incurred in crafting the agreement.

The FCC should consider blanket mission requests when it examines space launch frequency coordination, Virgin Galactic said in a filing posted Friday. It said it plans to launch every three days and asked that operators with high flight cadences of similar or identical profiles be allowed to submit requests that cover multiple missions. The agency is considering space launch licensing and frequency coordination procedures and data requirements (see 2501230025).

SpaceX will start beta testing its direct-to-device Starlink service in three days, CEO Elon Musk wrote Friday on X. He said last month that its inaugural D2D constellation is in orbit (see 2412060039).

The growing problem of orbital debris necessitates moving to a circular space economy that emphasizes reuse, recycling and efficient management of space resources, wrote University of Texas at Austin aerospace engineering professor Moriba Jah this week. Jah said a circular economy means designing spacecraft using materials that minimize pollution and generate less waste, repairing satellites while in orbit to extend their lives, and recycling materials from defunct satellites for use on additional missions without bringing them back to Earth. The technology enabling such an approach has yet to be developed, he added. Meanwhile, governments should incentivize the design and development of sustainable space systems, such as through extended producer responsibility laws, said Jah, who leads the university's Space Security, Safety, and Sustainability program.