Ligado's Chapter 11 bankruptcy stems from the U.S. government opposing company efforts to create a terrestrial wireless network using L-band spectrum, as well as Viasat's attempts at obtaining sole access to that same spectrum, Ligado's CEO contends. In an affidavit submitted Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware (docket 25-10006) as part of Ligado's Chapter 11 filing (see 2501060026), Doug Smith said government action -- particularly by DOD -- has deprived it of substantial revenue while the company also has invested heavily in an L-band terrestrial network. Smith said unfounded claims about how Ligado's proposed service could interfere with GPS have hurt the company's future revenue potential "by creating substantial uncertainties and pressure" on its business model and prospects. "As a result, the Debtors do not yet generate adequate cash flows from operations to fund their operating expenses and capital expenditures," Smith said. Separately, talks with Viasat over the amount paid to Inmarsat regarding Ligado's and Inmarsat's L-band coordination were suddenly "upended," Smith said. Viasat rejected alternatives to the Ligado/Inmarsat cooperation agreement terms "and revealed that its true intent is to access the Debtors’ spectrum," he said. It "became clear in the weeks leading up to the commencement of these Chapter 11 Cases that, in reality, Viasat was not interested in reaching a workable commercial resolution." Ligado has litigation pending before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the U.S. over the L-band spectrum (see 2411180023). Viasat didn't comment Tuesday.

Eutelsat experienced a 48-hour outage on its OneWeb Low Orbit service starting on Tuesday, the company reported Thursday. “The root cause was identified as a software issue within the ground segment,” said a news release: “Eutelsat was fully mobilized and worked with the vendor to restore full service, while maintaining a constant dialogue with affected customers. The constellation is operating nominally once again.”

The FCC released on Tuesday an order reallocating the 2360-2395 MHz band on a secondary basis for space launch operations (see 2412190044). Commissioners approved the order 5-0 Dec. 23, ahead of the Dec. 25 statutory deadline set in the Launch Communications Act, which was enacted in September (see 2409270060). The order also incorporates the band into the FCC’s Part 26 space launch regulatory framework, which includes space launch licensing and frequency coordination rules. “To protect critical federal and non-federal flight testing operations,” the FCC also incorporates into the Part 26 rules “certain technical rules” from the agency’s Part 87 rules covering aviation industry communications. “Throughout this proceeding, the Commission has recognized that reliable spectrum access for space launch operations, which includes transportation of cargo and people into space, orbital launches to place satellites into space, and suborbital launches, is crucial to ensuring that the United States remains a global leader in space and innovation,” the order said: “Today, by implementing the recent Congressional directive, we take further steps to ensure that commercial space launch companies have reliable access to the necessary radio spectrum to communicate with their launch and reentry vehicles.” The 2360-2395 MHz band comes atop the 2025-2110 and 2200-2290 MHz allocations for space launch activities commissioners approved in the fall (see 2309210055).

The deadline for Lynk Global's business combination with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Slam Corp. -- previously expected in the second half of this year (see 2402050065) -- has been moved to June 30, Slam told the SEC this month. The deal will take Lynk public, with the two operating as Lynk Global Holdings. The Lynk SPAC agreement was announced in December 2023 (see 2312190004).

Logos Space Services CEO Milo Medin, meeting with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's office, urged that his company's non-geostationary orbit constellation application be put on public notice expeditiously, said a Space Bureau posting last week. Logos' plans call for a 3,960-satellite constellation to offer business connectivity (see 2410310003).

Letting SpaceX provide supplemental coverage from space service in the 1429-2690 MHz band runs contrary to FCC efforts to limit the interference potential that SCS operations pose, Viasat said in a petition filed Thursday with the FCC Space Bureau. Seeking a reconsideration of the agency's November SCS authorization for SpaceX (see 2411260043), Viasat said the authorization improperly lets SpaceX operate in band segments not available for SCS or mobile satellite service. Viasat said the order improperly lets SpaceX conduct operations without using the modified processing-round procedures that the FCC requires.

With an eye to a mid-2026 launch of its prototype in-space refueling vehicle, Astroscale is seeking FCC approval for launch and operation. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday, Astroscale said the craft is under construction via a cost-share contract from U.S. Space Systems Command. It is planned that the vehicle will conduct two refueling demonstrations with the Space Force in supersynchronous geostationary orbit, beyond the geostationary arc. The vehicle will operate in X-band uplinks and downlinks, Astroscale said.

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh met with FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington to expedite its review of the company's proposed takeover of Intelsat. In a docket 24-267 filing posted Tuesday, SES said it noted that the transaction has been pending for almost eight months and that it wants to close on Intelsat by June, given the increasingly competitive satellite communications universe. The $3.1 billion deal is expected to get a regulatory green light (see 2404300048).

Expect satellite IoT adoption to take off due to standardization advancements, Counterpoint said Friday. The Third Generation Partnership Project's Release 17 in 2022 enables hardware solutions that support both cellular and satellite connectivity, it said. The forthcoming new radio non-terrestrial networks standard, expected to enter commercialization with Releases 18 and 19 by 2027, should drive IoT adoption in applications requiring real-time and high-speed data, it said. The number of satellite IoT connections in the world will reach 41 million units in 2030, up from 3.6 million in 2020, it added.

SpaceX's Starlink has upended the satellite communications industry, but one area where it's weak is customer service, satellite communications consultant Glenn Canales wrote last week. Competing with Starlink means outdoing the value-added resellers SpaceX works with by providing vertical expertise and a single, knowledgeable point of contact, he added. It's easy to look to multi-orbit networks as an advantage over Starlink's low earth orbit network, but seamlessly combining LEO with geostationary or medium earth orbit networks and cellular networks "takes actual skill and execution." But having reliable service could be a competitive differentiator to Starlink, which often faces service congestion, he said. Starlink's "broad appeal is its strength and its Achilles’ heel," since niche markets, like first responders and government agencies, want tailored offerings.