Subsurface imagery startup Lunasonde plans to launch its San Xavier non-geostationary orbit cube satellite in July, it said in an FCC Space Bureau application posted Friday. The satellite will be used to demonstrate satellite functionality and image the Earth's subsurface and ionosphere, it said. San Xavier will operate in frequencies allocated for Earth exploration-satellite service and space operation service, it said.

In-orbit services' revenue is expected to grow more than 10% annually between now and 2030, driven by increasing demand for satellite life extension, repair and debris mitigation services, space consultancy Neuco Director Laurie Scott wrote Monday. The need for life-extension services is rising as many satellites are closing in on their operational lifespans and servicing existing satellites is more cost-effective than deploying new ones, Scott added.

Umbra Lab is targeting Q4 2025 to launch four additional synthetic aperture radar earth exploration satellite service microsatellites, it told the FCC Space Bureau in an application filed Wednesday. The company said that Umbra-11, -12, -13 and -14 will replace some of the 10 Umbras that the FCC previously authorized and that were launched. Umbra said the four will have largely the same RF and orbital characteristics as the ones approved.

The U.N. should set a sustainable development goal around safeguarding low earth orbit (LEO), akin to the one it has for safeguarding the oceans, a group of researchers said. In a paper Thursday in the journal One Earth, the authors said the marine and orbital environments share similar, growing problems of plastic waste and orbital debris, respectively. Meanwhile, both operate as "global commons," adding that policy approaches to try to tackle marine waste could also be models for handling space junk. They said voluntary agreements alone haven't been enough to address plastic pollution, and LEO needs a global treaty to scale up the voluntary agreements in place to safeguard that orbit. Any such treaty must include producer and user responsibilities for satellites and related debris. Authors of the paper include faculty from the University of Plymouth's International Marine Litter Research Unit, the University of Texas at Austin and the California Institute of Technology.

The FCC Space Bureau has rejected Sateliot's application to provide a satellite-based IoT service in the 2 GHz mobile satellite service band (see 2406060057). In an order Wednesday, the bureau dismissed Sateliot's U.S. market access petition, saying the 2 GHz bands aren't available for additional MSS applications. The agency similarly has denied SpaceX use of the band for direct-to-device operations (see 2403270002).

As it reviews SpaceX's requested modification for its second-generation satellites, including the company's authorization request for 22,488 pending satellites (see 2410150002), the FCC Space Bureau is seeking clarification on spectrum and orbital altitude issues. In a letter dated Tuesday, the commission asked SpaceX to elaborate on additional frequency needed for the 7,500 previously-authorized satellites. It also asked whether any of its second-generation satellites would operate at 525-535 km or if they would all be in orbital shells of 475-485 km. Moreover, it asked whether the company could comply with existing ITU equivalent power flux density limits with the proposed upgrades to its system. And it asked that SpaceX provide its calculations of interference levels into geostationary orbit operations for the authorized 7,500 satellites and the 29,988-satellite system. It asked for answers to its questions by Feb. 7.

Chilean authorities have granted the authorizations needed for SpaceX and mobile service partner Entel PCS Telecomunicaciones to commence supplemental coverage from space service in the South American country, SpaceX told the FCC in a filing posted Monday in docket 23-135. It was the latest in a series of SpaceX notifications to the commission regarding SCS service being ready to launch in foreign markets (see 2412200045).

Globalstar is partnering with Peiker Holding Gmbh on satellite-based emergency services and telematics services for the automotive industry, the satellite operator said Tuesday.

SpaceX's Starship rocket and its large capacity could drive down already-plummeting satellite bandwidth costs even more, ARK Investment analyst Sam Korus wrote Monday. The cost of satellite bandwidth has dropped 7,500-fold since 2004, from $300 million per Gbps to $40,000 per Gbps, and Starship could prompt another 40-fold decline, to roughly $1,000/Gbps by 2028, he said. "Clearly, competitors are finding it difficult to match SpaceX’s cost declines," he said.

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.