Aiming to limit its constellation's effect on ground-based astronomy, AST SpaceMobile announced Monday that it signed a coordination agreement with the National Science Foundation to work with it and the astronomy community. AST said the mitigation steps promised under the agreement come from recommendations of the International Astronomical Union’s Dark and Quiet Skies initiative, such as reducing satellite brightness and providing real-time satellite positioning data to observatories.

Ligado's planned cooperation with AST SpaceMobile is unlawful and would practically guarantee that Ligado can't satisfy its obligations to Inmarsat, the latter company told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in an objection Friday (docket 25-10006). Ligado has said its arrangement with AST is key to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring (see 2501060026). In its objection, Inmarsat said the deal has Ligado assigning some rights and economic benefits to AST, but Inmarsat's cooperation agreement with Ligado prohibits assigning any of its rights or delegating any obligations without Inmarsat's consent. Bankruptcy law similarly doesn't allow a partial assignment of rights or obligations, it said. Inmarsat has also asked the bankruptcy court to force Ligado to reinstate quarterly payments related to L-band spectrum use as part of Ligado's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding (see 2503040028).

Opening up BEAD to greater participation by low earth orbit (LEO) satellites under the auspices of being more technology-neutral "is really a billion-dollar handout" to SpaceX's Starlink, Penn State Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications Christopher Ali wrote Friday. "Subsidizing a technology that offers only 'good enough' connectivity ... risks creating a new digital divide as parts of the country go to satellite while others move to fiber optics," he added. Starlink is "a viable option for some," particularly for certain rural residents. But it shouldn't receive federal funding when its speeds don't meet minimum standards, it has high upfront costs, and it largely operates as a monopoly in the LEO market, Ali wrote.

While Amazon's Kuiper satellite constellation is the subject of reports that it's facing significant delays, precedent suggests those hurdles are normal and should get resolved as momentum builds, Quilty Space analyst Caleb Henry wrote Wednesday. In their first year, SpaceX's Starlink and Eutelsat's OneWeb fell short of the number of batch launches they had targeted, he said. Given how much Amazon has put into Kuiper -- an estimated $16.5 billion-$20 billion -- the FCC is likely to extend Kuiper's license, he added. The inaugural commercial launch of Kuiper satellites is slated for Monday (see 2504220002).

EchoStar's application for review of the out-of-band emissions (OOBE) limit waiver granted to SpaceX (see 2504080029) makes a "fact-free argument" and overlooks the FCC Space and Wireless bureaus' rationale, SpaceX said Wednesday (docket 23-135). SpaceX said the waiver, for its supplemental coverage from space operations in the PCS G block, was based on technical evidence in the record, but EchoStar never submitted any technical analysis of its own. EchoStar’s insistence that the FCC setting an OOBE limit precludes a waiver in appropriate circumstances would do away with the waiver rule itself, SpaceX said. The company also recapped conditions put on the waiver to protect adjacent-band terrestrial networks.

The first commercial launch of Amazon Kuiper satellites is now scheduled for April 28, the company said Monday. An April 9 launch of the batch of 27 satellites (see 2504020044) was postponed.

Updating the spectrum sharing framework between geostationary orbit (GSO) and non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems now, instead of waiting for pending international proceedings, would get Americans enhanced satellite broadband faster, SpaceX and Telesat said Tuesday (docket 25-157). They suggested changes to the draft NPRM regarding GSO/NGSO sharing in the 10.7-12.7, 17.3-18.6 and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands on the FCC's April meeting agenda (see 2504070054). Those changes included proposing that current GSO protections ultimately sunset so NGSO systems aren't unduly limited. The companies also called for the NPRM to propose backstop short-term and long-term interference protection criteria.

Geostationary orbit (GSO) satellite system operators risk ceding the in-flight connectivity market to low earth orbit operators if they don't come up with a meaningful competitive differentiation to LEO's lower latency and better data rates, Quilty Space wrote Monday. It said GSO industry talk about focusing on multi-orbit solutions is running up against such issues as Airbus becoming increasingly LEO-friendly in its hardware vendors and managed service providers.

Expect to see as many as 30,000 in-flight connectivity terminals in business jets by 2033, Valour Consultancy said Tuesday. It said small jets increasingly rely on low earth orbit connectivity, even as larger jets continue using multiple, redundant offerings. While SpaceX's Starlink has first-mover advantage in the LEO space, it could be challenged by Gogo's OneWeb-powered Galileo service and the technical support and customer service Gogo can offer, it said.

The FCC Space Bureau should sign off on Globalstar's C-3 constellation petition without a new 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum bands rulemaking, company representatives told bureau staff and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office, said a filing Tuesday. Globalstar said the 1.6/2.4 GHz mobile satellite service licensing framework "has been an extraordinary success," adding that it "has made the most" of its small bit of spectrum and the framework isn't in need of modification. SpaceX has argued for a 1.6/2.4 GHz rulemaking before a C-3 approval (see 2410020029). Meeting with the bureau and Carr's office, Globalstar reiterated its argument about the lack of room for a new operator in the 1.6/2.4 GHz band (see 2503180022). It said SpaceX's mega-constellation or another new entrant "would inevitably cause extensive harmful interference to Globalstar’s licensed services," and initiating a rulemaking could discourage the planning and investment needed to develop C-3.