Reflect Orbital is eyeing an April 2026 launch for its Earendil-1 non-geostationary orbit satellite, it said in an FCC Space Bureau application posted Thursday. Earendil-1 is designed to reflect sunlight to a target on the ground using a motorized thin-film reflector with the aim of extending usable hours for solar cells to collect energy and providing illumination for critical operations, the company said.
Gray Media will buy Block Communications’ seven TV stations for $80 million and separately acquire two stations from SagamoreHill Broadcasting, Gray announced in two news releases Thursday and Friday. The Block deal includes Fox and CW affiliate stations in Louisville, where Gray already owns an NBC affiliate. The sale also involves Block’s NBC affiliates in Decatur, Illinois, and Lima, Ohio, and three low-power TV stations, some of which are also network affiliates. That could mean the deal would require a waiver from the FCC, though the top-four prohibition was recently vacated by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2507230063). “Gray anticipates closing these transactions in the fourth quarter of this year following receipt of regulatory approval, including certain waivers of the FCC’s current ownership rules, and other customary closing conditions,” a release said.
Skydance’s agreement to appoint an anti-bias ombudsman in order to secure merger approval isn’t a violation of press freedoms, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in an interview Thursday with PBS NewsHour. He noted that the bias monitor will report directly to CBS, not the FCC. “It's going to be for the broadcaster in the first instance to deal with it. If there's a complaint around news distortion ... then we would look at that complaint as it comes in,” he said. “It's not direct regulation by the FCC in terms of regulation of the newsroom itself. It's the company saying we want to put forth an ombudsman to help us do our job.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has rejected NAB’s challenge of the FCC’s 2024 foreign-sponsored content rule, said an opinion Friday. “We reject NAB’s challenges,” wrote Judge Karen Henderson (see 2504070019). “Procedurally, the rule complied with the [Administrative Procedure
USTelecom wants the FCC to address burdensome state and local permitting rules that it said are slowing broadband expansion. In a letter filed Thursday in docket 17-84, the group said many of its members face major delays, unpredictable approval timelines and excessive fees when trying to build networks. The letter aimed to show how these barriers are preventing providers from meeting federal broadband goals and deadlines, including projects funded by programs like the American Rescue Plan.
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Friday approved a waiver of Section 96.39(g) of commission rules that allows the University of Utah to operate a research tool using an experimental license over a small area in Salt Lake City. The rule section covers security requirements for citizens broadband radio service devices. In 2022, commenters raised concerns about the proposed waiver (see 2207190047), needed for wireless research using the university’s platform for open wireless data-driven experimental research (POWDER).
T-Mobile closed its purchase of spectrum, customers and other assets from UScellular, it announced Friday. The closing of the $4.3 billion deal was expected, though opponents filed an application for review just days before, asking the FCC to rescind the approval, which was done on delegated authority by the Wireless Bureau (see 2507310041). UScellular's brand "will transition in phases," T-Mobile said.
Members of the ACAM Broadband Coalition spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about the work toward developing the enhanced-alternative connect America cost model (E-ACAM), said a filing posted Friday in docket 10-90. “Achieving final support levels in the E-ACAM adjustment process that are as accurate and sufficient as possible requires two main elements,” the coalition said: “use of location, service availability, and enforceable commitment data that is as accurate and complete as possible” and “use of a support recalculation process that incorporates, to the extent possible, the true cost of serving E-ACAM company locations.”
The recently relaunched bipartisan congressional working group studying a USF legislative revamp is seeking a new round of stakeholder comments about how to proceed and has opened a portal for submissions, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said Friday. Meanwhile, the Digital Progress Institute said in a white paper Thursday that USF's current contribution mechanism is “unsustainable” and “horrendously inefficient.”
Under fire from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for it's supposed warehousing of its AWS-4 spectrum, EchoStar unveiled a $5 billion plan Friday for a direct-to-device satellite constellation using that spectrum. CEO Hamid Akhavan said the low earth orbit (LEO) constellation would start commercial service in 2029 and provide a 5G level of service to mobile devices.