The Trump administration's commercial space launch and novel space mission executive order (see 2508140004) may result in actions that will be challenged in court, Holland & Knight spaceflight lawyer Paul Stimers wrote last week. He said the opposition could come from some environmental groups and state and local governments opposing particular provisions of the EO. Among other things, it directs multiple agencies to notify DOJ of state or local limitations on spaceport development that are inconsistent with federal law.

AST SpaceMobile is clarifying to the FCC that its activities in the 430-440 MHz band will be limited largely to emergencies when other frequency bands are unavailable. In a letter Friday to the agency's Space Bureau, it said the one exception is its FM-1 satellite, in which it will use 430-440 MHz for emergencies; for telemetry, tracking and control; and for launch and early orbit operations. It told the commission much the same earlier this month (see 2508060048). AST is seeing pushback from amateur radio interests to its request to use the band since they also use parts of it (see 2507210031). Pointing to an interference analysis it submitted, AST said it's "extremely unlikely" there will be interference to ham radio operations in the 430-44 MHz band.

Pointing to Amazon now having 100-plus Kuiper satellites in orbit (see 2508110058), satellite consultant Christian von der Ropp wrote Wednesday that the company doesn't need Kuiper to be directly profitable, unlike SpaceX and Starlink. He said Amazon's strategy is likely to use global, private cloud connectivity to drive growth in its cloud business. Kuiper's costs will be subsidized by higher-value cloud services, von der Ropp said.

The lack of satellite industry activity in medium earth orbit (MEO) is inexplicable, said Diego Paldao, SES' director of Americas sales and business development. During a Fierce Network webinar Wednesday on satellite connectivity, Paldao said low earth orbit (LEO) is seeing a “Pied Piper effect,” with many viable companies putting up or planning LEO broadband services. SES’ purchase of O3b and that company’s MEO system gave it the advantages of broad coverage without as many satellites as LEO would require, he said. SES’ O3b investment has paid off, he added, with the first generation of O3b maxed out in capacity, necessitating the higher-power O3b mPower constellation. The ninth and 10th mPowers launched in July. Paldao said the satellite industry focus on LEO might have eclipsed interest in MEO for now.

The mandatory orbital debris framework in the European Commission's proposed EU Space Act, with its goal of lowering total space debris by 50% by 2034, doesn't account for space industry trends, the Technology Policy Institute said Tuesday. As space activity increases, there are also increased market incentives for space debris removal services, wrote TPI senior fellow Sarah Oh Lam. Given the 50% reduction goal, the EU Space Act "might as well put a moratorium on space launches," she said, since the European Space Agency estimates that debris will keep growing during the next 200 years, even without additional space launches. The legislation doesn't include projections of marketplace responses "that can create technologies to mitigate debris without chilling investment, launch activity, and opportunity costs of diminished space development."

Amazon said Monday that its Kuiper constellation now has 102 satellites in orbit, with the fourth batch deployed following a SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Deployment launches began in April (see 2504290001).

The space industry will set new records in 2025 for the number of satellites launched and the total tonnage sent to orbit, mainly driven by SpaceX and its Starlink constellation, satellite consultant Carlos Placido wrote Monday. The notable growth of small satellite deployments "is a textbook example of a hockey stick trend, one that shows no signs of slowing down," he said.

AST SpaceMobile's nonconforming commercial use of the 430-440 MHz band could cause long-term harm to amateur radio service and the amateur satellite community, German aerospace company Amsat-Deutschland (AD) said in a docket 25-201 filing posted Friday. AST's dismissive attitude about "genuine technical and regulatory concerns" raised by legions of concerned parties "undermines confidence in AST’s respect for public process and stakeholder input."

Astranis is now providing satellite broadband across North America, with two small geostationary satellites fully operational, CEO John Gedmark wrote Thursday. The two satellites, which arrived in geostationary orbit in July, are part of a private network for in-flight connectivity provider Anuvu, he said. Astranis has more than $1 billion in contracted backlog for more commercial satellites, he added.

AST SpaceMobile said Wednesday it had acquired priority S-band rights globally held under the ITU. The company's direct-to-device satellites were designed with S-band capabilities in mind, it noted. CEO Abel Avellan said that alongside AST's 3rd Generation Partnership Project spectrum strategy and L-band spectrum strategy in North America, "we would be capable of expanding subscriber capacity by offering the vast majority of countries around the world the full AST SpaceMobile network capabilities, together with our mobile network operator partners, enabling a true broadband experience directly from space to everyday smartphones and with a goal of peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps.”