Rather than focusing space security discussions on capabilities, increasingly those talks are focusing on space behaviors, or how those capabilities are used, space governance experts said Thursday in a Secure World Foundation panel talk about the state of space security diplomacy. U.N. member states haven't had success in addressing space security concerns because there still is a lack of consensus on what the Outer Space Treaty bans, and as some nations have struggled to define what a space weapon is, said Almudena Azcarate Ortega, U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research space security researcher. But that shift toward a focus on behavior "could be a good recipe for success in the future," she said. That the U.N. Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats ended its work last month without reaching any consensus shows "a profound deficit of trust" among the major space nations, said Claudio Medeiros Leopoldino, Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs head-disarmament and Sensitive Technologies Division. "We are still trapped in a circular debate" about what aspects of space security should be foremost, he said. He said there's a particularly big schism over the issue of pursuing nonbinding norms versus legally binding instruments. He said there also is disagreement over what kind of space threats need to be addressed, with some states prioritizing the prevention of weapons in space while others want to focus on anti-satellite weaponry.

Given the huge growth the satellite industry is seeing and the spectrum needs coming from that growth, the FCC should expand satellite use of the 12.7-13.25 GHz band rather than reallocate it for terrestrial wireless use, Intelsat, SES, Hispasat, Eutelsat and Ovzon representatives told Space Bureau staffers, per a docket 22-352 filing Thursday. They said they can make use of the spectrum almost immediately while it would be "many years before terrestrial operators will even be ready to take up this spectrum at auction and to deploy actual service to the public." Terrestrial mobile use at scale in the 12.7 GHz band would create aggregate in-band interference to satellite operations exceeding levels that would allow co-primary service sharing of the band, they said. Terrestrial mobile would also disrupt adjacent-band direct broadcast satellite and non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite services, they said.

In light of China's Digital Silk Road program, which has it investing in developing nations' telecom networks and other tech areas, the U.S. should use satellite broadband as a strategy for promoting internet freedom and global economic development, the Foundation for American Innovation said Thursday in a report. It recommended the government use low earth orbit (LEO) broadband service in U.S. diplomatic facilities where that service is available and permitted. Congress and the White House should incorporate satellite broadband in foreign assistance programs such as the Digital Transformation with Africa initiative and in Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment projects, it said. The U.S. should promote LEO broadband in foreign countries and promote its benefits in countries where it's not yet approved, it said.

The number of aircraft with in-flight connectivity hit 10,000 as of the end of 2022 and should reach 22,000 by 2032, Valour Consultancy said Wednesday. It said the capacity available to airlines will ramp up in coming years with low earth orbit and medium earth orbit constellations becoming operational.

SpaceX hasn't given any compelling reason why the FCC should act now on a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) allocation in the 17 GHz band, rather than waiting for completion of the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference and for a more-robust record concerning protections for geostationary orbit networks in the band, Viasat said Tuesday in docket 22-273. It urged the agency to defer action in the proceeding until after WRC-23 and development of that robust record. Earlier this month, SpaceX urged an allocation to help alleviate a shortage of Ka band. SpaceX said there is no need to wait for WRC-23, given that ITU Region 1 already supports NGSO FSS co-existence in the band, "undermining any reason to delay harmonization."

SpaceX's planned use of the 1990-1995 MHz band for downlinks will mean more interference by "orders of magnitude" for Omnispace and other mobile satellite system operators than what SpaceX is claiming, Omnispace CEO Ram Viswanathan told FCC Space and Wireless Bureau staffers, per a filing Monday in docket 23-135. Viswanathan said the cumulative level of SpaceX interference would mean neither Omnispace nor other S-band MSS operators would be able to use the 1990-1995 MHz spectrum in large portions of the globe. SpaceX didn't comment.

The FCC Space Bureau on Monday issued guidance on satellite license processes, terms and costs as part of its transparency initiative approved by commissioners in September (see 2309210055). It said it would host an online and in-person open house Nov. 1 at 10:30 a.m. that includes guidance documents and plans for the initiative.

Xona Space Systems' proposed 258-satellite positioning, navigation and timing services constellation (see 2307120002) raises technical and policy issues that need addressing, such as criteria for approving satellite networks that use spectrum allocated for radionavigation satellite services (RNSS), given the precedent that would be established in this proceeding, GPS Innovation Alliance told the FCC Space Bureau last week. It was replying to Xona's opposition to GPSIA's petition to deny. In its opposition to the petition earlier this month, Xona said its system won't degrade or reduce spectrum availability for existing GPS operations or other U.S.-authorized RNSS operations, or foreclose future RNSS operations in the U.S. It said GPSIA's push for aggregate interference protection isn't backed by U.S. rules, precedent or policies. GPSIA in its reply said Xona should do testing with actual global navigation satellite system receivers. "This would provide assurance that unanticipated effects will not manifest themselves," it said.

BIU’s request for judicial review of an FCC Enforcement Bureau dismissal of satellite company Spectrum Five’s complaint against Intelsat (see 2306280034) is "incurably premature" because the petitioner first needs to ask the FCC to review that order, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel ordered last week (docket 23-1163) in a one-page decision. Deciding were Judges Karen Henderson, Cornelia Pillard and Florence Pan.

Citing a growing bottleneck of launch services, Myriota wants to amend its pending U.S. market access petition to provide non-voice, non-geostationary mobile-satellite service in the 137-138 MHz and 148-150.05 MHz bands. In an FCC Space Bureau application Tuesday, it said the proposed changes would adjust the positioning of the 26 satellites to ensure deployment "despite the inflexible launch market."