The Office of the U.K. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy signed off on O3b's proposed launch and operations, which was a condition of the FCC's OK of the company's U.S. market access modification ask to add 26 more satellites (see 1801100044), SES' O3b said in an International Bureau filing Friday.

An FCC proposal to open more bands for earth stations in motion communications with geostationary orbit satellites has sizable support. ESIM operators "have the skill, experience, and incentive to effectively avoid causing interference to other systems," Inmarsat commented in docket 17-95, posted Tuesday. Comments on the Further NPRM adopted in September (see 1809260029) were due Monday, replies May 8. Also voicing support were Panasonic Avionics, ViaSat and SES/O3b (see here, here and here). Boeing said the FCC also should move toward rulemaking on use of ESIMs in the remaining frequencies allocated for fixed satellite service, including the 10.7-11.7 GHz band, 12.2-12.7 GHz band, additional portions of the 27.5-30 GHz band and throughout the V-band. Hughes said to ensure interference protection, require ESIM operations in the bands covered by the FNPRM to comply with applicable effective isotropic radiated power limits. The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said the agency should clarify that fixed service users in the 10.7-10.95, 11.2-11.45, 19.3-19.4 and 19.6-19.7 GHz bands won't need to protect ESIM downlink users from interference. The National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Radio Frequencies said the FCC should ensure the out-of-band emission standard for ESIM downlinks is sufficient to protect radio astronomy service use of the 10.68-10.7 GHz.

Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation plans (see 1904040034) seem to be making it more difficult for SpaceX to raise capital it needs for its Starlink broadband constellation, satellite consultant Tim Farrar blogged Monday. It's unknown whether Project Kuiper can derail SpaceX's satellite plans, which could in turn mean trouble for its rocket launch business as launch demand declines and its backlog shrinks, Farrar said. SpaceX didn't comment.

With SpaceX planning to launch its first batch of non-geostationary orbit satellites in May, it's seeking FCC International Bureau OK for Ku- and Ka-band communications between them and seven earth stations. In a bureau request Friday, SpaceX said the special temporary authority would let it confirm operational status of the satellites quickly.

Comments are due on or around May 17 on an Airbus-OneWeb application to the Commerce Department's Foreign Trade Zone Board to OK a satellite production facility in Brevard County, Florida, says a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. It says production in the foreign trade zone would mean exemption from customs duty payments on foreign-status components.

The U.S. was naive in hopes its satellites were safe from attack because they were out of reach or "that other nations would not dare," and other countries have surpassed it in anti-satellite technology, said House Armed Services Committee member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., in a Center for Strategic and International Studies space threat report Thursday. CSIS said for nations that have successfully tested kinetic physical anti-satellite capabilities, like Russia and China, it's important to watch for development of testing new boost systems. It said there's evidence Iran and North Korea are interested in orbital space launch capabilities, which could be a precursor to kinetic physical counterspace weapons.

SES wants FCC approval to serve the U.S. from its Netherlands-licensed NSS-6 satellite. In an International Bureau posting Wednesday, it said the satellite -- launched in 2002 -- would let it provide Ku-band service to the Pacific region and Northwest continental U.S. from its 169.5 degrees west orbital slot.

Questions about when Amazon hopes to begin launches for its proposed 3,236-satellite broadband constellation or when it might become operational are premature, the company emailed us Thursday. It said Project Kuiper filings at the ITU last week (see here, here and here) are aimed at global broadband coverage targeting "tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet." Secure World Foundation Director-Program Planning Brian Weeden tweeted that the filings seem to point to it leaving all the satellites in orbit for close to 25 years, which isn't "very good for #spacesustainability."

Some of the orbital debris rules the FCC is contemplating could be applicable to European operators, so the agency should foster a global approach to that global challenge and not put "undue burden" on the European space industry, the European External Action Service said in a docket 18-313 posting Thursday. It said global voluntary norms for space security, safety and sustainability are "needed more than ever."

The C-Band Alliance drafted letters that would be signed by C-band satellite operators and customers spelling out operator commitments in any band clearing, according to an FCC docket 18-122 posting Thursday. Along with pledging such terms as maintenance of all contracted C-band satellite services within a transitioned 300 MHz environment, even in the event of any in-orbit satellite failure (see 1904030080), it also pledges signal degradation at earth station output won't exceed 1 dB due to 5G filters and estimates reimbursement costs for filter installation and for antenna seeding and antenna replacements.