The cruise ship market's demand for bandwidth points to "the bandwidth battles ... only beginning," Northern Sky Research analyst Brad Grady blogged Wednesday. He noted 570 Gbps of capacity growth is expected by 2027.
SES wants U.S. market access for the Gibraltar-licensed NSS-11 satellite. In an International Bureau filing Wednesday, it said approval would let the company meet Northwest U.S. and Pacific region demand for Ku-band services from the satellite's 176 degrees east orbital slot, and that it wants to start service to U.S. customers by Jan. 1. It said the satellite was launched in October 2000.
Boeing will buy small satellite services company Millennium Space Systems to expand its satellite and space portfolio, it said Thursday. Boeing expects to close on Millennium in Q3.
The FCC approved another non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation with the release Thursday of an authorization for Karousel, as expected (see 1808100037). The agency also signed off on NGSO constellation applications by Audacy, O3b (see 1806050057) SpaceX, OneWeb and Space Norway (see 1803300014).
The "dramatic," 99.4 percent reduction in power in the 1526-1536 MHz band for Ligado's proposed ancillary terrestrial IoT network (see 1805310069) was aimed at addressing the concerns of federal, nonfederal, aviation and non-aviation users of nearby spectrum, Ligado Chief Legal Officer Valerie Green told FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau staffers, recounted a docket 11-109 posting Wednesday.
Ligado wants to relocate its MSAT-2 satellite from 103.3 degrees west to 106.5 degrees west, it said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority request posted Friday.
Citing technical difficulties with its International Bureau Filing System (IBFS), the bureau signed off on OneWeb's request to extend the deadlines for comments on its V-band petition and its proposed expansion of its non-geostationary satellite constellation granted U.S. market access in June (see 1808080003). In its approval Thursday, the bureau said IBFS suffered unspecified technical problems between July 30 and Aug. 8 that affected filings in the two proceedings. OneWeb requested an extension to Aug. 27, but the bureau said legal staff of parties that had filed comments in the proceedings and were potentially affected by an extension asked it be lengthened to past the Labor Day holiday; the bureau set the new deadline for Sept. 12. Asked about the IBFS issues, the FCC didn't comment Friday.
The FCC's not having a seat on the National Space Council is "a glaring omission" given the agency's satellite service licensing and "oversight of airwaves" being important for space issues going forward, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted Thursday.
Karousel's non-geostationary orbit satellite application, put on circulation last week (see here), is consistent with the other NGSO applications that have come before the commissioners and likely will have the same end result, an FCC staffer told us Friday. The staffer said the commissioners haven't voted on it. Karousel is planning a 12-satellite constellation for video delivery (see 1611160010). Commissioners have OK'd NGSO constellation applications by Audacy, O3b (see 1806050057) SpaceX, OneWeb and Space Norway (see 1803300014).
SES wants an extra 2.5 years of life for its AMC-7 satellite operating at 135 degrees west. In an International Bureau posting Wednesday, it said the C-band satellite's current license term expires Oct. 25, and it intends to stop inclination control in December and that would allow the satellite to operate longer. It asked for a license extension to Feb. 28, 2021.