A proposed five-year cap on smallsat on-orbit lifespans and the idea of requiring those satellites to have active maneuvering capability when deployed higher than 400 kilometers (249 miles) got disagreement among satellite interests in docket 18-86 reply comments Wednesday. The FCC's proposed streamlining of authorizations for small-satellite operators also hasn't received clear consensus on what constitutes a smallsat (see 1807100014). A five-year cap restricts launch opportunities and could make the streamlined process "commercially impracticable," the Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association (CSSMA) said. It said on-orbit lifetime limits should apply on a satellite-by-satellite basis and not cover all satellites on a given license because of launch delays and launch spacing. But SES/O3b said the cap, starting when the satellite is in its authorized orbit, will create incentives to limit constellation sizes only to what's necessary. And Iridium said a cap, paired with rules letting the FCC terminate authorizations due to in-orbit satellite failures, could help ensure there won't be "a mushrooming accumulation" of space debris. Audacy criticized the proposed five-year on-orbit lifetime and said the agency should allow three-year extensions atop that. Multiple parties argued against excluding from the streamlined process applicants without propulsion capability that want to deploy higher than the International Space Station. SpaceX said there could be new smallsat maneuvering strategies or technology changes that make propulsion more commonplace. But Iridium said the fact some smallsats will deploy maneuvering techniques that don't rely on propulsion doesn't mean all of them will. Multiple parties also agreed propulsion shouldn't be a requirement for going through the streamlined process, with CSSMA saying there are other issues beyond altitude -- such as spatial density and relative velocity -- that also define the risk of a constellation. There was also lack of agreement on limits on the number of applications an individual entity can file under the streamlined process, with multiple parties backing the idea of no limit, but Orbcomm said that in turn raises risk of collision or harmful interference that makes the streamlined treatment inappropriate. Audacy backed limiting the number of satellites under the streamlined process to 10 per license, which the Commercial Spaceflight Federation opposed (see here). Audacy also said small satellites should be exempt from processing round procedures and bond requirements for streamlined process applicants, but SES/O3b disagreed with eliminating the bond requirement. And Iridium argued against allowing smallsat uplinks in the 1616-1626.5 MHz band, which it uses for service links. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. said evaluating authorization of an amateur radio service mission shouldn't need to look at issues like ownership or mission funding sources.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) gave Virgin Orbit an experimental license for use of an S-band transmitter at its Long Beach, California, ground station to test its satellite launch vehicle tracking abilities. OET, in granting the application Monday, said the license expires Feb. 6.

With 62 small satellites being sent into space in Q1 of this year, launch demand should grow to 11,740 smallsats launched by 2030, Frost & Sullivan said Tuesday. It said there will be particular business opportunities due to high-volume subsystem demand, on-demand launch services for smallsats, capacity expansion of global ground station services and simplified standard platforms for downstream services. It said almost all the smallsat launch revenue between now and 2030 is expected to come from commercial operators, with SpaceX and OneWeb the major contributors.

An average of 580 small satellites will be launched annually by 2022 as initial constellations are deployed, Euroconsult said Monday. The numbers should jump to 850 a year in 2027, it said. It said broadband communications will be the biggest application, accounting for close to 3,500 smallsats expected to be launched between now and 2027. It said earth observation smallsats will almost triple, growing 540 to close to 1,400 by 2027. It said information for data collection and narrowband communications for IoT and ADS-B is a growing market, with 850 satellites expected. It said the 7,000 smallsats to be launched between now and 2027 are a $38 billion manufacturing and launch market. It said smallsat launch services are expected to generate $16 billion over the next 10 years.

Boeing withdrew two non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service applications after also withdrawing its plans to try to hand off those applications to SOM1101 (see 1807310031). In an FCC International Bureau filing last week, Boeing said it's still pursuing authorization for its third proposed NGSO constellation, which would -- like one of its withdrawn applications -- operate in the V-band. Boeing didn't comment Monday.

Globalstar, having abandoned an effort to merge with FiberLight (see 1808010014), doesn't anticipate pursuing another transaction with FiberLight holding company Thermo Acquisitions. The satellite company still hopes to lease or otherwise monetize its 2.4 GHz band spectrum to handle its financial shortfall, said CEO Jay Monroe, also Thermo controlling shareholder, in a Q2 call Thursday evening. He said Globalstar and Thermo mutually called off the deal, including because of the expected cost of litigation to defend it, uncertainty about closing such as timing, stock price volatility and expectations the deal would be "a prolonged distraction" to management. He said Globalstar has been having talks with cable, wireless and telecom companies since 2013 as it tries to monetize its spectrum, and the FiberLight deal was envisioned in 2017 as a backup route to covering its capital needs in case no deal with a third party occurred. He said Globalstar ended its Thermo talks in September and at the same time had formal discussions with senior officers of 20 major cable and telecom companies, but no one expressed interest in a deal or in licensing the spectrum or in its other bands. Discussions about a Globalstar/Thermo deal rekindled this year, he said. He said lack of outside interest in the spectrum wasn't due to the company asking too high a price because it never received an offer, and instead the spectrum might be overshadowed by industry focus on the 3.5 GHz band, 5G "and this, that and the other thing." He said what happens in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band "will inform" what the company does with its C-band spectrum in the 7 GHz block. The company said it's facing roughly a $50 million gap every six months for the next two years due to debt financing obligations. Monroe said getting international regulatory approvals for terrestrial use of its 2483.5-2500 MHz band spectrum, like the FCC granted in 2016 (see 1612230060), is taking longer than expected. He said it's focused on approvals in 27 countries and hopes to get at least some OKs within the next few months.

Two Aerospace cubesats, AeroCube-7B and -7C, carrying its optical communications and sensor demonstration laser communication equipment, achieved data transmissions of 100 Mbps, Aerospace said Thursday. It said the laser communications demonstration is the first step toward using such technology in small platforms like cubesats instead of employing radiofrequency communications. It said the lasers were hard-mounted, and an altitude control system was used to point the satellite at the receiver. It said the satellites were launched Nov. 12 as secondary payloads on an International Space Station resupply mission.

Intelsat has 30 days, starting Aug. 10, to drift Intelsat 805 from 169 degrees east to 169.1 degrees east, from where it will provide fixed satellite service to the Pacific Rim and Western U.S., under FCC International Bureau approval Wednesday of the company's special temporary authority request.

More than 1,200 C-band earth stations have been registered with the FCC since the agency instituted its freeze on new ones and its registration process, and close to 100 are being registered weekly, Comsearch said Thursday. The deadline for registration of receive-only earth stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band is Oct. 17 (see 1806220004). Some experts estimated as many as 30,000 such earth stations are in the U.S. (see 1806260027).

Globalstar's $1.65 billion deal with FiberLight (see 1804250039) is off. In an SEC filing Wednesday, Globalstar said the decision to terminate came after unanimous recommendation of its board's special committee and the stockholders' representative. The company didn't comment Wednesday.