Dish Network customers with a Hopper 3 set-top and 4K HDR TV can tune to channel 540 and watch “nearly every” World Cup match in “stunning 4K HDR quality,” blogged the pay-TV service Thursday. The matches will be captured, broadcast and received in HDR10, emailed Dish spokeswoman Chelsea Satkowiak. The World Cup competition opened Thursday in Russia for a monthlong run.

O3b is asking the FCC International Bureau to clarify its requirement that Intelsat, as part of the authorization of the Galaxy 15R satellite, certify it has a coordination agreement with Ka-band non-geostationary orbit systems serving the U.S. or demonstrate how it will protect such systems, saying those showings must happen before the launch of the NGSO system. In an IB petition this week, O3b said the May authorization of 15R isn't clear on what it would mean for O3b's constellation already in operation. It said the Galaxy 15R grant should be modified to include language saying Intelsat must comply with the conditions before the launch of 15R. Intelsat said Thursday it has no objections to the clarification O3b is seeking.

Globalstar is taking its request for a notice of inquiry on 5.1 GHz band sharing between mobile satellite service and outdoor Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) operations to the FCC's eighth floor. A RM-11808 filing Wednesday recapped meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel about its petition for an NOI (see 1805220006). The company said severe harmful interference will result if no changes are made to the U-NII-1 sharing regime.

Coming to global consensus on space traffic management is going to be a big challenge because commercial space is "still an odd concept to many other countries," National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace told the Transportation Department’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee Thursday. He said the U.S. is trying to promote voluntary best practices that can be adopted globally as nonbinding guidelines and then used as references by countries as they individually adopt regulations. He said the spectrum language in the commercial space policy directive signed last month by President Donald Trump (see 1805240031) reflects the idea that 5G deployment particularly in rural areas and developing countries will largely involve satellite, and satellite operations count on spectrum access. "5G does not mean everything is on the ground," he said.

The satellite industry globally had revenue of $268.6 billion last year, its third straight year of low-single-digit percentage growth, and the U.S. share at $113 billion marked a third year of similar growth, the Satellite Industry Association's reported Wednesday. Bryce Space and Technology prepared the report. SIA said of the 1,738 satellites in orbit as of year's end, commercial communications accounted for 31 percent and earth observation another 29 percent, by far the biggest categories. It said 345 commercially procured satellites were launched last year, more than double the 126 in 2016, with cubesat traffic driving most of that. Bryce Senior Program Manager Anton Dolgopolov said cubesat traffic likely would be similar this year, as long as launch availability doesn't get constricted. The eight total geostationary orbit satellite orders of 2017 are "a disproportionately low year" and could be an anomaly since there have been eight orders so far in 2018, said Bryce CEO Carissa Christensen. Roughly half of those 345 were earth observation satellites, SIA said. Christensen said venture capital funding of smallsats gravitated toward earth observation first, and now those constellations are starting to be deployed while communications smallsats are in the planning and development stages. 2017 was the second year of double-digit revenue growth for earth observation, and the completion of some constellations should mean an even higher growth rate this year, SIA President Tom Stroup said. Satellite broadband revenue rose 4 percent and subscribers gained 5 percent to roughly 2 million, SIA said. Stroup said the industry has been constricted on capacity, but recent launches of high-throughput satellites by ViaSat and EchoStar should allow bigger satellite broadband subscriber growth this year. U.S. operators had notable revenue drops in DBS and growth in managed services, SIA said. It said the average price per kilogram for launch dropped 40 percent from 2016, due to cheaper SpaceX launches and fewer expensive United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket launches than in 2016. The Russian launch industry continues to lose market share as reliability concerns scare off potential customers, along with a deliberate pull back on commercial activity and a focus more on supporting the Russian national space program, said Dolgopolov. SIA said launch industry revenue fell 16 percent to $4.6 billion, and the U.S. had the largest share of commercially procured launch revenue at 39 percent.

Eutelsat’s TV service-provider customers in Russia, Europe and the Americas booked 5,500 hours of HD broadcast capacity for the World Cup, which opens Friday for a monthlong run, said the satellite operator Tuesday.

Dish Network added new Alexa voice-control capabilities to its Hopper, Hopper Duo, Joey and Wally set-tops, said the company Tuesday. With Alexa, customers will now be able to set recordings, launch apps and navigate menus, said Dish. Previous Alexa functionality on the set-tops allowed the ability to play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content, it said. Each Dish internet-connected set-top must be paired with an Alexa device for the new functionality to work, it said.

Swarm Technologies, subject of an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation of a previous unauthorized satellite launch (see 1805030034), is asking the Office of Engineering and Technology for an experimental license for more cubesats. Its OET application last week said the IoT connectivity startup "urgently needs to demonstrate the viability of its proposed satellite-based communications network to technical and business partners, potential investors, and potential customers" and it has a launch opportunity Sept. 1 for its three proposed two-way communications cubesats. A heavily redacted application said it would deploy two ground stations in California and Georgia and operate the satellites in the 137-138 MHz and 148-149.9 MHz bands. It said the satellites don't have their own propulsion systems, and should re-enter the atmosphere within 5.3 years. Monday, the FCC, company and its outside counsel didn't comment.

Though Inmarsat said last week it rejected a preliminary takeover offer from EchoStar, the latter is likely still interested in mergers and acquisitions and Inmarsat makes a good strategic fit, Citigroup's Jason Bazinet wrote investors Monday: That EchoStar is pursuing M&A (according to Inmarsat) isn't surprising because it has repeatedly indicated an interest. The analyst said the strategic benefits for EchoStar of such a deal -- global satellite coverage, cost synergies and creation of an IoT network that uses both satellite and terrestrial spectrum -- are numerous, though financial benefits are hazier. EchoStar didn't comment.

The annual Open-Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications (Orbit) Act reports are no more. An FCC International Bureau public notice Monday noted the appropriations bill signed into law March 23 repealed Section 646 of the Satellite Act, which required annual Orbit Act reports. Chairman Ajit Pai was a critic of the requirement to annually report on the privatization status of long-since privatized Inmarsat and Intelsat (see 1706080064 and 1506100062). The bureau said the legislation also repealed Section 703 of the Satellite Act, which required the annual satellite competition report.