FCC licensees will now be charged regulatory fees on authorized satellites and earth stations, rather than on operational ones. A regulatory fees order in Tuesday's Daily Digest said the agency is also setting a two-tier non-geostationary orbit satellite regulatory fee category: one for small constellations of fewer than 1,000 authorized satellites, and one for 1,000 or more. Those categories replace the existing "less complex" and "other" NGSO fee categories, it said. The changes "will more accurately" apportion fee burdens among licensees, and most will pay lower per-unit fees in FY 2025 than FY 2024, the FCC said. The changes "support the Commission’s goal that our regulatory fees are fair, administrable, and sustainable." It noted that the order was adopted last week, and then-Commissioner Geoffrey Starks didn't participate. The changes will go into effect with the FY 2025 regulatory fees.

AST SpaceMobile told the FCC Space Bureau the agency should continue to assess regulatory fees only on authorized and operational satellites and earth stations, not pre-operational ones. In docket 24-85 Thursday, AST recapped a meeting with the bureau, at which the company said charging such pre-operational regulatory fees could add big costs to new satellite deployments before a licensee has the opportunity to start service and earn revenues. Nonoperational systems require minimal post-authorization regulatory oversight, it said.

Satellite operators seeking regulatory OK to operate in other nations are facing intensifying geopolitical tensions, with governments increasingly concerned with national security and disruption to local telcos, Valour Consultancy wrote Tuesday. It said SpaceX's Starlink and OneWeb are particularly susceptible to those tensions. They and other low earth orbit networks face greater regulatory scrutiny than geostationary orbit satellites, which can result in operation delays or denials, Valour said. Like Russia and China, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia also have shown reluctance to approve Western-affiliated networks, it said, adding that Amazon's Kuiper might end up facing similar hurdles.

Blue Origin is now aiming for an August launch for its Moon Lander MK1 Pathfinder mission, it told the FCC Space Bureau in a filing posted Wednesday. The proposed mission was originally expected in Q1 2025 (see 2408020001). The company told the bureau this week that once the lander touches down on the moon's surface, its mission there should take about 24 hours. Blue Origin anticipates using the S band for mission uplinks and downlinks, with the X band as a backup, it said.

The Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council asked the FCC Wireless Bureau to revisit some coordination procedures for commercial space launch service laid out in a public notice the bureau issued in March (see 2503260003). In a reconsideration petition posted Tuesday (docket 13-115), the organization challenged a limit on coordinating with primary aeronautical mobile telemetry operations that support flight testing in the 2360-2395 MHz band. The bureau decided to restrict the scope of coordination because there have been no complaints of harmful interference to date, which AFTRCC said ignores the fact that there have been few launches where using the 2360-2395 MHz Band was even a possibility. The group also asked for reconsideration of the decision not to require suborbital launch coordination requests to include duration of transmission information. In addition, it requested that the FCC reconsider the decision not to require space launch operators to make initial coordination requests at least 60 days before prospective launch windows. The bureau should clarify that new coordination is needed if the timing of a proposed launch changes to fall completely or partially outside a previously coordinated launch window, it said.

EchoStar has hired Maxar Space Systems to build the EchoStar XXVI geostationary orbit communications satellite, Maxar said Monday. XXVI, which is scheduled for delivery in 2028, will provide Dish Network satellite TV service to the U.S., it said. “Our ongoing investments across the board -- especially with EchoStar XXVI -- will ensure long-term access to our award-winning, satellite entertainment platform," said Gunter Kamper, senior vice president of Dish Technologies.

With its costs ballooning and delays mounting, the EU's proposed IRIS2 constellation appears increasingly at risk of losing government and industrial support, Quilty Space's Caleb Henry wrote Friday. Among its problems, he cited a long list of requirements that add to its complexity. IRIS2 is supposed to be a sovereign alternative to SpaceX yet is smaller and features more expensive user terminals, Henry said. IRIS2 is also seeing less support than anticipated, with partners SES and Eutelsat stretched financially and operationally and Hispasat in the midst of being acquired, he added.

Citing the uncertainty around its spectrum rights because of FCC issues, EchoStar said Friday it had opted to forgo making a $326 million cash interest payment due that day on corporate debt that matures in 2029. In an SEC filing, EchoStar said the nonpayment counts as a default on the 2029 notes, but it pointed out that it has a 30-day grace period to make the payment, giving the FCC time to provide the relief the company requested. If the commission grants EchoStar relief, "we may confidently continue investing in our network buildout and expansion of our Boost business" and mobile satellite service offerings. The company this week asked the FCC to deny VTel Wireless' petition for reconsideration on an extension of EchoStar's 5G network buildout deadlines and to confirm that it has satisfied the 2024 commitments it made for that extension (see 2505280002).

The second batch of Amazon's Kuiper satellites is scheduled to launch June 13, United Launch Alliance said Thursday. They will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on an Atlas V 551 rocket, the alliance said. The inaugural batch of Kuipers launched in April (see 2504290001).

Satellite operator Iridium and communications technology company Syniverse are partnering to offer direct-to-device connectivity to mobile network operators. They said Thursday the offering will come through integration of Iridium's NTN Direct service with Syniverse's global platform. The first Iridium NTN Direct connected devices are scheduled to become available in 2026.