EchoStar's three-prong Horizons growth plan unveiled in a call with analysts last week could help boost the stock down the road if investors believe it can achieve new growth, Quilty Analytics wrote investors Monday. Quilty said the near-term effects of the first prong -- which involves directing its efforts internally on the most scalable and profitable regions and simplifying and centralizing its business structure -- "will likely be muted." EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan said on the call the second prong is a focus on organic growth, including looking at ways to best monetize fleet capacity once its Jupiter 3 starts offering service. EchoStar said it also is looking for potential complementary acquisitions and plans to go after growth using low earth orbit/geostationary orbit hybrid offerings. Akhavan said the third prong is looking for long-term growth avenues, "including commercialization of our S-band assets and potential M&A opportunities."

BlackSky Global wants FCC International Bureau OK to modify the blanket license for its 16-satellite earth exploration satellite service constellation and expand it to up to 30 of BlackSky's third-generation satellites. In a bureau application last week, BlackSky said the third-gen satellite would operate in conjunction with other BlackSky satellites already in operation and ultimately replace them. It said the third-gen satellites will enable higher-resolution images across multiple spectral bands with more frequent revisit rates.

Amazon's Kuiper repeated its argument for the FCC approving a subset of SpaceX's second-generation constellation plans (see 2206270001), in a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a docket 21-456 ex parte filing posted Friday. That subset approach would let the agency "carefully and reasonably address concerns raised in the Gen2 licensing proceeding while satisfying SpaceX’s request for quick action to enable its near-term deployment plans," Amazon said. It said SpaceX complained that approach would have legal and logistical challenges (see 2207070005), but those challenges "did not prevent SpaceX from successfully requesting grant of a limited subset of its Gen1 satellites to enable its near-term deployment plans." SpaceX didn't comment. Citing the agency's open non-geostationary orbit spectrum sharing NPRM, Amazon urged adoption of an interference threshold for the protection of earlier-round systems based on a degraded throughput methodology.

The FCC International Bureau signed off on SpaceX's request to speed deployment of its satellite broadband service to the polar regions before the Starlink constellation is sufficiently deployed to provide polar service (see 2205170002). The special temporary authority grant gives SpaceX 180 days to adjust the minimum elevation angle from 25 to 10 degrees for Ku-band communications between Starlink satellites and U.S. earth stations north of 53 degrees latitude. The bureau said Wednesday those communications have to be on an unprotected basis and not cause harmful interference.

Our side-by-side comparison found no substantive changes between the 17 GHz order the FCC commissioners adopted Wednesday and the draft order that had been scheduled to be on Friday's monthly meeting agenda (see 2207150063). The order opens the band to geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlinks and is paired with an NPRM seeking comment on also allowing non-geostationary orbit satellites similar access.

The FCC "must send a clear message" the National Environmental Policy Act doesn't apply to activities in space, SpaceX representatives told FCC staffers including International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan, per a bureau ex parte filing Monday. It said it has shown the agency doesn't have jurisdiction over satellite reflectivity since its rules have no provision applicable to that issue and Congress hasn't passed anything giving it that jurisdiction. It urged FCC approval of its pending second-generation satellite constellation.

While SpaceX's Starlink satellites are maneuvering more due to debris generated from Russia's 2021 anti-satellite weaponry test than any other objects in space, the low orbits it plans to use for its second-generation constellation will mean any increase in debris flux will be temporary, the company told the FCC International Bureau last week. It said in the nine months since the testing, about 62% of the resulting debris has deorbited. It said even the highest-altitude second-gen operations will passively deorbit within three to four years.

The global space economy added up to $469 billion in 2021, the Space Foundation said Wednesday. Based on past growth rates, it should hit $639 billion by 2026 and expectations of a trillion-dollar global space economy by 2040 are "reasonable," the foundation's Lesley Conn said in a webinar regarding the release of its space economy report. She said commercial space sector revenues were up 9% from the foundation's revised 2020 figure. A chief driver of space economy growth has been commercial space products and services, with that sector up 283% since 2005, she said. She said budget allocations by non-U.S. governments are up 246% since 2005. Conn said Africa and Latin America are seeing significant space investment. She said the space economy took roughly a 5% dip in the first six months of this year in reaction to international and general market conditions. She said launch attempts and successful launches are at a record high. There were more identified satellites, 1,022, launched in the first half of 2022 than in the first 52 years of the space age, she said.

Dish Network, currently authorized to use the 2 GHz band, is barely doing so, SpaceX told the FCC International Bureau in an application Monday asking for OK to use the band to add mobile satellite service capabilities to its first-generation constellation. The band "provides a unique opportunity to put underutilized MSS spectrum to highly productive use," it said, adding "there is scant evidence that DISH is actually providing MSS service to anyone, anywhere." It said Dish's planned 2 GHz terrestrial network would still leave big parts of the country unserved by 2 GHz operations. SpaceX said it would add 2 GHz MSS transceiver payloads to its already-licensed fixed satellite service system. Dish didn't comment Tuesday. Satellite and spectrum consultant Tim Farrar emailed us that the filing is "just the next stage in SpaceX’s take-no-prisoners fight over 12GHz." He said the MSS payload would seem to have significant impact on the first-generation satellites as it would bring more antennas as well as more processors and converters. SpaceX Satellite Policy Senior Director David Goldman in a call with reporters Tuesday (see 2207260050) said the 2 GHz plans and 12 GHz proceeding are unrelated. Lightshed analyst Walt Piecyk emailed us that Dish is sure to fight the SpaceX 2 GHz plans. "Anytime a new use is proposed in a spectrum band you can be assured that the incumbent will contest it," he said.

Repeating its argument that spectrum in the 1600 MHz and 2400 MHz bands that Kepler wants to use for its proposed 212-satellite constellation's U.S. operations is "fully utilized" now, (see 2202020053) Globalstar told the FCC International Bureau Monday that Kepler "significantly underestimates" the extent to which its plans would harm to the incumbent mobile satellite service (MSS). Globalstar said it's "happy to compete" with systems employing available spectrum, but co-channel market access requests like Kepler "would inevitably result in substantial interference and lost capacity" for existing MSS operators. Kepler emailed it's "focusing on ensuring we address any questions the Commission could have. Globalstar seems intent on being anticompetitive and publishing fiction, despite what they have said on record in the past about their system."