A challenger to a C-band satellite operator's certification of accelerated relocation that then works out an agreement with the satcom operator shouldn't be barred by the FCC “greenmail rule” from accepting “reasonable consideration” to resolve those concerns, NCTA told the FCC Wireless Bureau in docket 21-320 Friday. NCTA asked for clarification of the bureau's public notice on an incremental reduction plan for accelerated C-band relocation payments (see 2108040060) and said uncertainty about the greenmail rule for payments to challengers in exchange for dropped challenges could undermine willingness to reach such agreements. That could slow the C-band transition, it said.
Tariff classification rulings
Some incumbent earth station operators in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band have until Oct. 21 to submit operational status of identified earth station antennas or lose incumbent status, says a docket 20-205 notice in Friday's Federal Register. The FCC included in the notice a list of earth stations reported by RSM, the C-band relocation coordinator, as no longer receiving service from a C-band satellite even though the FCC’s International Bureau filing system still lists the antenna as active.
Startup space companies got $7.6 billion in investments in 2020, with most of it coming from venture capital, said a BryceTech report Thursday. It said 124 companies received funding, 38% of them U.S. firms that netted 67% of the total financing. SpaceX was the single largest recipient, receiving 30% of the funding, followed by OneWeb and Blue Origin, it said. BryceTech said counting debt financing and acquisitions, $26 billion was invested in space startups from 2000 to 2020 -- $22 billion since 2015.
Hughes is continuing its eighth-floor lobbying for ITU compliance and equivalent power flux density conditions on the already-granted license modification for lower orbits for some of SpaceX's first-generation constellation satellites (see 2107120001), said an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday recapping a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr.
SpaceX's requested amendment to the pending application of its second-generation broadband constellation would violate FCC rules by giving it two mutually exclusive configurations of orbital parameters for about 30,000 satellites, Amazon representatives told the FCC International Bureau, per an ex parte filing Wednesday. Nearly every major detail in the amendment is unsettled, such as altitude and even the total number of satellites, Amazon said. FCC rules "require that SpaceX settle the details of its proposed amendment before filing its application -- not after," it said. In the proposed amendment filed last week, SpaceX said giving information on both configurations now lets the FCC evaluate both, and that it will notify the agency later which of the two configurations it wants to deploy. It said neither proposed configuration requires additional spectrum nor increases the risk of harmful interference.
Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, Viasat asked the FCC International Bureau for more time to get its Ka-band ViaSat-3 geostationary satellite operational. In a request filed Wednesday to extend or waive the milestone date, Viasat asked that the Dec. 31 deadline for meeting the launch and operation milestone be moved to Oct. 31, 2022. The payload is done and is being integrated into a Boeing satellite bus, but the pandemic "disrupted supply chains, prevented effective use of human resources, and otherwise led to construction and delivery delays resulting from circumstances outside of an operator’s control," Viasat said.
San Francisco-based Capella Space wants FCC OK to add to its planned non-geostationary orbit earth exploration satellite service constellation. In an International Bureau application Tuesday, Capella said the Capella-7 and Capella-8 satellites would join the five others that previously received FCC authorization and have been deployed. It said they're scheduled for a Q4 launch.
Spire Global's combination with special purpose acquisition company NavSight has been consummated, said an FCC consummation notification Tuesday. The agency approved transfer of Spire's satellite license and U.S. market access grant and its earth station authorizations in June (see 2106100002).
Intelsat hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by year's end, after lining up support from key creditor groups on terms of its restructuring, it said Tuesday. Intelsat said the restructuring plan would more than halve its debt, to $7 billion. It said the amended reorganization plan (docket 20-32299) pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond has support of holders of $11 billion of the company's funded debt.
Maxar Technologies received an order to build SiriusXM's SXM-10 geostationary satellite, following the SXM-9 satellite order announced earlier this month, it said Tuesday. SXM-10 will be built at Maxar's production site in Palo Alto, it said.