Construction began on eight initial earth stations for SES's O3b mPower satellite constellation, and they will be operational in the second half of the year, SES said Wednesday. It said four of the eight are being collocated and operated with Microsoft Azure data centers. It said the first three mPower satellites are scheduled for launch in Q3, with three more in Q1 2022. It said the constellation should go live in Q3 2022.
Orbcomm is "making a mockery" of FCC licensing decisions by refusing to vacate non-primary frequencies to make room for Swarm as a second U.S.-licensed non-voice non-geostationary system in the VHF bands, Swarm told the International Bureau Monday in an opposition to Orbcomm's application of review. Orbcomm seeks review of a March IB letter on its obligation to avoid interference with Swarm (see 2104120063). Swarm said Orbcomm lacks standing to seek review because the supposed harm of foreign regulators also allowing Swarm to operate in its assigned frequencies comes from Swarm's license, not the declaratory ruling. It said Orbcomm hasn't claimed that its own services would be affected or that it's using the spectrum it's supposed to vacate. It said Orbcomm hasn't shown how the bureau letter conflicts with law or policy. Orbcomm didn't comment Tuesday.
The Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association, whose membership includes Kepler, backed Kepler/Spire's FCC petition for a rulemaking in the 2020-2025 MHz band (see 2012220049). In an RM-11869 post Tuesday, CSSMA said smallsat mobile satellite service operators are hampered by "piecemeal spectrum allocations," with terrestrial mobile and geostationary satellite operators occupying big spectrum swaths. The 2020-2025 MHz band "has proven of little interest to terrestrial operators," it said.
Having inadvertently not filed a transfer of control application before Meta Aerospace's purchase of Orbital Effects, they asked the FCC to approve retroactively the transfer of control of R2 and its earth exploration satellite service license, per an International Bureau application Friday. They said Orbital is trying to provide broader services to the U.S. military and commercial enterprises needing high-resolution imagery 24 hours a day.
Texas' Intuitive Machines is seeking FCC International Bureau OK to launch and operate its NOVA-C lunar lander for up to 60 days as part of NASA's commercial lunar payload services program to explore the moon's surface. In a bureau application Friday, it said NOVA-C launch is set for early 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, and it will deliver commercial cargo and five NASA payloads to the moon.
Hughes wants to modify its blanket earth station license to operate very small aperture terminals in the Ka-band fixed satellite service by adding its forthcoming Jupiter-3 satellite as a point of communication, per an FCC International Bureau application Friday.
The FCC International Bureau signed off on Maxar's requested relocation of WorldView-4 as part of the satellite's deorbit after the failure of its control movement gyros (see 2104020001), per IB OK Thursday.
SES/O3b asked the FCC to treat SpaceX's pending license modification as newly filed in the 2020 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) processing round, impose an aggregate collision risk limit and limit the Starlink constellation's orbital tolerance, said an International Bureau filing Wednesday. SES/O3b joined others in suggesting conditions for license mod approval (see 2104190002). Viasat, speaking with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brendan Carr about its proposed conditions, said NGSO replacement satellites must be technically identical, but SpaceX hasn't made clear if its replacements will be, and the agency should expressly exclude giving replacement authority from any action on the modification application. Giving SpaceX permission "could open the international floodgates," said University of Edinburgh astronomy professor Andy Lawrence. Pause it and similar proposals until a worldwide group of stakeholders "debate a new and improved co-ordinated regulatory framework," said Lawrence. He said the light pollution mitigation steps SpaceX took with Starlink "make only a modest difference, and we cannot guarantee that other companies and countries will be as co-operative." SpaceX didn't comment Thursday.
OneWeb and SpaceX clashed over what was supposedly said in a meeting between the two and the FCC. SpaceX said reports of a supposed "near miss" between SpaceX and OneWeb satellites are wrong, per an International Bureau post Tuesday about a call with the companies and IB Chief Tom Sullivan. SpaceX is "disappoint[ed] ... that OneWeb officials chose to publicly misstate the circumstances of the coordination [but] grateful that OneWeb offered ... to retract its previous incorrect statements." SpaceX said the probability of a collision never exceeded the threshold for a maneuver, and the two wouldn't have hit “even if no maneuver" occurred. It said it turned off its autonomous collision avoidance system only after OneWeb's request, as OneWeb decided to do a maneuver. OneWeb, in a filing being posted, said it "made no such offer to retract any previous statements made to the press," and "press coverage can sometimes be erroneous in certain respects." The company "stands by its story as reported to the press," it said. OneWeb said it "was delighted to participate in the discussion with SpaceX and [the bureau] and found the exchange of facts and data between the engineering teams for SpaceX and OneWeb to be outstanding." The FCC didn't comment Wednesday.
Extending Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun's employment eligibility to 2028 will let him "see the company through" current challenges and "have a meaningful impact" on future strategic direction, Canaccord Genuity's Ken Herbert wrote investors Wednesday. Boeing announced Tuesday it increased Calhoun's mandatory retirement age to 70. Herbert said the reasons for Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith's July 9 retirement aren't clear, but the hiring of the next CFO could be a sign of future strategic changes. It wouldn't be surprising if other senior-level Boeing departures follow, Herbert said.