Viasat seeks FCC international Bureau OK for earth stations to communicate with its forthcoming ViaSat-3 satellite to operate at 88.9 degrees west, said application filings Monday. The stations would operate in the 17.7-18.3 GHz and 27.5-28.35 GHz bands, and the applications are for locations in Georgia.
Despite lagging behind SpaceX and OneWeb, Guowang's Starlink constellation "seems a pretty safe bet to be around for a long time," Larry Press, a professor of information systems at California State University-Dominguez Hills. blogged Friday. A broadband satellite initiative of China's state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology, Guowang has Chinese government backing plus "an edge" in serving nations in China's Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, said Press.
Satellites and other objects in orbit are causing light pollution "significantly more than previously understood," the U.K. Royal Astronomical Society said Monday. It said new research shows the number of objects in orbit could boost the overall brightness of the night sky across much of the planet more than 10% above natural light levels. That would exceed the threshold for considering a location "light polluted," it said.
A flood of C-band spectrum auction proceeds is helping geostationary orbit satellite (GSO) production to continue its rebound from 2018's low point of five orders, Canaccord Genuity analyst Ken Herbert wrote investors Monday. He said 20 GSOs were ordered last year, the most since 2014. He said the 22 orbital launches so far this year -- 21 successful -- indicate a "strong cadence in space activity" continuing from last year's 112 orbital launches, 102 of which were successful.
The U.S. still led the world in orbital launch attempts in 2020, its 44 eclipsing China's 39, the Space Foundation said Thursday. Russia was third with 12. China eclipsed the U.S. in distinct vehicles, with 15. Of the U.S. launches, 32 were on SpaceX Falcon 9s or Rocket Lab Electrons. China National Space Operator was the world's busiest launch operator, with 37 launches, followed by SpaceX, with 25.
It's clear SpaceX would need multiple satellite co-frequency beams simultaneously in the same area to meet demand (see 2103240009), and a Dish Network-commissioned study shows that even if it used one beam at a time, it would exceed ITU and FCC equivalent power flux density limits in the 12 GHz band for some antenna sizes, said Dish in an FCC docket 20-443 filing Thursday that included a study by satellite engineer Marc Dupuis of Telecomm Strategies. Dish said EPFD interference would hurt Dish customers. Dupuis said the study, using software modeling to look at Dish terminals around the U.S., is based on "characteristics, configuration and technical elements" that SpaceX offered as part of its license modification request pending before the FCC. SpaceX didn't comment.
Active removal of orbital debris carries technological, legal and policy challenges that need hammering out, experts told an Aerospace Corp. webinar Thursday. Chris May, Aerospace engineer-Human Exploration and Spaceflight Division, said methodologies have been suggested, including electromagnetic tethers and harpoons, and no single approach will work for all types of debris due to varying sizes and orbital mechanics. He said money has been a big hurdle to development of an active debris removal industry, with little ADR funding available beyond the R&D and demo stage. George Washington University Space Policy Institute graduate student Tyler Way said policy challenges include export concerns for the technology involved and liability issues about which party is ultimately responsible: the state licensing the client satellite or the company providing the ADR service. He said there are "legally daunting" issues with removal of small debris, since its origin is often unknown, making it difficult to go up in good faith and remove it. Way said there have been discussions about an international body or agreement that would focus on ADR regulation and help alleviate some legal complications, and that could take years to establish.
A large low-earth orbit constellation means magnitudes more risk than a single satellite, and licensing a mega constellation has to account for the total risk and not use rules and standards designed for single satellites, Viasat Executive Chairman Mark Dankberg told FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a docket 18-313 post Wednesday. Applying a single-satellite collision risk metric separately to each satellite in a mega constellation "clearly would sanction unacceptably high risk," Viasat said. It urged trajectory spatial sharing rules and consideration of potential environmental impacts.
SES/O3b and Amazon lobbied the FCC eighth floor in recent days about SpaceX's pending license modification and putting it in the 2020 processing round. SES/O3b CEO Steve Collar told Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington the modification "significantly changes the interference environment" for SES' O3b non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) network, per an International Bureau filing Tuesday. Amazon's Kuiper told acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that SpaceX's proposed license modification has Amazon's support as long as it's authorized in the March 2020 NGSO processing round and conditioned on capping orbital altitude at less than 580 kilometers. SpaceX didn't comment Wednesday. SES, calls with commissioners, also argued that the pending Further NPRM on out-of-band emissions from NGSO earth-station-in-motion operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band is flawed and that OOBE limits in place now for geostationary ESIMs and fixed GSO and NGSO blanket-licensed terminals should also apply to NGSO ESIM terminals. Dish Network and SpaceX are at odds over whether SpaceX will use more than one satellite beam in the same area using the same frequency. Dish, in a docket 20-443 filing Wednesday, said SpaceX "falls far short of a commitment" when the company tells the FCC it has in fact answered the question, and previous "hedged pronouncements are not accidents of draftsmanship." It said SpaceX talked about 10 Gbps speeds, and saying it will use only one beam at a time "is simply not credible or realistic," because that speed might require multiple beams for even one user. SpaceX said that Dish "is once again determined to create an issue where none exists," that it has been clear on its satellite beam commitment, and that Dish's own consultant verified that SpaceX's system, when modified, would comply with equivalent power flux density limits.
Omnispace and Lockheed Martin will partner on exploring development of 5G capability from space, they said Tuesday. They said the proposed space-based network would have commercial, enterprise and government applications. Omnispace would use its 2 GHz S-band spectrum rights, and the network would connect directly to devices from non-geostationary orbit, it said.