Dish Network's call for FCC reconsideration of the limited supplemental coverage from space authorization granted SpaceX is "absurd," SpaceX said Thursday in docket 23-135. In its opposition to Dish's recon petition (see 2401040005), SpaceX said Dish was using "unserious bar-napkin math" to block "a more advanced competitor." It said Dish's worries that the authorization will let SpaceX begin decades of operations under the guise of testing is misguided. For instance, it ignores that SpaceX’s check-out testing "typically is very short in duration, lasting as little as a few minutes per day." In addition, it said there's no reasonable basis to conclude the initial "check-out testing" might cause harmful interference to Dish or other operators.

SpaceX is lobbying the FCC over concerns about the orbital debris draft order, which is on reconsideration on January's agenda (see 2401040064). In a docket 18-313 filing Thursday, SpaceX recapped meetings held with offices of the five commissioners. During those meetings, it said the draft wrongly maintains a case-by-case approach to orbital debris mitigation and preserves the foreign-operator loophole of licensing systems overseas to circumvent U.S. oversight. Moreover, It said the case-by-case approach sets an inconsistent baseline for assessing debris risk. SpaceX said the FCC should clarify that it wants consistent orbital debris mitigation information from all operators regardless of foreign or domestic status or constellation size. The company also renewed its call that conditions put on its second-generation Starlinks be applied equally to all operators in the name of clear expectations and space sustainability promotion (see 2301180049).

AT&T, Google and Vodafone are investing $155 million in supplemental coverage from space startup AST SpaceMobile to help in its commercial rollout, AST said Thursday. AST CEO Abel Avellan said the investment comes atop prior infusions from such wireless industry companies as Rakuten, American Tower and Bell Canada.

Dish Network and EchoStar are apparently attempting a form of default on Dish notes due in 2024, 2025 and 2026, Moody's said Wednesday. It said the debt exchanges announced last week and Tuesday for EchoStar notes due in 2028, 2029 and 2030, if successfully completed, would be classified as "distressed exchanges" -- a form of default involving the offer of a diminished financial obligation with the goal being avoidance of an eventual payment default. EchoStar didn't comment Wednesday.

GPS interference is becoming a routine part of conflicts between nations and in intranational armed conflicts, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Monday. It said that conflict-related interference likely also extends to other global navigation satellite systems. "Any nation or group that fails to plan for this is planning to fail," the foundation said.

2023 saw the lowest level of investment in the space economy in a decade, Space Capital said Tuesday. The $17.9 billion in private investment for 2023 was down 25% from 2022, it said. The venture capital firm's report said with DOD reworking its approach to space and relying more on commercial space providers, there now is "an inextricable link" between defense spending and commercial space. It said SpaceX's Starship launch rocket, being fully reusable and "ultra-affordable," will dramatically increase launch activity. Blue Origin acquiring United Launch Alliance "would introduce some long-awaited competition" in the launch industry this year, the report said. Declining interest rates are leading to higher equity valuations and better leveraged buy-out math, which could mean increased space industry M&A this year, it said.

A reconsideration petition on the FCC's denial of SpaceX participation in the rural development opportunity fund (see 2401040018) doesn't rely on new facts or circumstances that couldn't have been brought up earlier in the proceeding, Viasat said Friday in a docket 19-126 opposition. It said the Virginia petitioner acknowledges he wasn't a party to the underlying proceeding and doesn't try to show a good reason why he couldn't participate. The petition also doesn't cite any finding or conclusion that the petitioner believes to be erroneous or show any error in the underlying reasoning, it said.

The FCC Space Bureau approved Lynk Global's requested extension of its surety bond posting deadline (see 2401050062), according to a notation last week. The company had said damages involving its Tower 5 and Tower 6 satellites delayed their launch, and thus the need for an extension.

Iridium on Wednesday unveiled its supplemental coverage from space service, Project Stardust, offering it from its existing satellite constellation. Its initial narrowband IoT offering will support 5G non-terrestrial messaging and SOS capabilities for smartphones, tablets, cars and related consumer applications, it said. Iridium added that it plans to begin testing next year, with service starting in 2026. The company said it's working with multiple direct-to-device and IoT-related companies to incorporate their use cases and requirements into the service.

One of the more common earth station special temporary authority snafus the FCC Space Bureau encounters in applications is the questionable use of the STA category, Earth Station Licensing Division Chief Franco Hinojosa said at the bureau's earth station licensing open house Wednesday. When an STA application is for a time period of close to 180 days or when it needs extensions, it raises the question whether an STA is the proper route. STAs are by definition supposed to be for a limited duration, he said. Wednesday's event follows a Space Bureau open house held in November as part of the bureau’s transparency initiative (see 2311010033). Bureau Chief Julie Kearney said another open house, covering orbital debris, would be held in late February. Wednesday's open house saw Space Bureau staff discussing issues ranging from whether the international communications filing system allows more than three attachments to an application (it does), to the state of the 2018 freeze on accepting new upper C-band earth station registrations (still in place, for now). Hinojosa said among the errors the bureau sees in STA and modification applications, another that frequently appears is missing or incomplete information. An STA application that refers to information found in past authorizations instead of repeating it slows the process, he said. The bureau processed a record 2,804 satellite and earth station applications in 2023, with increased earth station in motion applications helping drive that volume, Kearney said.