The global space economy in 2016 was $329 billion, up roughly 2 percent from 2015 due to growth in the commercial space sectors more than offsetting small declines in government spending, the Space Foundation said in an news release Thursday. It said the $253 billion in commercial space activities was 76 percent of the global space economy.

For the ground segment for its planned Lemur satellite system, Spire Global is asking for FCC International Bureau OK to operate seven earth stations in Alaska, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina and Utah. In a series of bureau applications filed Wednesday (for example, here), Spire said Lemur will provide aircraft, maritime and meteorological monitoring. It asked for authority to use the 402-403 MHz band for uplinks and the 2020-2025 MHz band for downlinks.

The global satellite transponder market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of close to 5 percent through 2020, Technavio said in a news release Wednesday. It said growth is being driven by demand for, among other things, bandwidth leasing and high throughput satellite spot beams. It said increased utilization rate of transponders due to satellite launches planned for the second half of this year drove a big increase in revenue between 2016 and 2017. It said the three biggest revenue-generating application segments of the global satellite transponder market are communications, with the telco industry looking to lease transponders to provide broadband; earth observation; and technology development satellites used to test newly developed satellite technology.

Inmarsat completed an "around the world" Global Xpress test flight, using a Gulfstream IV jet that covered more than 25,000 miles over seven days in June to show in-flight connectivity capabilities via its Global Xpress constellation, said a news release Wednesday. The company said the flight went across 28 spot beams and there were three satellite-to-satellite handovers. It said during the flight, the in-flight connectivity supported such applications as video conferencing, high-speed internet access and file transfer and phone calls.

Satellite interests applauded FCC efforts to harmonize and consolidate rules for vehicle-mounted earth stations, earth stations on vessels and earth stations aboard aircraft (ESAA), and to allow operation of earth stations in motion (ESIM) in the Ka-band. Monday was the deadline for initial comments on the rules consolidation NPRM, replies due Aug. 30. Commissioners approved the NPRM in May (see 1705180042). The NPRM wasn't expected to get notable pushback (see 1705090018). ESIM rules should be identical for earth stations at fixed locations, Boeing said in docket 17-95, saying giving ESIMs co-primary status in the 18.3-18.8 GHz, 19.7-20.2 GHz, 28.35-38.6 GHz and 29.25-30 GHz bands would help deployment of broadband services with additional capacity for end users on mobile platforms. Previous waivers allowing mobility-based fixed satellite services in the Ka-band have shown such deployments don't hurt the operating environment, ViaSat said, saying power limits might be needed for Ka-band ESAAs operating in airspace within line-of-sight of a foreign territory where fixed service networks have an allocation. ESIMs in the Ka-band face the same interference issues as other earth stations operating there on a primary basis, so giving ESIMs primary status will cut burdens on ESIM operators without any corresponding increase in harm, Inmarsat said. It pushed for cutting regulatory barriers for U.S.-licensed earth stations aboard aircraft operating in foreign territory. Several operators also backed FCC proposals to eliminate the antenna pointing accuracy and data logging requirements in existing rules. Elefante Group said the FCC should make clear ESAAs include stratospheric platforms, like those it plans to deploy, and that ESIM deployments in the 18.3-18.8 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands don't inhibit deployment of other services there. The National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Radio Frequencies said any new ESIM uses should preserve the existing scientific use of the 18.6-18.8 GHz band, and an inventory of recent changes in the number and location of fixed earth stations and ESIMs would help in an assessment. It said there should be restriction of ESIM in frequencies adjacent to that band's earth exploration satellite service allocation until there's more technical parameter information available about proposed ESIMs. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association, when looking at possible effects on future services in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz band, said the NPRM doesn't give enough ESIM operational information about possible deployments and asked that prospective ESIM operators submit usage scenario information, as well as channelization and out-of-band-emission information, for analyses based on real operating scenarios.

The FTC and states that complained about Dish Network's telemarketing practices are opposing the company's bid to have a $280 million fine reduced. In an opposition (in Pacer) to Dish's motion to alter or amend the judgment posted Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint plaintiffs said the $280 million is a huge reduction from the $783 billion in statutory damage and maximum penalties Dish faced, and the award isn't disproportionate to the substantial harm inflicted on U.S. consumers. They said Dish -- in challenging the court finding that all the calls made by outside marketers Star Satellite and Satellite Systems Network were conclusively made to residential phone numbers -- is advocating "for a beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard" while the court, using the relevant preponderance standard, found that each separate call was likely made to a residential number. The filing was in response to a motion (in Pacer) earlier in the month by Dish, saying the court found it liable for calls made by those outside marketers since the intended recipients were residential phone subscribers, but TCPA makes no mention of intended recipients and instead focuses on actual recipients.

The carrier identification compliance waiver order for satellite news trucks and other temporary-fixed earth stations released Tuesday is identical to the draft order the FCC released July 13, the agency confirmed to us Tuesday. The item was approved this week in advance of Thursday's commissioners' meeting and removed from the agenda (see 1707310047).

A waiver of the requirement that satellite news trucks and other temporary-fixed satellite earth stations comply with the carrier identification standard was approved by the commissioners and deleted from Thursday's meeting agenda, the agency said in a notice Monday. Satellite news gathering operations complained the carrier ID compliance standard was a major regulatory burden (see 1707190026).

The Defense Information Systems Agency extended its ViaSat contract to continue to receive in-flight connectivity and broadband services on senior leader aircraft, the company said in a news release Monday. It said the contract extension is part of a noncompetitive firm-fixed price contract, which focuses on ViaSat providing broadband and connectivity services, via its global Ku- and Ka-band communications satellite network, to senior leader and VIP aircraft when in-flight. It said the contract extension has a face value of $19.3 million, with the cumulative face value of the contract being $73.2 million.

DigitalGlobe shareholders voted to approve the company's proposed takeover by SSL (see 1703210008), it said in a news release Thursday. DigitalGlobe said shareholders of SSL parent MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates approved in a separate vote issuing MDA common shares to holders of DigitalGlobe stock and certain equity awards. It said the deal is expected to close in or shortly after Q3.