With its Inmarsat-3 F5 satellite in orbit and to take over traffic currently carried by Inmarsat-3 F4 starting on Thursday, Inmarsat is asking the FCC International Bureau for a 60-day special temporary authorization starting that day for F5 to operate with mobile earth stations while an application to replace F4 with F5 is pending. The two satellites were last in a series of third-generation satellites and are virtually identical in design and operate in the same parameters, Inmarsat said in a set of IB filings last Thursday (see here, here and here).

Intelsat needs additional time to drift Intelsat 16 from 76.2 degrees west to 58.1 degrees west, the satellite company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday requesting a 30-day extension of its special temporary authority for the drift. Intelsat 16 began the drift Jan. 22 and the trip is expected to take roughly 10 weeks, it said. The company said it also has a pending application to permanently operate Intelsat 16 at 58.1 degrees west. The relocation was initially expected to begin in November and has been moved back twice by unspecified delays (see 1512230009).

Telesat wants to use its Telesat 19V satellite to serve the U.S. market in the Ka- and Ku- bands, the company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday. The geostationary satellite is expected to launch in Q1 2018 and operate at 63 degrees west, co-locating with Telstar 14R and providing Ku-band spot and regional beam coverage in Brazil, spot beam coverage in the Andean region and regional coverage in the North Atlantic Ocean region, while its Ka-band will provide high-throughput capacity in parts of South America, northern Canada, parts of the Caribbean and parts of the North Atlantic region, including parts of Maine, Telesat said.

Harris CapRock Communications is seeking special temporary authority (STA) to operate its new earth station onboard vessel terminals with O3b's fixed satellite service while it readies a license modification application that would give it long-term operating authority. In a pair of FCC International Bureau filings Wednesday (see here and here), Harris CapRock said its 2.4-meter multiband Space Track maritime earth station is designed to operate in the C-, Ka- and Ku- bands and it's filed a commercial modification application for C- and Ku-band operations. The pendency of that application precludes filing a modification application to add Ka-band operation authority, thus necessitating the STA request to let it communicate with O3b's Ka-band fixed satellite service system, Harris CapRock said. The STA requests would allow the Space Track earth stations to operate in the 27.6-28.4 MHz and 28.6-29.1 MHz uplink bands and 17.8-18.6 MHz and 18.8-19.3 MHz downlink bands, the company said.

Iridium's launch plans for its Next constellation hit a hiccup. The first satellites are now due to be launched in June by SpaceX instead of in April by Kosmotras, CEO Matt Desch said in a conference call Thursday as the company announced Q4 financial results. That delay won't affect the constellation overall, Desch said, and it still will be up and operational by the end of 2017. Desch said Iridium found out days ago Kosmotras had yet to receive the approvals it needs from the Russian Ministry of Defense for the launch. "We just didn't want that kind of uncertainty in our program," he said, so while the Russian launch company works on approvals, the SpaceX launch that was to take place in July has been moved up to June. The rest of the Next launches will follow the current SpaceX schedule, with the next one to be in October, while the Kosmotras launch will be worked in when it's ready, Desch said: "This isn't that big a change from our overall plan." The amended launch schedule won't have major effects on customers and it doesn't significantly change the costs of Next, he said. Desch said a Spanish satellite launch is facing similar Kosmotras issues. Kosmotras didn't comment. Meanwhile, Desch said, production for its 66-satellite global broadband constellation is ramping up, with 12 in various stages of manufacture and Orbital ATK expecting to be producing six a month by July. For the quarter, Iridium said it had revenue of $106.4 million, up 6 percent, and ended the year with 782,000 subscribers, up from 739,000 at the end of 2014, with government business driving that growth. For 2016, Iridium said it expected service revenue growth of 4 to 6 percent, compared with 2.5 percent growth in 2015, with government work expected to offset sluggishness in commercial work. Long range, once Next is operational, service revenue is expected to be $420 million to $465 million in 2018, compared with roughly $242 million in 2015, the company said. Desch said its investment in Aireon, which plans to deploy a global satellite-based aircraft tracking and monitoring system in 2018, also is showing momentum as the company signs up new customers even before its launch. The FAA also is looking to test and validate space-based Aireon data, he said. "We believe the FAA use of Aireon data is a matter of when, not if." Iridium closed Thursday at $6.97, down 7 percent.

A U.S. District Court judge in Colorado shot down Dish Network's attempt to transfer a lawsuit filed there to U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois, and the Illinois court should follow similar reasoning in denying the company's pending motion to add Ace American Insurance to its suit against Travelers Property Casualty in Illinois, Ace said in a notice filed Tuesday in the Illinois court. Both insurers are seeking determinations they aren't responsible for defense costs as Dish fights claims by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio alleging violations of telemarketing sales rules because Dish helped dealers make robocalls (see 1602120017). In his Feb. 18 ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn of Denver said transfer of the case wasn't merited, but that the schedule that has the trial in Ace American Insurance v. Dish starting March 14 is "not practicable" and the trial was continued. In its notice in Travelers Property v. Dish, Ace said the Springfield court should "take judicial notice of that decision" and deny Dish's motion to amend that would add third-party claims against Ace.

Gogo and SES signed a satellite capacity agreement that gives Gogo high throughput satellite (HTS) spot beam and wide beam capacity on SES-12, SES-14 and SES-15, Gogo said in a news release Tuesday. The three HTS satellites are set to launch in 2017, Gogo said. Gogo Chief Technology Officer Anand Chari said the SES deal "will dramatically increase bandwidth and drive overall costs per bit down by orders of magnitude." He also said Gogo's 2Ku in-flight connectivity service was designed with such satellite enhancements in mind, and that airlines will be able to access the HTS capacity without any equipment modifications.

ViaSat signed Qantas Airways as an in-flight connectivity customer, with the two signing a memorandum of understanding regarding connectivity provisions for domestic Qantas flights, ViaSat said in a news release Monday. It said the deal represents its first Asia Pacific airline in-flight connectivity customer, as well as the first airline in that region to employ its hybrid Ku-/Ka-band antenna. ViaSat said the MOU stipulates that in-flight Internet trials will start late this year on Qantas Boeing 737s, with a full rollout across Qantas' domestic fleet to begin in 2017.

Globalstar and avionics company Avidyne will jointly develop satellite-based Internet and voice communications products for the aviation market, they said in a news release Tuesday. The release said Avidyne will market the products to aircraft manufacturers and through its dealer network.

Intelsat hopes to slightly move its Intelsat 1R satellite from 50 to 50.1 degrees west, and to extend its license term and existing waivers for more than seven years, the company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. The relocation is to make way for Intelsat 29e, which launched Jan. 27 and is expected to arrive at 50 degrees west at month's end, it said. Intelsat said it expects to begin drifting 1R in June or July and have it at 50.1 degrees west within days, where it will nominally colocate with 29e. Intelsat 1R launched in November 2000, with its current license term set to expire on June 24, the company said. The satellite's expected lifespan is estimated to run to August 2018, though it could be extended five additional years in an inclined orbit operation. To accommodate the possibility of an inclined orbit position, Intelsat said it also would like the license term extended through Aug. 31, 2023.