SpaceX continues to fail to assuage interference and collision-avoidance issues as it seeks FCC approval for its experimental satellite system, Intelsat said in an Office of Engineering and Technology filing submitted Monday. Intelsat and SpaceX repeatedly have clashed over SpaceX plans to launch test satellites in advance of a low Earth orbit constellation providing a global broadband service, with SpaceX accusing Intelsat of fishing for proprietary information (see 1507310040). Intelsat said Monday that its request for more information "was not frivolous," and argued SpaceX is incorrect when it says it has provided sufficient detail regarding interference and collision issues. "The company's continued reluctance to demonstrate compliance with all relevant FCC requirements makes it impossible for co-frequency systems, such as Intelsat, to assess interference potential," Intelsat said. That no one from SpaceX has talked to Intelsat's technical or launch team to designate a point person is a clear-cut violation of obligations under collision-avoidance rules, Intelsat said.

DirecTV is expanding the footprint of NFLSundayTicket.TV to noncustomers. The NFL Sunday Ticket streaming service now is available to apartment, condominium and townhouse residents not now receiving DirecTV, and to consumers unable to install a DirecTV dishes at home due to obstructions or other restrictions, AT&T said in a Monday news release. It's also offering it to students at four-year schools at student pricing, AT&T said. The Sunday Ticket online streaming packages start at $49.99 a month for four months, or $24.99 a month for four months for students. The second product announcement since AT&T bought DirecTV extends the package to all connected devices, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche wrote investors. Last week, AT&T unveiled a triple-play lineup (see 1508030030).

Despite what EchoStar says, relying on ITU coordination instead of FCC two-degree spacing rules to mitigate signal interference issues "would help, not hurt, satellite competition," Intelsat said in a filing posted Monday in docket 12-267. Intelsat and EchoStar have been at loggerheads over Intelsat's recommendation to end two-degree spacing and go with ITU filing priority as the basis for coordination requirements (see 1508050034). As numerous new national satellite operators emerged in recent years in multiple areas, "it therefore hardly seems as if the ITU’s processes are hindering new entrants seeking to provide communications satellite services," Intelsat said. "ITU coordination procedures facilitate market entry because they require good faith negotiations between sovereigns/operators -- even by the senior rights holder." Meanwhile, relatively few geostationary satellites have been licensed by the FCC in that time, Intelsat said. Relying on ITU coordination "would allow U.S. licensees to better meet the demand for services utilizing small antennas, such as mobility services," Intelsat said.

The FCC should issue its decision on the Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association 2012 petition against Philadelphia's satellite dish ordinance (see 1404220028) on over-the-air reception device rules, said Darrell Clarke (D), president of the Philadelphia City Council, in a letter to the FCC. Since the proceeding has been closed since February 2012 and the petition itself is almost four years old, Clarke asked the commission to consider the impact of the continued delay on the needs and interests of the city's residents.

OneWeb joined the Satellite Industry Association, SIA said in a Thursday news release. OneWeb earlier this year announced plans to launch 648 Ku-band low Earth orbit satellites, which would tie into Intelsat's geosynchronous satellite constellation and create a satellite-provided broadband network expected to go live in 2019 (see 1506260025).

Harris CapRock Communications seeks FCC International Bureau approval for C- and Ku-band sea tests and trials of its SpaceTrack ST5000-2.4 earth station onboard vessel terminal (ESV), as well as an Intellian v240M ESV. In an IB submission Wednesday, Harris CapRock said it expects to start testing Aug. 14 on a pair of Carnival cruise ships and to run up to 180 days. The company is developing ESVs to communicate with both geostationary and non-geostationary fixed satellite service satellites.

Iridium is a step closer to its Iridium Certus broadband service. The company said Wednesday it received the first broadband core transceiver prototypes for interoperability testing on the Iridium Next satellite network infrastructure. The prototypes will be used by manufacturing partners to design and build products for the aeronautical, maritime and land mobile markets that will be compatible with its broadband service. Next satellites are expected to start launching late this year, with commercial service expected by late 2016.

LightSquared's downplaying of the GPS market's future "is simply out of touch with basic technology trends," the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) said in a statement in response to the LightSquared filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340 that said the personal navigation device industry overall is in decline (see 1507310020). "GPS is becoming even more ubiquitous with continual innovation and growth for applications like precise automotive guidance safety applications and unmanned aerial systems that will further revolutionize transportation, agriculture, and construction, to name a few," GPSIA said in an email. The European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency's GNSS Market Report earlier this year also forecast roughly a doubling in the number of GNSS devices worldwide between 2014 and 2019, GPSIA said. The LightSquared filing also shows "a fundamental misunderstanding of location-based technologies," as inertial and real-time kinematic technologies don't substitute for GPS, but complement it by increasing position accuracy and maintenance during adverse conditions, GPSIA said.

Planet Labs is seeking FCC approval to launch as many as 600 satellites over the next decade for its nongeostationary Earth imagery satellite system. The satellites -- 200 of which would be operating at any given time, given the low altitudes at which they would operate and thus the short lifetime of each satellite -- would include the 11 Flock 1c satellites for which the company already has authorization and which launched in June 2014, plus another 56 the FCC authorized last year to be deployed from the International Space Station, Planet Labs said in an International Bureau filing submitted Sunday. The launches could begin in January, Planet Labs said, with the constellation orbiting at 350 kilometers to 720 km, with most at 475 km, it said. Each of the satellites is expected to have an operational lifespan of roughly two years, providing daily imaging of the entire planet, Planet Labs said. The company said signal interference with other systems is unlikely, even as Planet Labs' constellation grows, because earth exploration satellite service systems operating in the 8,025-8,400 MHz band -- like Planet Labs' -- "normally transmit only in short periods of time" and satellites from different systems do not typically travel through the narrow antenna beams of receiving Earth stations and transmit simultaneously.

Satcom Direct is buying the satellite communications subsidiary of Airbus Group, and the two are seeking FCC approval of the deal. In an International Bureau filing submitted Friday, Satcom Direct and Airbus DS said they agreed last week that Satcom Direct would buy Airbus DS SatCom Government subsidiary -- which specializes in fixed and mobile satellite communication services to military and government customers -- and asked for agency approval for transfer of the numerous licenses and Section 214 authorizations to Satcom Direct. Financial terms weren't disclosed.