Telesat's LEO 3 demonstration microsatellite launched Sunday on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket in a rideshare mission launched from New Zealand, the satellite operator said Tuesday. Telesat said it will provide continuity for customers and do vendor testing work following the decommissioning of its Phase 1 LEO satellite.
Alongside its pending request to provide supplemental coverage from space (SCS) services using the V band, AST SpaceMobile is asking the FCC for permission to use parts of the 850 MHz cellular A and B block and lower 700 MHz B and C block. In Space Bureau filing Monday seeking to amend its pending U.S. market access application (see 2004140001), AST said it would use that spectrum between 704 and 894 MHz, leased from AT&T, to provide SCS services for AT&T subscribers. AST said it plans to launch five of its BlueBird commercial satellites in Q1 2024 for its SCS constellation, with a second block of BlueBirds to follow later that year.
The reflector malfunction on Viasat's newly launched ViaSat-3 Americas satellite (see 2307130003) could have a "pronounced effect" on the company's overall growth trajectory as the satellite was to bring exponentially more network capacity to its already capacity-constrained existing satellites, S&P Global said Monday. It now appears unlikely Viasat will return to subscriber growth in the next couple of years, S&P Global said.
Since SpaceX's proposed operations in the VHF band (see 2212160006) could mean large exclusion zones where commercial service in the band consistently receives interference, the FCC should grant SpaceX's proposed operations on only a noninterference basis, Myriota said Friday in docket 22-271, recapping a meeting with Space Bureau staff. SpaceX didn't comment.
A problem with a reflector on ViaSat-3 Americas "may materially impact" the satellite's performance, Viasat said Wednesday. The reflector event happened during deployment, it said. Viasat said it's looking at contingency plans to minimize the economic effect, including redeploying satellites from Viasat’s fleet to optimize global coverage, and reallocating a subsequent ViaSat-3 class satellite to provide additional Americas bandwidth. “We’re disappointed by the recent developments,” said CEO Mark Dankberg. “We’re working closely with the reflector’s manufacturer to try to resolve the issue." ViaSat-3 Americas' service priority is growing the company's North American broadband service, and Viasat said the reflector problem isn't disrupting customers and isn't affecting coverage or capacity of the Viasat or Inmarsat constellations in service now. ViaSat-3 launched at the end of April (see 2305010013).
California-based startup Xona Space Systems seeks FCC authorization to launch a 258-satellite radionavigation satellite service in low earth orbit. In an Office of International Affairs application Tuesday, Xona said the aim is to provide centimeter-level positioning, navigation and timing services for U.S. and international markets using the L and C bands. It said it anticipates launching 60 satellites a year to replenish its aging ones.
Intelsat's seventh and final C-band replacement satellite, Galaxy 37, will launch as early as August to replace Galaxy 13, Intelsat said in its updated C-band transition plan, posted Wednesday in docket 18-122. It said all continental U.S. receive antenna feeds will be equipped with blue filters by the Dec. 5 Phase II C-band clearing deadline. It said higher-than-expected teleport migration costs pushed its estimate of overall reimbursable costs from $1.755 billion to $1.77 billion.
The orbital inclination shell altitude for SpaceX's second-generation constellation is quite different from what it told the FCC it would be, Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell tweeted Monday. Rather than 530 km, as SpaceX said it would, the altitude is more a range of 480 km to 580 km, "which is huge and covers most of the range" of most other operational low earth orbit satellite systems, he said. SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday.
SES has done everything it needs to do to satisfy the C-band Phase II accelerated clearing deadline, it said in a docket 18-122 certification Tuesday. The FCC validated earlier this month that Telesat, Eutelsat and Embratel had completed their Phase II clearing (see 2306300038).
SpaceX's application for review of an order allowing Viasat to acquire Inmarsat's authorizations (see 2306210047) uses "years-old, unfounded allegations" unrelated to the transaction, Viasat and Inmarsat said Thursday in a reply in docket 22-153. The FCC Space Bureau/Office of International Affairs order is "a straightforward application of well-established Commission precedent" that SpaceX then ignores or misrepresents, the two said, urging the agency to dismiss or deny the application.