MethaneSAT seeks FCC approval for a sole S-band non-geostationary orbit satellite designed to quantify global methane emissions, it said in an International Bureau application Monday.

SpaceX could start launching its second-generation Starlink satellites this month, the company told the FCC International Bureau Friday. It received partial approval from the agency of its second-gen constellation plans earlier this month (see 2212010052)

Citing critics of its advocacy for sunsetting interference protections for earlier processing round satellite systems, SpaceX told the FCC International Bureau Monday in docket 21-456 those critics should come up with their own alternatives for encouraging coordination. It urged the FCC to release a Further NPRM focusing on routes for balancing between protecting existing systems and encouraging competition; that way the agency and sunsetting critics can weigh that idea against alternatives. New America's Open Technology Institute, recapping meetings with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks and bureau staff (see here and here), told the agency it's important to have a good faith coordination requirement among all non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service operators regardless of processing round; otherwise early round operators lack an incentive to coordinate with later-round competitors. OTI said a sunset period that's not much longer than the buildout period, such as six years, would be a good way to fight spectrum hoarding.

Defense contractor L3Harris is buying rocket propulsion system maker Aerojet Rocketdyne in a $4.7 billion deal, L3Harris said Sunday. L3Harris said the deal will make it more able to meet defense demand in areas such as advanced missile technologies and hypersonics.

Private equity firm Advent International signed a merger agreement to buy Maxar Technologies for $6.4 billion, Maxar said Friday. It said the deal will let it accelerate investments in satellite technologies, pursue M&A on its own, and grow its earth intelligence and space infrastructure businesses. It said the deal is expected to close in mid-2023.

Allowing SpaceX to add very-high frequency telemetry, tracking and command beacons to its second-generation Starlink satellites would give them redundant TT&C capabilities, which would allow better tracking of Starlinks, the company said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority application Friday. The improved tracking "will benefit all operators in the instance of a conjunction or an anomaly," it said. The commission, in its approval earlier this month of part of the second-gen constellation (see 2212010052), deferred decision on Starlink's proposed tracking beacons. In a letter posted Friday, Dish Network said SpaceX was deliberately dragging its feet on a request for data on the validation software used to show its second-generation constellation's compliance with equivalent power flux density limits. SpaceX doesn't need the 30 days it says it will respond by, Dish said. "SpaceX needs that time only for the purpose of withholding the information from parties entitled to it," Dish said. SpaceX didn't comment.

AST SpaceMobile said it expects to start commercial operations of its satellite-provided mobile service in the latter half of 2023, and prompt approval of its petition for U.S. market access for V-band feeder links "is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the preparations necessary to meet commercial deployment objectives," company representatives told the offices of FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Brendan Starks, per an International Bureau filing last week. The company said it anticipates doing 4G LTE and 5G tests globally with partner companies in the U.S., Japan, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.

SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper disagree about Kuiper's orbital debris remediation plans for its proposed satellite constellation. In a letter Wednesday to the FCC International Bureau, SpaceX said Kuiper promises to limit conjunction risks while deorbiting and to cooperate with other operators, but it's not giving technical details that can substantiate such pledges. Last month Amazon said concerns raised by commenters about its orbital debris mitigation plan were "unfounded and represent no reason to delay grant of the application."

DOT needs to improve its process for identifying and documenting GPS interference incidents, per a GAO report Thursday. It said DOT identified 196 potential GPS interference incidents in the first five months of this year, but its process doesn't include all available user reports and its data has inaccuracies. "Without a process that produces quality GPS interference information, federal efforts to quickly respond to and stop interference could be delayed," GAO said. It said DOT has worked to improve transportation sector resilience to GPS interference, but it's not clear how those efforts improved resilience. The report recommended DOT document its incident identification process and develop a strategic approach to resilience.

Verizon's plans to use C-band spectrum terrestrially starting in Q1 2023 in some markets poses "a profound risk of harmful interference" to incumbent satellite users, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington in a series of meetings recapped Wednesday in docket 18-122. Eutelsat urged the agency to issue a framework for satellite operators to certify completion of the second phase of the C-band accelerated relocation process, as terrestrial transmissions in the band pose a threat to any unfiltered earth stations. In docket 20-173, Telesat said the C-band relocation coordinator is requesting that Telesat and other eligible satellite operators transition a percentage of antennas/feeds that hadn't been associated with any particular operator as they're discovered in the operator outreach program. Telesat said it has been transitioning its assigned share and working on transition of some antennas/feeds the relocation coordinator identified as pointing at Telesat satellites but not receiving signals from them.