Hughes CEO Hamid Akhavan met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about potential interference harms posed by the proposed Lynk Global and AST satellite systems to terrestrial mobile network operators and the need for a uniform licensing regime, Hughes said Wednesday in an International Bureau ex parte filing. It urged denial of their pending applications for their direct-to-handset systems (see 2206290004).

Kepler hasn't responded to an analysis showing its planned operations using its Courier-3 system would significantly interfere with Globalstar's Hibleo-X system, Globalstar told the FCC International Bureau Tuesday, urging the agency to dismiss Kepler's pending U.S. market access petition. Globalstar said contrary to Kepler claims (see 2207080007), German regulatory authority Bundesnetzagentur hasn't signed off on Kepler's full mobile satellite service system. Kepler didn't comment.

Satellite-to-handset mobile service is the largest business opportunity in satellite communications' history, and will become reality with the inclusion of nonterrestrial networks in the definition of 5G and different companies working on the technology, Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm wrote Monday. Using mobile network operator spectrum will allow backward compatibility, but convincing 5G chipset manufacturers to incorporate mobile satellite spectrum capabilities into their future designs would offer higher performance capabilities and much higher regulatory certainty, he said.

The Royal Caribbean Group will use SpaceX's Starlink for fleetwide crew and passenger connectivity, it said Tuesday. Royal Caribbean said the satellite-delivered broadband will be installed on all its vessels by the end of Q1 2023.

The FCC's approval of some SpaceX satellites operating at lower altitudes didn't violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday in a docket 21-1123 opinion. The court also rejected Dish Network claims the FCC ignored harmful interference the SpaceX license modification would cause. The red flags Viasat raised about orbit congestion are "much too speculative," said the opinion by Judges Gregory Katsas, Robert Wilkins and Justin Walker. The opinion, penned by Katsas, said SpaceX might create additional expenses for Viasat for having to move its own satellites more frequently to avoid SpaceX satellites, but Viasat can't "fairly be described as having personally suffered a nuisance, aesthetic, or other environmental injury from congestion in outer space," as NEPA requires. The opinion said Balance Group, which joined Viasat in the NEPA arguments, lacked standing. The court said Dish's interference claims were based on different methods for assessing interference than FCC rules require. It said it lacks jurisdictional standing to address Dish criticisms of the requirement licensees get a favorable ITU finding, and Dish didn't press those issues before the commission. Viasat, in a statement, called the decision "a setback for both space safety and environmental protection. ... Had the Court forced the FCC to properly grapple with the complicated issues surrounding deployment of mega-constellations (in low earth orbit), we believe harmful impacts that otherwise may persist for decades or even centuries to come could have been avoided." It said it "will continue to strongly advocate for space safety and further encourage all industry participants to be responsible stewards of our shared orbital environment." Dish didn't comment. Oral argument was in December (see 2112030034).

Viasat, which said SpaceX's proposed second-generation constellation will likely fall outside equivalent power flux density limits (see 2203090006), is suggesting conditions on any FCC approval to address that. In an International Bureau filing Wednesday, Viasat said before any second-gen satellite launches, SpaceX should have to submit an EPFD analysis covering the 34,000 satellites in its first- and second-gen configurations, analyzing their operation as a single system. If the analysis shows SpaceX's Starlink complying with EPFD limits, it should be allowed to deploy the second-gen satellites covered by the analysis using the inputs used in that analysis, Viasat said. If the analysis doesn't show compliance, SpaceX should have to develop a plan for meeting those limits at all test points and for all orbital locations, it said. That could involve fewer Starlink satellites or fewer orbital planes, modifying power flux density or effective isotropic radiated power masks, or increasing avoidance angle, it said. Before any change to EPFD analysis inputs, such as masks or avoidance angle, SpaceX should have to do a new EPFD analysis and get FCC approval of the analysis, Viasat said. SpaceX didn't comment Thursday.

Astranis Space Technologies' Spacing Guild U.K. subsidiary wants U.S. market access for its AstranisAero West and East satellites, to orbit nominally at 83 degrees west. In two FCC International Bureau applications Tuesday, it said the small geosationary orbit satellites flagged by the U.K. would be used to provide broadband connectivity in the continental U.S. and Caribbean using the Ku band starting in mid 2023.

Commercial space operations could try to establish that it's unacceptable for nations to target civilian commercial satellites and systems, even during wars, but one hangup could be that it's not clear how International Humanitarian Law (IHL) applies in space, said Aerospace Corp.’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy in a paper Tuesday. Penned by Robin Dickey, space policy and strategy analyst, the paper said central to IHL and the Law of Armed Conflict is the idea of protecting civilians and their property. It said open questions include whether temporary interference that doesn't cause physical damage is an attack and whether commercial satellites from companies that sell services to militaries are viable military targets. Aerospace said commercial actors establishing standards and practices to protect themselves from things like cyberattacks and electromagnetic interference could also lead to international norms covering even wartime.

Due to COVID-19's supply chain effects, Viasat is asking that its Oct. 31 launch and operation milestone for its ViaSat-3 geostationary orbit high-throughput satellite be waived or extended until April 30. In an FCC International Bureau filing last week, Viasat said Boeing is testing the satellite as it's integrated to the rocket. Viasat said it worked with vendors to mitigate supply chain problems, but "these efforts have been unsuccessful in the case of Boeing." It said Boeing "has been unable or unwilling to consistently address staffing shortages, delaying its ability to complete the final stages of the ViaSat-3 construction process." It said Boeing was hampered by Los Angeles County public health directives creating "numerous intermittent and unpredictable COVID-19-related changes to working conditions." Viasat said there "was no reason ... to anticipate Boeing’s poor schedule performance at the outset of the program." Boeing didn't comment Monday.

Lynk's options for dealing with regulatory or interference limits at national borders include maintaining the location of the center of a cell beam some distance from the border so the cell edge meets the limit at or before the border, the company told the FCC International Bureau last week. It said another option is modulating the satellite's transmit power as a function of time during an overpass. Lynk said it won't operate in areas where it can't put a satellite beam consistent with regulatory thresholds. It said those thresholds will vary due to geography or jurisdiction, with there likely not being one power flux density limit that it will be subject to globally. Lynk said which option it takes will be determined in collaboration with its mobile network operator partners.