While willing to coordinate with SpaceX if the FCC approves the latter's pending request to change the elevation angle of satellites covering the polar regions (see 2205170002), Kepler told the International Bureau Tuesday the request is clearly temporary. Kepler said acceptance of this temporary coordination isn't a blanket consent to future similar operations. It said if SpaceX wants to modify its authorization and formally reduce its evaluation angle someday, Kepler will need to assess possible interference in greater detail.

Brazil's telecommunications regulator, Anatel, gave OneWeb landing rights there, the company said Monday, announcing the 15-year license. It said Brazil is one of a few nations that will host two OneWeb satellite gateways.

As it pivots from an earth imaging constellation operator to a provider of mission planning, licensing and flight operation services, Astro Digital asked the FCC International Bureau to amend its pending license application for 25 satellites. It said in an application filed last week all future missions will generally support or involve demonstrations or tests of imaging or imaging tech development. It said it will operate the satellite bus carrying customers' payloads. It asked for OK for uniform orbital and RF parameters for those upcoming missions.

Imposing an aggregate collision risk metric on SpaceX but not on other U.S.-licensed operators would jeopardize FCC authority over space sustainability, "which has an uncertain legislative nexus and has never been tested in court," SpaceX told the FCC international Bureau last week. It said the FCC hasn't claimed jurisdiction over such issues as how "broadcasters ... drive TV news vans." It said Congress has never indicated it intends for the agency to have that kind of jurisdiction over satellites, proof being it never appropriated funds for the hiring of aerospace engineers or other similar technical experts. It said a Viasat call to look at aggregate collision risk for SpaceX would "stretch the public interest standard past the breaking point, which would put the Commission’s authority over space sustainability at risk." It said applying an aggregate collision risk analysis to SpaceX's planned second-generation constellation would violate the Administrative Procedure Act "as an arbitrary and capricious rule adopted without adequate notice."

Since the FCC authorized Amazon's Kuiper plans in 2020 (see 2007310057, NASA's experience with low earth orbit constellations has shown the need for more scrutiny before launch on areas that could affect NASA operations and the safety of its assets, the agency told the FCC International Bureau Thursday. Citing Kuiper's pending modification of that authorization, NASA recommended Kuiper mitigate collision risks by maintaining a conservative separation from human space flight vehicles such as the International Space Station during ascent and deorbit phases. It also recommended Kuiper do an analysis showing its full constellation won't be a significant source of light pollution affecting astronomical observations, and that the analysis be made publicly available. NASA said it doesn't anticipate any RF interference impacts to its operations resulting from Kuiper's plans. It said all large constellation operators should design and operate their satellites using the 2019 federal orbital debris mitigation standard practices. It said the growth of mega constellations is raising concerns about reduced availability of safe launch windows, especially for missions requiring instantaneous or short launch windows such as planetary missions. NASA said there should be planning for conjunction and interference mitigation at a national and international level. The National Science Foundation separately said it continues to discuss with satellite operators means of preventing their constellations from affecting ground-based astronomical observations. It said it's urging satellite designs that avoid main-beam illumination of radio astronomy sites, and that it's working with operators to develop recommendations for minimizing impacts to optical and infrared astronomy. NSF said options it's pushing include reducing optical brightness via darkening of satellites, deflecting light away from the ground and providing orbital information to astronomers for work on scheduling observations around satellite locations. It said Kuiper has taken a leadership role in those talks with astronomers.

Neither AST nor Lynk addressed broader policy considerations on repurposing terrestrial spectrum for satellite use, in proposed satellite-delivered mobile service plans, Hughes told the FCC International Bureau Tuesday. Nor did they address how much their services would preclude other applications, the impacts of inevitable launches of larger constellations than they have proposed, it said, urging the commission to deny their applications and start a general proceeding on the implications of reallocating wireless frequencies for use by satellite systems.

A record 1,713 commercial satellites were launched in 2021, up 40% over 2020, the Satellite Industry Association said Wednesday. Commercial satellite launches were up 20% over 2020, it said. It said space generated $386 billion revenue globally, up 4% over 2020, with commercial satellites generating 72% of that business. It said satellite manufacturing revenue was $13.7 billion, up more than 12% year over year. It said launch revenue was $5.7 billion, up 8%. It said U.S. firms built 87% of commercially procured satellites launched in 2021.

SpaceX is giving rural America "a back seat to gamers on mountain tops and luxury RVs," Public Knowledge told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per an ex parte post Wednesday in docket 20-443. Citing delayed equipment shipments to rural households that have ordered Starlink, PK said the FCC should ensure SpaceX fulfills its mission of serving rural America before it can "speed after the luxury vacation market." It said SpaceX's waiver request also helps it undermine the FCC's ongoing analysis of whether to open the 12 GHz band to sharing. SpaceX didn't comment.

Download speeds for SpaceX's Starlink broadband service are up 38% in the U.S. over the past year, from averaging 65.72 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 90.55 Mbps in Q1 2022, Ookla said Tuesday. It said average speeds in Canada were up nearly 58% over the same span, from 61.84 Mbps to 97.40 Mbps. It said average upload speeds decreased: from 16.29 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 9.33 Mbps in Q1 2022 in the U.S. and 16.69 Mbps to 10.70 Mbps in Canada. It said median latency was up slightly, from 40 milliseconds to 43 in the U.S., and 51 to 55 in Canada. For many users, that latency increase is likely negligible, it said. It said Viasat in the U.S. in Q1 was averaging speeds of 22.31/2.81 Mbps and latency of 628 milliseconds, and HughesNet averaged 22.19/2.65 Mbps and latency of 724.

SpaceX objections to the Viasat/Inmarsat deal (see 2206130026) aren't transition-specific and involve licenses that aren't even subject of the applications, Visat and Inmarsat said in replies Tuesday (docket 22-153). Citing objections by Amazon to Viasat and Inmarsat both holding dormant satellite authorizations in the V band, against FCC rules, they said if the applications remain pending at the time the agency acts on the transfer of control applications, they will "take appropriate action and seek relief as needed to ensure compliance."