Intelsat and BBC World News renewed and expanded their distribution contract, with BBC World News standard definition and HD content to be delivered to Asia and the Americas using Galaxy 13, Intelsat 19, Intelsat 20 and Intelsat 21, plus Intelsat's IntelsatOne terrestrial network of teleports and leased fiber, the satellite company said in a news release Thursday.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a petition for hearing en banc filed by Texas lawyer/plaintiff Larry Polsky seeking a rehearing of his consumer complaint against Dish Network. In its order (in Pacer) Wednesday, the three-judge panel said no member of the panel nor judge in active service sought a poll. The 5th Circuit in March upheld a previous U.S. District Court in Houston summary judgment tossing out Polsky's consumer complaint against Dish, calling his claims frivolous (see 1603030026). Polsky didn't comment Thursday.
Ligado continues to press the FCC for a public notice seeking comment on its proposed license modification and rulemaking request for sharing of 1675-1680 MHz. In an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 12-340, Ligado recapped a meeting with its lawyers including ex-FCC Chairman Reed Hunt with current FCC staff including Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins and Office of Engineering and Technology Deputy Chief Ron Repasi at which it said it discussed its work with stakeholders on its network deployment plans. Putting out a PN "would provide all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the new power limits and the company's plans for terrestrial deployment and how these limitations will benefit all consumer GPS devices," Ligado said. It and others repeatedly have asked for a PN (see 1604040034, 1602120052 and 1602040015).
Intelsat hopes to start moving JCSAT-RA from 128 degrees east to 169 degrees east by early 2017. In an FCC International Bureau filing Monday, Intelsat -- which is taking over JCSAT-RA from owner Sky Perfect JSAT -- sought authority for the drift and to operate JCSAT-RA at 169 degrees east. It said it expects to have the drift done in Q2 2017, and the satellite will collocate with Intelsat 8 and Intelsat 805 and bridge any gaps in service between their retirement and the arrival of Horizons 3e, expected in Q1 2019. The end of service life for JCSAT-RA is expected to be in 2024, Intelsat said.
BridgeSat and Surrey Satellite Technology US jointly will work on developing a laser-based satellite communications system with secure data downlinks to a ground network at speeds faster than RF spectrum, the companies said in a news release Tuesday. They said Surrey will build the flight laser terminal units that will communicate with BridgeSat’s global ground network, with the aim of data transmissions of up to 10 Gbps per link. The Surrey terminals will be equipped with standardized interfaces, letting them be used with either Surrey satellites or as flight units for other satellite operators, they said. They said the laser communications system is expected to be operational "within the next couple of years."
Orbcomm expects to close next month on its planned buy of South Africa's Skygistics and its South Africa and Australia subsidiaries, Orbcomm said in a news release Tuesday. Orbcomm said the Skygistics deal will expand distribution for its product set in various IoT markets, including numerous African nations, and comes as Orbcomm looks to be a global IoT services provider. Skygistics already distributes satellite connectivity products from SkyWave, an Orbcomm subsidiary, it said. The deal's terms weren't announced.
Orbital ATK's first customer for its satellite life extension service is Intelsat, Orbital ATK said in a news release Tuesday. Under the service agreement, Orbital ATK said it will make, test and launch a commercial servicing vehicle (CSV), the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1), with it first providing mission extension service for Intelsat in 2019. In a statement, Orbital ATK CEO David Thompson said, “There is a vital need to service fully functional but aging satellites in both commercial and government markets. Backed by our continued investment, today’s announcement signals that we are just getting started in expanding our CSV fleet to provide a diverse array of in-space services in the future.” According to Orbital ATK, MEV-1 will use a docking system to attach to a customer's satellite and take over propulsion and attitude control. The company said MEV-1 has a 15-year design life and is able to do numerous dockings and undockings during that time. The first MEV is scheduled to launch in late 2018, Orbital ATK said. The company didn't identify which Intelsat satellite it would service, but said Intelsat has the option to service multiple satellites using the same MEV.
Intelsat's 35e satellite -- a replacement for Intelsat 903 -- is expected to launch in Q2 2017, the company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. In the filing, Intelsat sought permission to launch and operate the C/Ku-band satellite at 34.5 degrees west, where 903 also operates. Intelsat said 35e will operate in the 13750-14000 MHz band, along with all the frequencies used by 903.
The 465,000 new subscribers added in Q1 mean SiriusXM's subscriber base topped 30 million, it said in a news release Monday. Self-pay additions were 348,000 for the quarter, leaving its self-pay subscriber base at 24.6 million as of March 31, it said.
The postponed launch of WorldView-4 is back on, and scheduled for the September-October time frame, DigitalGlobe said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. It said the FCC approved the earth imaging satellite as part of the non-geostationary exploration earth satellite services constellation in 2012, but that launch was postponed after GeoEye's 2013 takeover by DigitalGlobe. The firm asked for modification of the orbit altitude, inclination and orbit period authorized for WorldView-4, with the orbit to be in the 496-770 kilometer range. DigitalGlobe also asked for an extension of the "launch and begin operations" milestone deadline by seven months, to Nov. 10, instead of the current requirement it be launched by April 10. Construction of the satellite was complete in May 2013, the company said.