Eutelsat is partnering with Starburst Accelerator -- an aerospace-centric startup incubator in Paris -- the satellite company said Wednesday. Eutelsat said it would help in developing services, applications and technologies, and also be part of the accelerator selection committee.

LightSquared is eyeing a Dec. 15 exit from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That's the date set in a court order approved Tuesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman in Manhattan for payment to Moelis & Co., the financial adviser and investment banker to the satellite company in its 3-year-old Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The order signs off on paying Moelis $32.5 million in capital transaction fees and restructuring fees on the effective date of LightSquared's plan for emergence from bankruptcy, as long as the plan is consummated by Dec. 15. If the plan isn't consummated by then, Moelis doesn't receive the $32.5 million -- its reduced transaction fee -- but it then has the right to seek full repayment of the $63.8 million for which Moelis may be eligible.

Don't expect to see Sirius XM enter the streaming audio marketplace anytime soon, Sirius executives said Tuesday. While Sirius has looked into Internet-based music streaming services, "None of them are making money," Chief Financial Officer David Frear said Tuesday during a conference call with analysts on its financial results. While Sirius has better relationships with record labels after its $210 million settlement last month on unpaid royalties (see 1506260048), the company isn't interested in trying to leverage that into global streaming licenses, CEO Jim Meyer said. "Just going global is not worth doing if you cannot make money on it," Frear said.

The Connect America Fund Phase II buildout might require "satellite-specific standards" for high-cost areas, Adtran said in an ex parte presentation filed Monday in docket 10-90. The broadband equipment maker has been jousting with Hughes Network Systems over Hughes-proposed CAF standards that Adtran said could result in "second class" broadband (see 1507240016). Adtran Counsel Stephen Goodman, in a phone call with Wireline Bureau representatives, said the company opposes any "across-the-board relaxation" of technical standards, but it also sees the possibility of varying standards for certain areas covered by the Remote Area Fund.

SpaceX -- to be commended for providing some information about its test satellite proposal -- still needs to clarify some technical issues on potential frequency interference and collision with others' satellites, Intelsat said in a response filed Friday in file 0356-EX-PL-2015 with the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. SpaceX plans to launch a series of test satellites starting next year in the first step to building a low earth orbit constellation to provide a global broadband service. Intelsat has an informal objection to the experimental license needed (see 1507230020). While information filed last week with the OET clears up some issues, Intelsat said, it still needs details on such issues as the transmit earth station's minimum antenna diameter and associated side-lobe pattern. Intelsat said it also had questions about how SpaceX would adjust satellite orbits to avoid close proximity to inactive space objects, what sort of back-up tracking systems the satellites would have in case the active system fails, and how long SpaceX intends to monitor its satellites.

Generally lowering the Connect America Fund Phase II standards would create "second class" broadband in a disservice to the public, Adtran said in a comment posted Friday in FCC docket 10-90. Adtran's submission was the latest in a back-and-forth between it and Hughes Network Systems on CAF standards, including a filing Monday by the satellite company indicating the 100 GB per month data usage allowance could preclude satellite broadband operators from taking part (see 1507220049). A lesser allowance for satellite operators "is likely to limit the usefulness of satellite broadband for video streaming, which is the dominant use of the Internet presently," Adtran said. The company repeated its previous arguments against Hughes' proposed R-Factor score and pushed for its own proposed higher R-Factor score -- R-Factor being a measure of VoIP call quality (see 1506150019).

Thomson Video Networks launched its SingleFeed solution for the company's NetProcessor 9030/40 multiplexing and transport system and RD1100 receiver/descrambler, the company said in a Thursday news release. SingleFeed's aim is for easier satellite distribution of single frequency network multiplexes by terrestrial headend operators, it said.

LightSquared may be moving toward settling with at least one GPS company it's suing, as well as ending its spectrum fight before the FCC. In a letter dated Wednesday to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman in New York, LightSquared through its legal counsel said it and Trimble want court assistance "in advancing settlement negotiations" on resolution of technical issues of LightSquared's spectrum use. The two ask the court to postpone discovery for 45 days while they "discuss ways to bring full closure to the disputes that prompted this lawsuit and their disagreements before the FCC," the letter said. Those discussions will include talks about receiver susceptibility to interference, spectrum use, network architecture and business concerns. LightSquared sued GPS companies Deere, Garmin and Trimble, the U.S. GPS Industry Council and Coalition to Save Our GPS in 2013, claiming their failure to disclose potential interference problems between GPS and LightSquared's spectrum use ultimately helped lead to LightSquared's bankruptcy (see 1311040060). LightSquared separately is funding a study on how terrestrial broadband and GPS might co-exist (see 1506250008). Deere and Garmin have said "they are willing to engage in settlement discussions," the letter said. LightSquared declined further comment.

The app offerings for Iridium Go are growing, Iridium Communications said in a news release unveiling a variety of new mobile applications for its mobile communications hub device. The apps were created through Iridium's third-party app developer program. The Iridium app market is aimed at the maritime, outdoor recreation, lone-worker safety and aviation markets, and the apps announced Wednesday include Grib Explorer Plus, which combines weather and oceanic data into imagery; PredictWind Offshore, which allows downloading of such data as weather routing and Global Maritime Distress and Safety System text forecasts; and Quick Web Information Pulls, a news, stocks and sports information aggregator. The satellite company said its third-party app developer program has more than 55 outside developers creating apps to work with the platform.

Dish Network, CEO Charles Ergen and EchoStar conspired to get LightSquared's spectrum "at fire-sale prices" through widespread racketeering and fraud, Harbinger Capital said in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan asking for $1.5 billion in damages from Ergen, Dish, investment banker Stephen Ketchum and his Sound Point Capital Management. The litigation is similar to a Harbinger suit filed one year ago in U.S. District Court in Denver (see 1407100060) and thrown out in April on summary judgment. Harbinger -- which held most of LightSquared's common equity --- also made similar arguments in 2013 in a complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court as part of LightSquared's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The latest suit alleges Ketchum, who had a long-standing relationship with Ergen, used Sound Point to set up an investment vehicle, SPSO, through which Ergen bought large amounts of LightSquared debt to get at its spectrum. Meanwhile, Ergen's LBAC -- now a subsidiary of Dish -- also tried to purchase that spectrum with a $2 billion bid -- substantially lower than estimates in a pair of valuations Ergen had. After LightSquared filed for bankruptcy, U.S. Bankruptcy Court decided Harbinger had a conflict in considering that bid between the best course for protecting its stake and best course for LightSquared, and the court ordered creation of an independent committee to handle LightSquared's reorganization or sale, with Harbinger losing its say in the running of the company. Though LightSquared's reorganization plan saw Harbinger made partially whole, the investment company is seeking damages for the loss of the control rights it once had as Dish and Ergen "effectively breached the 'outer limits' of what is acceptable in a bankruptcy proceeding," Harbinger said in its suit filed Tuesday. Dish declined to comment Wednesday. Though Harbinger accused EchoStar of being part of the racketeering effort, it's not among the defendants.