Iridium claims about National Academies of Sciences report findings ignore that the report explicitly doesn't reach a conclusion about whether Iridium would experience harmful interference as defined by the FCC rules, Ligado said in docket 11-109 Thursday. Iridium also glosses over how the NAS report has a different definition of harmful interference from the FCC's, it said. That's a critical distinction because the FCC's rules and licensing regime are the only tools the commission can use, Ligado said, urging the agency to reject the Iridium-sought stay of the Ligado order (see 2211150043).

Satellite communications revenue should hit $141 billion annually by 2030, with the growth driven by low earth orbit constellations and satellite work extending terrestrial network coverage, ABI Research said Wednesday. It said there will be a big fight over rural and remote consumer data service market share, with that market being one of the key drivers of growth over the next decade. It said consumer and enterprise customers should top 53 million by 2030.

Iridium pitched an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel for a stay of the FCC's Ligado order based on the National Academies of Sciences report on interference threats to its satellite system from Ligado emitters, per a docket 12-340 posting Tuesday. Iridium made a similar pitch to the regular commissioners earlier in the month (see 2211070048).

Intelsat's Galaxy 31 and Galaxy 32 satellites launched Saturday from Florida's Cape Canaveral, the company said. Galaxy 31 will replace Galaxy 23 and provide distribution services to cable headends in the U.S., and Galaxy 32 will replace Galaxy 17's C-band payload, it said. Both are to begin service early next year.

AST SpaceMobile deployed the communications array for its test satellite, BlueWalker 3, the largest commercial communications array ever deployed in low earth orbit, it said Monday. The satellite's arrays, at 693 square feet, should have a field of view covering more than 300,000 square miles of the surface of the earth, it said.

Telesat is seeking FCC OK to transfer the license for SES' AMC-11 satellite from SES. In an International Bureau application posted Thursday, it said it intends to relocate the satellite at 131 degrees west to 111.1 degrees west, where it will collocate with Telesat's Anik F2 satellite. Telesat said it's buying AMC-11 to continue providing C-band service from 111.1 degrees west. An SES spokesperson said Anik F2 is experiencing an anomaly and AMC-11 is the best option for providing continuity of C-band service to those Telesat customers needing to transition quickly. Telesat said AMC-11, when moved and assigned, will be called Anik F4.

Relying on standards, anti-jamming capabilities and customized offerings will help to boost overall cybersecurity in the satellite industry, but they won't be enough in times of cyberwarfare, Northern Sky Research analyst Charlotte Van Camp blogged Wednesday. Instead, there must be more investment in resilient systems and in streamlining cybersecurity between commercial satellite operators, government and end users, she said. Without that, risks, ease of access and cyber impacts will grow. End users also bear some responsibility, as they often have no or minimal methods for securing their data, creating security gaps for attackers to exploit.

Satellite constellations are inherently global operators, and regulators like the FCC have a responsibility to consider their global impact, the Royal Astronomical Society said Thursday, urging the International Bureau to delay approval of SpaceX's proposed second-generation constellation until it shows it can meet the standards developed by the International Astronomical Union. The RAU also asked the agency to end its exemption of large satellite constellations from environmental impact review. The commission didn't comment.

Viasat and Inmarsat parent Connect Topco gave complete responses to initial questions from the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, and the committee is now doing an initial review of whether Viasat/Inmarsat will pose a risk to U.S. national security or law enforcement interests, the multi-agency group told the FCC International Bureau Tuesday. Viasat's plan to buy Inmarsat for $7.3 billion was announced 12 months ago (see 2111080038).

If not for SpaceX's Starlink launches, U.S. launch cadence would be about half of what China is doing, said Astranis CEO John Gedmark in a Twitter thread last week. Since 2018, China's military space program's ramp-up has reached a launch a week, he said. "That is a crazy number of things being launched into space" and includes earth observation and communications satellites, modules for China's space station, its BeiDou global navigation satellite system and large numbers of classified satellite missions, he said. Gedmark said the U.S.' commercial space sector is a means of ensuring China doesn't dominate space, and the Space Force and NASA need to support those commercial operators.