Intelsat didn't realize its agreement to split clearing proceeds 50-50 with SES was moot until it saw what was going to be in the FCC's draft C-band clearing order Feb. 6, 2020, testified Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. With the FCC draft order earmarking specific dollar amounts to each incumbent C-band satellite operator, Spengler said in his mind the collaboration agreement "didn't exist" when he called SES CEO Steve Collar, based in Luxembourg, at 3 a.m. EST Feb. 7 to let him know. Friday was the fifth day of trial in SES' litigation seeking damages from Intelsat for the collapse of their C-band collaboration (see 2007140067). SES argued Intelsat was planning weeks in advance of the draft order's issuance to violate the agreement (see 2202070031).

Much of the oral argument in Starz's copyright fight with MGM before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday (docket 21-55379) was about what the Supreme Court said or didn't say in its 2014 Petrella copyright decision. Judge Sandra Ikuta and counsel for MGM disagreed whether, and when, the high court's decision says a copyright claim starts accruing. MGM is appealing a lower court not dismissing some of Starz's copyright claims on MGM licensing content to Starz and subsequently to other content service providers while Starz allegedly had exclusive license.

Much the same way the ITU governs and doles out geostationary orbital (GSO) slots, non-geostationary orbits (NGSO) need a central way of being allocated, Viasat Executive Chairman Mark Dankberg said Wednesday at the SmallSat Symposium. He said there should be policy discussions about and calculations of what the carrying limits are for orbital altitudes and how those constraints get allocated. Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, now Acorn Growth Companies adviser, said a key policy need is a way of holding companies accountable for debris they create, so they have incentives not to create more.

SpaceX faces a new wave of calls for the FCC to reject its proposed second-generation satellite constellation. NASA also raised red flags about the SpaceX plans. A lawyer involved in the proceeding told us it would be surprising if the FCC were able to process the second-gen application in time for SpaceX to commence launches in March, as it targeted (see 2201100004). The FCC and SpaceX didn't comment.

Updates SES sought to the C-band satellite operator consortium agreement in early 2020 reflected changes such as Telesat’s cut of clearing proceeds rather than trying to cement a 50-50 proceeds split with Intelsat, SES CEO Steve Collar testified Tuesday. Trial began Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond regarding SES' suit against Intelsat on the collapse of the consortium (see 2202070031). Collar said in early 2020 SES still believed the 50-50 split governed the handling of Intelsat and SES clearing proceeds. He said he was unaware Intelsat was delaying a consortium update, referring to an internal Intelsat email by Michelle Bryn indicating she “can’t stall on this much longer.” Collar testified he at one point in early 2020 asked Intelsat CEO Steve Spengler directly about the 50-50 split, which Spengler confirmed. Collar said he raised the issue because Intelsat “was under extreme [financial] stress. It was a perfectly reasonable thing to seek assurances.” Collar said he and Intelsat met with White House Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow days before the FCC’s C-band clearing order, not so much because President Donald Trump would necessarily sign off on that order but for him to “be aware of it.” During cross-examination, Kirland and Ellis lawyer Jeff Zeiger, representing Intelsat, walked Collar through a series of internal SES emails, noting they repeatedly didn't say anything about a 50/50 proceeds split with Intelsat.

The commercial space industry's attracting Wall Street attention comes with a potential risk of the investment world turning negative on space broadly, panelists said Tuesday at the SmalSat Symposium. The FCC and FAA are processing some smallsat applications at breakneck speeds, Hogan Lovells satellite lawyer George John said.

Internal Intelsat emails make clear that the company backed out of the C-Band Alliance (CBA) due to maximizing the cash Intelsat would get from a C-band clearing, rather than being triggered by the FCC opting to go with a public spectrum auction, SES argued Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Intelsat outside counsel Mike Slade of Kirkland & Ellis replied that SES is "trying to jam a square peg into a round hole” and ignored how the CBA agreement terms were essentially negated by the spectrum auction approach the FCC ultimately took.

Putting federal muscle behind repurposing or recycling orbital debris and designating a single agency responsible for overseeing orbital debris removal were recommended by the space community to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. That's according to nearly 400 pages of comments filed last month with OSTP on its proposed debris R&D plan, and obtained Friday via a Communications Daily Freedom of Information Act request.

The inaugural launch of Viasat's ViaSat-3 high-throughput satellite system will be in late summer, due to supply chain delays, CEO Rick Baldridge said Thursday as Viasat announced Q3 results. He said Viasat's Inmarsat acquisition is progressing, having filed its premerger antitrust notification with DOJ and prepared regulatory filings for jurisdictions around the world. He said close should be by year-end. Baldridge said revenue for the quarter was $720 million, up $144 million year over year, driven by in-flight connectivity growth and its RigNet and EBI acquisitions. Viasat reported 1,800 aircraft receiving the in-flight service, up 53%. Asked during the call with analysts about business enterprise services competition posed by SpaceX, Executive Chairman Mark Dankberg said “it's a very big market” and growing. He said Viasat’s enterprise approach involves more vertical integration beyond just broadband service provision, and Viasat doesn't see material SpaceX competition going forward. Viasat stock closed at $44.02, up 5.6%.

Predicting a booming 2022 for commercial space businesses, speakers Thursday at a Space Foundation webinar also warned that orbital debris is of increased concern. Space junk could be "a real handbrake" to space industry growth, and there needs to be a global plan for addressing it, said Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck. Two of the space insurance industry's biggest worries are increased potential for collisions as space becomes more crowded and higher potential for failures due to proliferation of new satellite and launch technologies, said Chris Kunstadter, AXA XL global space head. He said a better understanding is needed of the risks involved in commercial human spaceflight. The commercial space industry “weathered the [COVID-19] storm … better than most,” said Eric Stallmer, Voyager Space executive vice president-government affairs and public policy. He hopes the stock market slide in the past few weeks doesn’t mean investment drying up. He said commercial orbital debris mitigation and removal deserves more funding. Speakers said workforce issues and competition for employees is a big issue. “Talent is a real throttle for everybody,” Beck said. Spaceflight is in the midst of a several-year transition from being the province of nations' civil space programs to a commercial operation, with a commercially built and operated space station next, said Sierra Space President Janet Kavandi.