The satellite broadband market likely can sustain three to four operators, given demand for connectivity, with one of those probably a non-North American constellation, OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson said Wednesday at a Satellite 2021-related forum. He said the amount of money nations want to put into having their own constellations could help determine that number.

The satellite industry is "at a bit of a crisis" on orbital debris, SES CEO Steve Collar said in a Satellite 2021-related panel Tuesday. Collar said the penalties need to be sufficiently high to dissuade behavior that could create problems. "We are at danger of getting that wrong," he said. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that until orbital debris rules are better defined, "everybody should be a good steward" of low earth orbit (LEO). She said SpaceX is "concerned" about high-altitude satellites of 1100-1500 km because of how long debris could remain in orbit. She said a satellite without propulsion capability "is not a great thing [and] puts a burden on everyone else." Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg urged a global discussion about debris issues like overlapping orbits of constellations. Shotwell said SpaceX has about 1,320 of its first-generation satellites in orbit now and global reach, but it doesn't yet have full connectivity globally. Once it does, the plan is to continue adding satellites for additional capacity, she said. She said there will be a variety of polar launches this summer. Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer said geostationary orbit (GEO) will still be significant source of profitability for the foreseeable future, and the company is focusing on that. LEO will become relevant someday for telecommunications, but when and the economic challenges of LEO constellations aren't clear, he said. Hughes Network Systems President Pradman Kaul said his company's partnership with OneWeb is letting it approach potential customers with a joint GEO/LEO strategy.

SpaceX faces increased heat from rival non-geostationary orbit satellite operators for supposedly changing types of antennas used on its Starlink satellites without notifying the FCC. Such a change could open the door to fines or the agency ordering the satellites shut down, experts said in interviews.

No satellite operators are reporting delays in C-band clearing in docket 18-122 status reports through Wednesday. Intelsat told FCC acting General Counsel Michelle Ellison and acting Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt its work is "on schedule and under budget," in an ex parte post. It said its ongoing Chapter 11 reorganization shouldn't affect things. The company urged guidance on the claims handling process to be implemented by the relocation payment clearinghouse. In its quarterly report, Intelsat said all encoding systems required to meet the first-phase Dec. 5 deadline are installed, and integrated receivers/decoders needed to complete phase one have been shipped to the earth station operators or are at Intelsat’s vendor’s warehouse. It said critical design reviews for the Galaxy 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 satellites were completed in Q1, as was preliminary design review for Galaxy 37. SES said it's "on track and in some cases ... ahead" of schedule. It said it has done 57% of phase one satellite transitions, including installing 25% of antennas being done in the first phase, with the rest to be completed by Aug. 31. It said incumbent earth stations needing compression equipment have received it, and phase one transition of services needing compression will be done in Q2. It said the pandemic is affecting replacement satellite manufacturing, with some subcontractors' production capabilities impacted, which will delay component deliveries. Eutelsat said it ordered 500 filters and can confirm receipt of the first 100. No transition delays are expected due to filter procurement lead times, and virtual site audits have been completed for 24 of 33 antennas scheduled for transition. Embratel said it notified its Florida earth station customers about the coming retirement of its Star One C1 satellite and its use of spare capacity on SES' SES-4 to ensure continuity of C-band service. It said no earth station customer expressed interest in receiving C-band service after C1 is out of service.

Space launches would get dedicated spectrum, foreign-sponsored broadcast content would need identification, and 911 outage reporting rules would be harmonized under items on April 22's FCC meeting agenda, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel blogged Wednesday. Also on tap are a Further NPRM requiring carriers to implement texting to the 988 nationwide suicide prevention hotline going live in 2022 (see 2103310054), declaring the 800 MHz rebanding done after 17 years, and an unspecified enforcement matter.

Mental health and disability interests so far back an FCC move toward making carriers enable texting to the 988 nationwide suicide hotline. This Further NPRM will be on the April 22 commissioners' meeting agenda (see 2103310030). So will drafts on dedicated space launch spectrum and sponsorship ID requirements for broadcast time leased by foreign governments (see 2103310050).

Active removal of orbital debris carries technological, legal and policy challenges that need hammering out, experts told an Aerospace Corp. webinar Thursday. Chris May, Aerospace engineer-Human Exploration and Spaceflight Division, said methodologies have been suggested, including electromagnetic tethers and harpoons, and no single approach will work for all types of debris due to varying sizes and orbital mechanics. He said money has been a big hurdle to development of an active debris removal industry, with little ADR funding available beyond the R&D and demo stage. George Washington University Space Policy Institute graduate student Tyler Way said policy challenges include export concerns for the technology involved and liability issues about which party is ultimately responsible: the state licensing the client satellite or the company providing the ADR service. He said there are "legally daunting" issues with removal of small debris, since its origin is often unknown, making it difficult to go up in good faith and remove it. Way said there have been discussions about an international body or agreement that would focus on ADR regulation and help alleviate some legal complications, and that could take years to establish.

SES/O3b and Amazon lobbied the FCC eighth floor in recent days about SpaceX's pending license modification and putting it in the 2020 processing round. SES/O3b CEO Steve Collar told Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington the modification "significantly changes the interference environment" for SES' O3b non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) network, per an International Bureau filing Tuesday. Amazon's Kuiper told acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that SpaceX's proposed license modification has Amazon's support as long as it's authorized in the March 2020 NGSO processing round and conditioned on capping orbital altitude at less than 580 kilometers. SpaceX didn't comment Wednesday. SES, calls with commissioners, also argued that the pending Further NPRM on out-of-band emissions from NGSO earth-station-in-motion operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band is flawed and that OOBE limits in place now for geostationary ESIMs and fixed GSO and NGSO blanket-licensed terminals should also apply to NGSO ESIM terminals. Dish Network and SpaceX are at odds over whether SpaceX will use more than one satellite beam in the same area using the same frequency. Dish, in a docket 20-443 filing Wednesday, said SpaceX "falls far short of a commitment" when the company tells the FCC it has in fact answered the question, and previous "hedged pronouncements are not accidents of draftsmanship." It said SpaceX talked about 10 Gbps speeds, and saying it will use only one beam at a time "is simply not credible or realistic," because that speed might require multiple beams for even one user. SpaceX said that Dish "is once again determined to create an issue where none exists," that it has been clear on its satellite beam commitment, and that Dish's own consultant verified that SpaceX's system, when modified, would comply with equivalent power flux density limits.

Commissioner Nathan Simington advocated Wednesday for a light regulatory touch for broadcast regulation, despite not having a model for it, as a way the FCC can help tackle the business woes facing local journalism. "The wolf is now at the door" for stations, and the commission "can get out of the way" as they try to find new sustainable business models when faced with advertising dollar competition from tech giants like Google, he said at a Media Institute talk. He said diversity of ownership is important, but there won't be such diversity "in a world of collapse." Concerns about consolidation can be misguided, as modern broadcast group owners look to maximize the value of individual stations, "not turn each ... into a mouthpiece," Simington said: They seem to see strong local journalism as an asset and aren't prone to acquiring an outlet "only to gut it and make it a clone," because that would be against the group's business interests. "I want finality" from the Supreme Court in its awaited Prometheus decision, he said. Then, the FCC likely will be "eager to take up" the 2018 quadrennial review, Simington said. He said there needs to be a discussion about media ownership reflecting that some parties the agency had hoped to see invest are opting to put their money elsewhere. He said "sensible, slimmed-down regulation" will promote investment in the broadcast industry. Asked about politics at the FCC, Simington said the agency so far in his tenure has "engaged in .... strongly bipartisan and thoroughly reasoned policy. I’m very happy with the spirit of compromise ... among current leadership," and he expects it will continue once there's a 3-2 Democratic majority. A spokesperson for acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel emailed she "values collaborating with her colleagues in support of carrying out the mission of the FCC and appreciates the unique perspective they each bring to the agency.” Simington called President Joe Biden administration's infrastructure plan, with its 5G and broadband components, "very ambitious," and some aspects are worth study. He's concerned about any infrastructure plan that determines where infrastructure should be allocated. He said a 100/100 Mbps standard for broadband makes sense in much of the country but also flies in the face of digital divide issues such as markets that have never been able to attract a provider and urban areas where infrastructure isn't the chief problem.

After years of discussion, the time seems right for augmentation or backup to GPS timing signals, GPS advocates and experts told us: Recent letters from House Infrastructure Committee leaders to President Joe Biden's administration complaining about slow progress show intent for implementation. GPS allies want to see how the Department of Transportation responds.