The FCC recently sought comment on proposals to enable more flying of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a technology that could add to satellite capacity demand in coming years. The vehicles have grown increasingly common in the Middle East as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan progressed but are largely unused for civil operations, something that could change once a regulatory framework is in place. UAVs rely heavily on satellite and terrestrial communications, and some changes to spectrum allocations are likely required to ensure safety. The recommendations come from the advisory committee to the World Radiocommunication Conference of 2012 and have several steps to go before allowing for widespread use, satellite executives said.
Eutelsat will be unable to use its just-launched W3B satellite due to a leak in the satellite’s propulsion system, the company said Friday. Soon after the satellite launched, the company learned of the debilitating leak in one of two propellant tanks, which has left the satellite unable to reach the necessary orbit. The satellite will remain in transfer orbit until Eutelsat and the satellite’s maker, Thales Alenia, decide what to do with it, said Eutelsat. The company declined to say how much it paid for the Ku- and Ka-band satellite and launch. Arianespace launched the satellite from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
The S-band spectrum allocated to mobile satellite service is largely expected to be lost as a primarily satellite band, satellite industry executives and lawyers said. The FCC proceeding involved isn’t a major source of interest to companies outside the bands, and there’s little concern over other domestic repurposing of satellite spectrum, they said.
A group of TerreStar affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to restructure hefty debt obligations, the company said. EchoStar, the largest secured debt-holder, will provide $75 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) funding allowing TerreStar to continue operations and backstopping a $100 million rights offering, raising speculation by industry analysts of increased EchoStar involvement in future operations. TerreStar warned investors this summer it was considering filing for bankruptcy (CD Aug 10 p5). The filing Tuesday may allow for large spectrum acquisitions in the 2 GHz band, observers said.
An FCC order Tuesday increased Sirius XM’s role in deciding which bodies will use channels set aside as a condition of the XM-Sirius merger in 2008. Eligibility for the set-aside, which originally reserved 4 percent of the channels for minorities, was broadened to allay constitutional concerns about specifically benefiting ethnic groups. The order didn’t change in major ways after it began circulating in September (CD Sept 7 p2). The FCC originally set a December 2008 deadline for meeting the merger conditions, but commission action on the set-aside has long been delayed as officials worked through the constitutional issues.
Fiber use for content distribution by programmers and broadcast networks will continue to increase, executives said in a Satcon panel discussion. Satellite companies will need to embrace the technology instead of trying to fight it off, they said. The consolidation of cable headends is contributing to increased reliance on fiber, they said. Expect “fiber to play a role in distribution,” said Brent Stranathan, CBS vice president of broadcast distribution. While satellite distribution has been good, “when you look at what fiber has done, networks would be doing a disfavor if they didn’t look at that,” he said.
Enterprise satellite communications are becoming more intertwined with terrestrial services, said Spacenet CEO Andreas Georgiou. “As alternative technology companies provide more competitive technologies for the enterprise world” the satellite-based market “has to contract,” he said on a panel at Satcon in New York. Very small aperture terminal network deployment has fallen as a result and Spacenet has started combining services, he said. The company uses hybrid networks to accommodate the terrestrial and satellite needs for customers.
Successful government partnerships with commercial satellite operators for hosted payloads will require the government to step back and let the commercial processes move forward effectively, said CEO Tip Osterhaler of SES World Skies Government Solutions. Governmental oversight procedures can slow the efficiency, he told the Satcon conference in New York. For example, the Wideband Global SATCOM system, which is being built by Boeing, has allowed around 500 government employees access at the facility, Osterhaler said. “That’s a lot of oversight."
The military and commercial satellite operators need to improve communications and planning to make sure Defense Department satellite requirements don’t “outstrip” the available capacity, said Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, president of Inmarsat Government Services. Reactive leasing by the government leaves industry and military needs out of sync, she said at the Washington Space Business Roundtable Thursday. There has been an “awakening” in recent months in the defense environment that things need to change and discussion has increased in recent months on how to break down the “impediments” to effective satellite communications policy, Cowen-Hirsch said.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the consummation of DBSD’s bankruptcy reorganization plan Tuesday, preventing the company from emerging from bankruptcy as planned. If the court rules against the bankruptcy plan, approved by the Southern District of New York, DBSD may have to start the reorganization planning all over again, said an executive familiar with the case. Both Sprint Nextel’s and Dish Network’s motions for stays were granted by the court and neither company was required to post bond. The court didn’t offer any more information on the decision.