Expedited satellite and earth station application processing rules the FCC approved in September (see 2309210055) go into effect Jan. 5, according to a notice for Wednesday's Federal Register. The rules include time frames for putting applications on public notice and the FCC Space Bureau's transparency initiative providing greater license application guidance.

The FCC Space Bureau approved a SpaceX modification of its second-generation constellation authorization that would allow with strict limits supplemental coverage from space (SCS) over personal communication service G-block spectrum (see 2302080001). Under the authorization, the company can operate in the 1910-1915 MHz and 1990-1995 MHz bands "for limited on-orbit check out of the antennas immediately following deployment of each satellite for a period of 10 days or less." Last week the company told the commission it hopes to launch and operate 840 satellites with direct-to-cellphone device capability over the next six months, with the numbers growing beyond that as it looks to offer commercial SCS service next year.

Spire will build and launch six satellites for satellite IoT provider Lacuna Space, with Lacuna operating the satellites under an agreement between the companies announced Tuesday. Spire said each satellite will carry a Lacuna payload and antenna and allow Lacuna to scale its IoT network. Spire said the agreement starts with six satellites but could expand to dozens.

SpaceX's "aura of invincibility" in satellite-delivered residential broadband does not extend to the aviation connectivity marketplace, William Blair's Louie DiPalma wrote investors Monday, pointing to American Airlines' announcement that it signed an in-flight Wi-Fi contract with Intelsat. The American Airlines deal follows Intelsat agreements struck with Air Canada and Alaska Airlines earlier this year as well as Delta's pact with EchoStar, he said. SpaceX landed contracts with Qatar and FlexJet but seems to have won fewer than 3% of commercial and business aviation deals that were awarded since it entered the market two years ago, he said.

Geometric Energy received an FCC experimental license for its DOGE-1 mission, the first space endeavor "to demonstrate Blockchain Technology beyond [low earth orbit]," according to the company's application. The mission will launch a cubesat into lunar orbit using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with electric propulsion getting the payload to lunar orbit. Geometric Energy said the mission will be paid for via Dogecoin cryptocurrency. In addition, it said the DOGE-1 payload will include "Distributed Public Ledger Technology Development & related imaging, authorization and authentication services." Authorization from the Office of Engineering and Technology was granted last week.

SpaceX's development approach for its Starship heavy launch rocket "looks nothing like other rockets," with the company rapidly turning out copies now rather than starting with a prototype and then scaling production, Quilty Space wrote in a note to subscribers Friday. That could let it avoid the production strain that often slows development, "easily doubling the normative cadence of new rockets, if not more," it said. That could make founder Elon Musk's vision of daily launches more feasible, though the risk is that a serial technical flaw would affect multiple rockets, it said.

The first launch in Iceye's second tranche of earth exploration satellite service satellites is now scheduled in November instead of October (see 2304050002), it said in an FCC Space Bureau filing Thursday, the last day of November. It said the remaining seven of the second tranche are expected to be launched in March 2024, June 2024, June 2026 and October 2025.

The FCC Space Bureau signed off on DirecTV's request to extend the authorized mission life of its T10 satellite to February 2027 (see 2208150001), according to a bureau grant this week.

Pointing to active satellite deployments in the 70/80 GHz band and the spectrum's potential for 6G backhaul via satellite, SpaceX urged the FCC that 70/80 GHz modernization accommodate satellite systems alongside other co-primary services. In a docket 20-133 filing Thursday, it recapped a meeting with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office and FCC Space and Wireless bureau staff at which it pushed for a 70/80 GHz band framework that includes satellite Earth stations in its light-licensing and link registration process.

The idea of holding states liable for damages that stem from launch missions they host is being tested by evolving space capabilities, such as launches not just from land but the high seas or aircraft, Gerardine Goh Escolar, National University of Singapore adjunct law professor, said Wednesday during a U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs conference. She said there also are questions around legal liability arising from in-orbit transfers of property, such as a satellite launched by one country and then effectively owned and operated in orbit by another. Some nations have criticized the idea of imposing liability on a state that allowed its territory to be used for a launch when what was launched is under the control of another state, she said. And some nations have interpreted the Outer Space Treaty and the liability convention to exclude the liability of a launching state when a private space activity or private space actor is involved, but that’s contrary to the wider interpretation taken by the U.N. General Assembly, Goh Escolar said. Liability is restricted to damage caused by a space object, and there is fuzziness around the idea of what constitutes a space object, she said. It's not strictly defined in U.N. texts, but is understood to implicitly mean items with physical properties, including launch vehicles and components of launchers that never enter space, she said. Objects without such physical properties, like electromagnetic waves, are excluded. That limits liability to physical damage caused by, for example, a falling rocket. Yet liability doesn’t extend to service interruption, she added. Goh Escolar said debate continues on whether orbital debris is within the definition of a space object. Given the rapidly growing numbers of objects in orbit, it's going to be difficult to attribute fault when it comes to damage caused by a debris field, Goh Escolar said. She said an international space situational awareness framework could help tackle legal and policy questions, including liability for damages.