Inmarsat is using multiple SpectralNet systems from Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in its L-band Tacsat (L-TAC) mobile satellite communications system, Kratos said Thursday. L-TAC enables "a UHF-like satellite capability" for use with UHF tactical radios, while using SpectraNet allows extension of L-TAC services to different satellites by digitizing RF signals for carriage on IP networks, Kratos said.

LightSquared revised its LTE/GPS interference test plan in the face of suggestions that the plan lacked any indication the testing would look at possible impacts to public safety, the company said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340. The revised Roberson and Associates test plan also took steps to ensure wide-area augmentation systems (WAAS) also "are appropriately taken into account," LightSquared said. It said some devices -- such as public safety devices -- might be included in testing at -10dBm LTE power as part of a second round of data collection. Public safety devices also will be included in reacquisition testing in which the devices will be locked onto a GPS signal that then is turned off for several minutes, then restored, with the test then timing how long it takes to relock onto GPS in the presence of a strong LTE signal and without one, LightSquared said. The revised test plan also adds "Time to First Fix" testing with WAAS and some revisions to the test setups for different classes of GPS receivers. The revisions follow criticisms last month by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council last month (see 1509100013). LightSquared said its details and proposed device list "continue to be refined and are thus subject to further revision."

Arsat signed a contract with Arianespace to have it launch the ARSAT-3 geostationary communications satellite in 2019, with options for two subsequent launches, the launch company said Thursday. ARSAT-3's launch would follow the 2014 launch of ARSAT-1 and Wednesday's launch of ARSAT-2.

Don't expect to see many mergers or acquisitions in the satellite industry despite the benefits of such consolidation, Intelsat Chief Financial Officer Michael McDonnell said Tuesday at a Deutsche Bank's investor conference. The few such M&A transactions in the industry -- such as Eutelsat's 2014 takeover of SatMex -- sometimes come with high price tags, and many smaller operators' governments aren't as interested in consolidation as their owners, McDonnell said. He declined to address directly what he called rumors of Intelsat considering a sale of some assets, except to say its satellite fleet is designed so most of them carry a variety of customer sets and they are supported by a common platform. "We don't really have any assets we consider to be non-core," McDonnell said. While the company's network services revenue has been declining in recent years, its high-throughput Epic satellite platform going online next year opens the door to expansion into markets such as connected cars and IoT and "is our path back to growth," McDonnell said. The company has four launches planned for 2016 -- Intelsat 31 and 29e in Q1 and 33e and 36 in the second half of the year -- and most of its satellites planned in coming years are Epics, he said.

Looking to increase service to airline passengers over the Caribbean, North America and the Pacific, Row 44 seeks FCC International Bureau approval to modify its existing Ku-band Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft license to add a satellite -- AMC-1 at 129.15 degrees west -- as a point of communication. In its IB application filed Monday, the in-flight broadband and entertainment provider said it expects to start service on AMC-1 as soon as possible. SES, which operates AMC-1, hasn't signed a coordination agreement with SkyPerfect JSAT for that company's Horizons-1 -- the only other Ku-band fixed satellite service satellite operating in the same bands, Row 44 said. In a separate IB application filed Monday, Row 44 asked for temporary authority to start service on AMC-1 using up to 100 earth stations while the license modification is pending.

ViaSat received its first Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate (STC) for its in-cabin distribution system, it said Monday. It's the first of two STCs the company said it expects to receive for in-flight entertainment and connectivity, with the second expected in Q1 for its hybrid Ku/Ka-band antenna system. ViaSat's in-cabin distribution system -- deployed on Virgin America -- ties its antenna system to the in-flight entertainment system, providing Internet connectivity to passenger devices and distribution of broadcast TV over satellite to the onboard seatback display. The company also said Monday it has begun licensing its digital signal processing and forward error correction cores for 100G optical transport.

Intelsat seeks FCC International Bureau approval to relocate Intelsat 16 from 76.2 degrees west to 58.1 degrees west. The 30-day drift is expected to run Nov. 4 through Dec. 3, with the new location so it can provide services to Intelsat customers Sky Mexico and Sky Brazil, Intelsat said.

The Justice Department signed off on LightSquared's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a filing posted Friday in FCC docket 15-126, DOJ said it had no objections to LightSquared's request for the commission to transfer licenses to its post-reorganization entity. DOJ in June requested any FCC approval of reassignment of those licenses be contingent on the standard review of the transaction for any national security, law enforcement and public safety issues. In a statement Friday, LightSquared said the approval "moves the process forward another step, and we’re glad to see the ... review come to a successful conclusion. With no opposition to the application, the Commission now has what it needs to make a decision on change of control. Doing so would result in clear public interest benefits, including enabling significant investment in our nation’s next-generation broadband infrastructure.” According to the DOJ filing, LightSquared agrees to a number of conditions, such as domestic communications will be routed through the satellite company's U.S. point of presence "so that pursuant to lawful U.S. process, electronic surveillance can be conducted." Justice said that the satellite firm agreed that any data the company stores won't be kept in a way subject to foreign laws requiring mandatory destruction and stored inside the U.S. unless for "bona fide commercial reasons."

Sentech extended its contract with Intelsat by several years, Intelsat said Friday. Sentech uses Ku-band capacity on Intelsat 20 for its direct-to-home and digital terrestrial TV services in Africa, Intelsat said.

As the number of nongeostationary orbit satellites (NGSOs) in orbit or planned for launch rises, the role of geostationary orbit satellites (GSOs) is coming into question. "Over time, we'll see a shift" to NGSOs, Whitney Lohmeyer, OneWeb communications systems and regulatory engineer, said Friday as the FCBA's International Telecommunications Committee held a brown bag lunch panel talk about NGSO regulatory issues. Most services that a GSO satellite can provide, an NGSO can do as well but with lower latency, Lohmeyer said. However, said panelist Audrey Allison, Boeing director-frequency management, "we're not getting out of [the GSO] business. [NGSO] is an important supplement." But, she said, that GSO companies like EchoStar are investing in NGSOs "is pretty telling." GSO fits some niches, like video distribution, better than NGSO, said panelist Suzanne Malloy, O3b vice president-regulatory affairs. "The introduction of a new technology doesn't mean everything old is retired," Malloy said. A Boeing NGSO system is in the design stage now with the idea that holders of existing fixed satellite service spectrum allocations could be getting more use out of that spectrum through NGSOs, Allison said. OneWeb expects the first launches of its 648-satellite constellation to start in 2017 and has applications worldwide with numerous nations for the 50-150 gateways it needs, Lohmeyer said. It also is working on developing a terminal that operates both with GSOs and NGSOs, she said: "It'd be ideal, but it's challenging." And O3b has 12 NGSO satellites in orbit serving more than 40 customers in 20-plus countries, and is planning for eight more satellites, Malloy said. When asked about regulatory reforms the panelists would like to see, Malloy said the FCC's Part 25 rules tend to be both GSO-oriented and "very specific" on technical issues like antenna performance, which complicates changing the rules as NGSO regulations would have to be just as granular. Allison said Boeing's "particular pet peeve" is wanting to see better rules regarding milestone compliance -- an issue the Satellite Industry Association also brought up in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-267 (see 1509230022). SIA called on the FCC to simplify the critical design review (CDR) milestone, saying the routine submission requirement of CDR information both prolongs review and raises the danger of inadvertent disclosure of sensitive competitive information.