Satellite-based maritime connectivity revenue reached $2.1 billion in 2023, up from $1.8 billion the year prior, Valour Consultancy said Thursday. A big driver was increased spending on SpaceX's Starlink maritime low earth orbit service, as well as some vessels using Eutelsat's OneWeb LEO service, it said. More than 20,000 vessels used Starlink by the end of 2023, and the L-band maritime mobile satellite service market saw revenue of $470 million, down slightly from 2022, said Valour: As of 2023, there were roughly 116,000 active MSS terminals worldwide subscribing to the legacy maritime satellite services. Inmarsat and Iridium have notable subscriber bases there, though the geostationary orbit very-small aperture terminal marketplace has leveled off at around 42,000 vessels globally, it said: It's likely GEO service will become a backup to LEO, similar to MSS. Valour said that 2023's dip in GEO VSAT revenue is expected to continue into this year and that the number of vessels subscribing to LEO service will likely surpass GEO VSAT sometime in 2026.

Comments are due Sept. 30, replies Oct. 15 on the transfer of Intelsat's FCC licenses and authorizations to SES, said a public notice Thursday in docket 24-267. Responses to replies are due Oct. 25, the FCC Space Bureau, Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology notice said. The license transfers are part of SES' proposed $3.1 billion purchase of Intelsat (see 2405310004).

With the demand for laser-based satellite communications taking off, vendors should make scalability and terminal interoperability priorities, ABI Research blogged Wednesday. They also must try to partner with other ecosystem players to attract governments and commercial operations, it said. Satellite deployments with laser payloads in orbit are expected to grow from slightly more than 4,000 this year to 12,600 by 2027, ABI said.

SpaceX's Starlink will provide free, emergency messaging to all smartphones worldwide, CEO Elon Musk posted on X this week. He said the offer would apply except where a nation's regulation precluded it. "Can’t have a situation where someone dies because they forgot or were unable to pay for it," he said.

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group launched an online letter-writing campaign urging that the FCC require environmental reviews for proposed satellites and constellations. Pointing to greater amounts of debris expected in the atmosphere from planned mega constellations, PIRG said the FCC should temporarily halt additional satellite low earth orbit launches until after it conducts environmental reviews for mega constellations and ends its categorical exclusion for satellites. Under the National Environmental Policy Act's categorical exclusion, an environmental assessment is needed only if the FCC determines the license could have a significant environmental impact. "The new space race doesn’t need to create massive space waste," PIRG said.

SES' O3b is pushing its formula for evaluating earlier-round and later-round non-geostationary orbit satellite systems' compatibility. In a docket 21-456 filing Friday recapping a meeting with FCC Space Bureau staffers, O3b said SpaceX's NGSO coexistence proposal (see 2408150034) would harm established services and eliminate incentives for later-round systems to coordinate with earlier-round ones. O3b said its formula ensures the highest availability links are adequately protected while allowing later-round systems to impose relative increases in unavailability that are notably higher than what has been previously suggested.

Additional conditions on Satellogic's proposed earth observation satellite service constellation (see 2403080002) are acceptable as long as they're not more burdensome than those the FCC has put on similarly situated applicants, the satellite operator said. Satellogic told the FCC Space Bureau this week it has no objection to such conditions as semi-annual reporting to the FCC on near-miss events, and mandatory reporting of loss of control of satellites at altitudes above 350 km. Earlier this month, SpaceX urged conditions on Satellogic akin to what the agency put on SpaceX's second-generation Starlink satellites. SpaceX has made similar requests regarding numerous other pending constellations (see 2301180049).

Phasing in regulatory fees tied to creation of the FCC's Space Bureau will mitigate some of the "rate shock" that could affect satellite operators, particularly smaller organizations, Iridium representatives told the office of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, according to a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-85. Iridium also lobbied that the agency adopt an alternative methodology that would base fees for satellite constellations on "units" of individual geostationary satellites and groupings of non-geostationaries, with both operating and authorized satellite systems paying regulatory fees. Iridium said that its units approach recognizes the extent to which larger systems impose greater costs on the bureau. Iridium has advocated similarly with several of the regular commissioners' offices.

Mynaric is blaming production delays for its Condor Mk3 satellite laser communications terminal for bigger projected losses this year. It said Tuesday that owing to issues such as component supplier shortages, it was expecting 2024 losses of $55.5 million to $61 million instead of its previous forecasted $33.3 million to $44.4 million. Mynaric also said CFO Stefan Berndt von-Bulow left the company.

Globalstar received a partial approval for its plan to replenish its first-generation HIBLEO-4 non-geostationary orbit satellite system (see 2308070005). The FCC Space Bureau ordered Friday an extension of Globalstar's license to permit continued operations of the satellites and authorized deployment of up to 17 replacement satellites. It said deployment of the remaining nine in its application was pending agency approval of an updated orbital debris motivation plan. The satellite refresh "is expected to result in improved performance and coverage for Globalstar’s mobile satellite services, including Direct to Device satellite connections, around the world," Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs said Monday. "Achieving this milestone is imperative to Globalstar to enable us to complete our mission of providing critical mobile satellite connectivity and lifesaving technology worldwide."