Amazon's claim it lacks resources to evaluate both proposed configurations of SpaceX's second-generation constellation (see 2108260002) "strains credulity" given the company "routinely brings as many as six lobbyists and lawyers to its many meetings with the Commission about SpaceX" and is part of an obvious strategy to slow competition, SpaceX told the FCC International Bureau this week. Amazon's Kuiper didn't comment Thursday.
Startup space companies got $7.6 billion in investments in 2020, with most of it coming from venture capital, said a BryceTech report Thursday. It said 124 companies received funding, 38% of them U.S. firms that netted 67% of the total financing. SpaceX was the single largest recipient, receiving 30% of the funding, followed by OneWeb and Blue Origin, it said. BryceTech said counting debt financing and acquisitions, $26 billion was invested in space startups from 2000 to 2020 -- $22 billion since 2015.
Maxar Technologies received an order to build SiriusXM's SXM-10 geostationary satellite, following the SXM-9 satellite order announced earlier this month, it said Tuesday. SXM-10 will be built at Maxar's production site in Palo Alto, it said.
SpaceX is buying Swarm Technologies, and Swarm asked the FCC International Bureau on Friday for approval for transfer of its earth station and satellite licenses, and that SpaceX take over multiple Swarm applications pending before the agency. Swarm said the deal would strengthen the combined companies' ability to provide satellite services reaching unserved and underserved parts of the world, with Swarm's services benefiting from better capitalization and access to resources, while SpaceX would gain access to Swarm intellectual property and expertise. Swarm said it's withdrawing its petition for market access in the 399.9-400.05 MHz and 400.15-401 MHz bands.
Rather than a SpaceX blanket authorization for up to 1 million end-user earth stations in motion to communicate with its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) broadband constellation (see 2103080002), the company scaled back its FCC application to a blanket license for up to 500, it told the International Bureau via an amendment Friday. SpaceX said that instead of seeking authorization for deployment as vehicle-mounted earth stations, earth stations on vessels and earth stations aboard aircraft (ESSA), it now seeks authorization only as ESAAs. It asked for a waiver that would let it use 12.2-12.7 GHz for ESAAs communicating with NGSOs.
Q2 gross subscriber additions at DirecTV and AT&T’s other pay-TV businesses increased 2% year over year to 492,000, AT&T disclosed to the SEC Friday regarding possible financing for the $7.8 billion spinoff of its U.S. video distribution assets to TPG (see 2102240046). DirecTV churn declined 22% from a year earlier to 1.87%. AT&T reported 15.41 million premium video subscribers, down 13%. While subscribers are still declining rapidly, “the steepest declines may be in the rear-view mirror,” said New Street Research.
The 3,371 satellites in orbit at the end of 2020 was up 144% from 2015, with low earth orbit satellites driving most of that growth, the Satellite Industry Association said Wednesday in its annual "State of the Satellite Industry" report, prepared by Bryce Tech. Communications was 48% of that 3,371, up from 28% in 2019, followed by remote sensing (20%), U.S. entities operate more than 1,900 satellites, some in partnership with other countries, it said. There are 562 active satellites in geostationary orbit, eight more than in 2019, with most providing communications, it said. Overall satellite industry revenue in 2020, at $271 billion, was flat year over year.
SiriusXM’s digital audio radio service satellite SXM-8 is scheduled for a June 1 launch, the company said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority application Monday seeking OK for in-orbit testing after launch. It also asked permission for testing of SXM-8's use of the WCS C- and D-block spectrum. SiriusXM is buying that spectrum from AT&T (see 2104070003). SXM-7, launched successfully aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December, had damage during in-orbit testing that resulted in the "failure of certain payloads,” the company reported in February (see 2102020020).
Quebec is investing $317.3 million in Telesat's planned Lightspeed low earth orbit satellite constellation, Telesat said Thursday. It said the investment will be half preferred equity and half loan. Telesat said Lightspeed operations will be in Quebec, as will manufacture of its phased array antennas.
The 2020 wave of satcom bankruptcies -- including Intelsat, OneWeb and Speedcast -- pointed to an industry "hard reset" that could leave it stronger after the pandemic, Northern Sky Research analyst Joseph Ibeh blogged Thursday. Coming next will be mergers and acquisitions as declining backlog will mean operators moving into the service business, with big operators acquiring regional ones to get market share or taking a vertical acquisition approach, he said.