SpaceX and Omnispace clashed on whether the FCC should stick with a deadline for oppositions and replies to a SpaceX petition seeking reconsideration of the aggregate out-of-band power flux density (PFD) limits that the FCC adopted in March's supplemental coverage from space order (see 2405300044). Oppositions were due Friday. Omnispace asked that the FCC extend the deadline for oppositions and replies, due July 15, each for a week. The proceeding “involves complex issues and detailed technical calculations, including the possibility of ‘significant [radio frequency] problems,’” Omnispace said in a filing last week in docket 23-65: “Complex questions of interference deserve careful consideration by all parties, and additional filing time would allow parties to submit more robust and detailed submissions.” SpaceX noted Friday that the commission accepted the petition for filing three weeks ago and established a pleading cycle two weeks back. But Omnispace “waited until just three days before the filing date to belatedly seek a one-week extension based solely on the fact that July 4 is a holiday,” SpaceX said.

The FCC’s Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs (OIA) will hold 8 public previews of the new, cloud-based International Communications Filing System (ICFS) beginning July 17. The ICFS is scheduled for deployment in August, said a Wednesday public notice. Each preview session concerns a different type of filing in ICFS and “will provide a guided tour of the enhanced look and functionality,” the PN said. Participants must register for sessions. The Space Bureau and the Office of International Affairs will release another public notice “in the next few weeks” providing additional details about the transition to the cloud-based ICFS, the PN said.

Consumers may find they're using new satellite messaging on their iPhones more frequently than expected, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors Tuesday, based on his experience. “We believe satellites will play a critical role in finally filling in the suburban coverage holes" that opponents of wireless deployments created, he said: “That will broaden the market opportunity beyond what has largely been perceived as limited to a distressed hiker lost in a national park. It’s possible that satellite connectivity will simply be used as a free service that device manufacturers and/or wireless operators use to differentiate their product and services.” Piecyk sees “a sizable revenue opportunity that could emerge globally.” LightShed estimates that about a quarter of Apple’s 1.5 billion active iPhone users have satellite-capable phones. Piecyk noted that an operating system update this fall will expand satellite connectivity to the iMessage app in the U.S.

Amazon expects that its first launch of commercial Kuiper satellites will come in Q4 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the company blogged last week. It expects to then ramp up satellite production and deployment in 2025, with it still anticipating to start commercial service that year. At its peak, Amazon's Kirkland, Washington, factory for Kuiper satellites will be able to produce five a day, it said.

Comments are due July 31, replies Aug. 30, on ways of expanding federal use of the bands used by commercial satellite networks that aren't currently allocated for the federal fixed satellite service and mobile satellite service, said a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology said it was especially seeking input on ways of providing federal earth stations with interference protection when they are communicating with commercial satellites in bands not allocated for federal FSS and MSS. OET said it also wanted to refresh the record concerning the addition of co-primary federal FSS or MSS allocations to several bands. The filing is in docket 24-121.

A decommissioned Russian satellite, Resurs-P1, broke up in low earth orbit, creating more than 100 pieces of traceable debris, the U.S. Space Command said Thursday. However, it said there was no immediate orbital debris threat.

With SpaceX acknowledging its proposed G-block supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operations can't comply with the required aggregate out-of-band emissions limit, there is no reason for waiving the aggregate emissions limit, EchoStar said Thursday in docket 23-135. Even if the agency isn't ready to dismiss SpaceX's noncompliant application, the waiver at the very least necessitates a new public notice and pleading cycle because the amended waiver request is a major amendment, the filing argued. In its amended waiver request, filed earlier this month, SpaceX said the emissions limit set in the FCC's SCS order "is not practically achievable on an aggregate basis." SpaceX said the waiver, allowing for a different power flux density than the rules specify, would still protect adjacent band networks from harmful interference. The waiver also "would avoid placing artificial caps on the number of satellites that an operator may use to provide supplemental coverage," it said.

Lacking access to functioning GPS due to spoofing and jamming is becoming a semiregular occurrence for trans-Atlantic flights, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Wednesday, citing an FAA advisory. It said that ultimately could mean increased flight times and delays as air traffic controllers limit the number of aircraft being tracked.

With 90 Starlinks in orbit that have direct-to-device capability, SpaceX is talking with the FCC about ensuring that testing in international markets doesn't run afoul of agency rules. The commission can facilitate testing by ensuring experimental authority defers to local authorities in those international markets, SpaceX said in a docket 23-135 filing posted Wednesday recapping meetings with FCC Space Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. It said applying the FCC's "one-size-fits-all out-of-band emissions limit" to supplemental coverage from space testing in international markets would undermine foreign regulators' development of their SCS frameworks and rules.

The space economy in 2022 accounted for $131.8 billion, or 0.5% of U.S. GDP, and supported 347,000 private-sector jobs, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday. The agency said manufacturing accounted for 31.1% of total private employment in space, with information following at 21.9%.