The FCC Space Bureau has again approved satellite plans while imposing some conditions sought by SpaceX. In an order in Monday's Daily Digest, the bureau signed off on the Tomorrow Companies' plans for a quartet of non-geostationary orbit weather satellites (see 2212020001). The approval included conditions akin to what the agency imposed on SpaceX's second-generation constellation. For example, if the cumulative projected lifetime of Tomorrow's failed satellites exceeds 100 years, it can't deploy additional satellites without the commission approving a license modification that updates Tomorrow's orbital debris mitigation plan with ways it will address the failure rate. The agency also conditioned Tomorrow's approval on requiring coordination with NASA, including operator-to-operator coordination of physical operations. The bureau said it was deferring action on the remaining 14 satellites in the company's request. SpaceX has urged the agency to put similar conditions on numerous operators as were imposed on its second-generation constellation, and the agency earlier this month imposed some SpaceX-sought conditions on Planet Labs satellites (see 2405130045).

AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 satellite has become the subject of a regulatory letter-writing campaign, with numerous filings in docket 23-65. Monday saw more than 20 posted in the FCC docket complaining about satellites impacting astronomy. Many of the letters singled out BlueWalker 3 as "so bright that it could actually damage sensitive cameras in research telescopes at its peak brightness" and said that masses of such satellites in orbit will limit astronomy. Multiple letters (for example, here) urge that the agency consider brightness in any satellite approval process. None of the letters, purportedly filed by individuals, indicates if an organization is spearheading the letter-writing work, and many contain identical or near-identical wording. AST didn't comment Monday.

Kepler, a backer of SpaceX's call for a rulemaking to open the 1.6./2.4 GHz "Big LEO" band to more operators (see 2405130035), met with FCC Space Bureau staff to push for such a rulemaking, according to a filing Friday. The company said a rulemaking would be a venue for it and other interested parties to provide technical analyses showing the feasibility of sharing in the band.

Turion Space is hoping for a February launch for its non-geostationary orbit Droid.002 satellite, it said in an FCC Space Bureau license application posted Friday. The satellite, plus Turion's Droid.001 launched last June, will collect imaging for space situational awareness services, it said.

Arguments that the relative risk of non-geostationary orbit satellites depends solely on their altitude ignore factors like constellation size and satellite mass, Viasat said Friday in docket 24-85. Assessing NGSO regulatory fees based on altitude risk alone "would be the epitome of arbitrariness," Viasat said. An NGSO system's size is "an imprecise proxy for staff work [but] it is at least a rational one," and levying regulatory fees in part based on NGSO constellation size "would ensure that the fee burden more closely aligns with the systems that occupy staff time the most," it said. Meanwhile, Intelsat representatives, meeting with FCC Space Bureau and Office of Managing Director staff, said the proposed 40% hike in regulatory fees that will pay for the creation of the Space Bureau is too big a bite to swallow at once. It urged a five-year phase-in.

Pointing to SES' pending purchase of Intelsat (see 2404300048), Access Partnership Growth Director Matthew McDermott wrote Thursday that consolidation "is the only way" legacy geostationary orbit operators can "survive" in the face of SpaceX competition and the declining demand for video service. Without consolidation, new revenue sources are needed and costs must be managed more aggressively, he wrote. "OneWeb and Eutelsat have already come together, and now attention turns to who is next," McDermott noted. There is worry investors will get cold feet about such deals, "concerned that no one can stand up to SpaceX," he added. Creation of the Mobile Satellite Services Association, with members launching a jointly owned network, is another approach, he wrote. "Expect to see more radical solutions as companies fight to secure their corner in an evolving marketplace."

AST SpaceMobile is pressing FCC commissioners for quick action as it seeks a U.S. license. The agency has an amendment from AST SpaceMobile seeking conversion of its pending U.S. market access petition to an application letting it launch and operate under U.S. jurisdiction. In FCC Space Bureau filings this week recapping meetings with aides to Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez, AST said it needs quick action. That would then allow routine gateway operations with interference protections at sites where work is already underway. FCC approval also would enable AST to conduct continental U.S. testing once it successfully launches its Block 1 Bluebird satellites into their assigned orbits, it said.

Carnival's cruise ships worldwide are now equipped with Starlink-delivered connectivity, Carnival said Tuesday. The fleet-wide rollout began in late 2022, Carnival said.

SES' O3b is asking the FCC for 26 additional months to meet milestones for making operational its Ka-band satellites authorized in the agency's U.S. market access order. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Monday, O3b said the COVID-19 pandemic initially delayed its mPower satellites. Next, performance deficiencies were discovered in 2023 in the first four mPowers. It said design updates addressing those issues delayed manufacture of later mPowers. It asked that its milestone deadline for having 50% of the mPowers in the U.S. market access application be operational move from June 7, 2024, to Aug. 7, 2026. It also asked that the milestone deadline for the remaining 50% be moved from June 7, 2027, to Aug. 7, 2029.

The FCC Space Bureau signed off on two of Planet Labs' proposed Tanager satellites with some of the conditions SpaceX sought. SpaceX has urged the agency to put similar conditions on numerous operators as were imposed on its second-generation constellation (see 2301180049). In an order in Monday's Daily Digest, the bureau said some second-generation analogous conditions tailored for the specific conditions presented in the Tanager application are "appropriate." It said Planet Labs must report any loss of control of a Tanager satellite at altitudes above 350 km. The bureau also conditioned the Tanager approval on Planet Labs coordinating with NASA and the National Science Foundation. The bureau said it was deferring decisions on the third and fourth Tanager satellites pending Planet Labs submitting additional orbital debris mitigation information.