The satellite communications user terminals market should reach $238 billion by 2030, ABI Research said Tuesday. That market includes traditional very small aperture terminals (VSAT), broadband global area network terminals, satellite phones and 5G mobile devices, it said. Andrew Cavalier, satellite communications senior analyst, said SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper will be the front-runners in satellite broadband due to their low cost, flat panel terminals. ABI said by 2030, annual shipments of flat panel VSAT terminals should reach 2 million annually.

SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper are jointly lobbying the FCC for expanded satellite use of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band. In a docket 20-330 filing Tuesday, they recapped a meeting with FCC Space Bureau staffers where they urged a non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlink allocation in the 17 GHz band. They said that while geostationary orbit operators had asked the FCC to delay considering NGSO use in the band until after the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, the adoption of an NGSO allocation at WRC-23 (see 2312150012) "moots any arguments" for inaction. At an FCBA event Tuesday, the Space Bureau said finalizing rules for NGSO use of the 17 GHz band was a 2024 priority (see 2401230043).

The FCC Space Bureau approved Quantum Space's planned non-geostationary orbit cubesat, part of an eventual network delivering services between the Earth and moon (see 2307310001). In the bureau approval this week, it deferred Quantum's request to use the 400.15-401 MHz band.

NOAA's Office of Space Commerce placed orders with three U.S. commercial companies for space situational awareness data and services, it said Friday. Contracts were awarded to Comspoc for orbit determination services, and Slingshot Aerospace and LeoLabs for SSA data and services focused on low earth orbit, it said. The agency "is in the planning phases" to issue an additional order for data quality monitoring services, it added. NOAA said the commercial SSA orders are part of an effort to incorporate commercial capabilities into its Traffic Coordination System for Space cloud-based IT system that will provide SSA and space traffic coordination services to commercial and civil space operators.

The space industry is in disagreement over FCC reliance on case-by-case reviews of orbital debris disclosures. Pushing back on SpaceX criticisms of the orbital debris order on reconsideration on January's FCC agenda (see 2401180064), Viasat said Friday in docket 18-313 that different satellite systems pose various space sustainability risks. Accordingly, "there is nothing improper" about taking a case-by-case approach to application reviews. While backing a case-by-case approach, Astroscale said that an "expansive reliance on case-by-case analysis, without a strategy for evolution, will inhibit efficiency." It urged that the draft order include a commitment that the Space Bureau will issue guidance on orbital debris mitigation information disclosures and case-by-case reviews. With such guidance, operators wouldn't have to rely as much on "identify[ing] emerging disclosure precedents across hundreds of disparate" international communications filing system files, it said.

SpaceX is lobbying the FCC over concerns about the orbital debris draft order, which is on reconsideration on January's agenda (see 2401040064). In a docket 18-313 filing Thursday, SpaceX recapped meetings held with offices of the five commissioners. During those meetings, it said the draft wrongly maintains a case-by-case approach to orbital debris mitigation and preserves the foreign-operator loophole of licensing systems overseas to circumvent U.S. oversight. Moreover, It said the case-by-case approach sets an inconsistent baseline for assessing debris risk. SpaceX said the FCC should clarify that it wants consistent orbital debris mitigation information from all operators regardless of foreign or domestic status or constellation size. The company also renewed its call that conditions put on its second-generation Starlinks be applied equally to all operators in the name of clear expectations and space sustainability promotion (see 2301180049).

Dish Network's call for FCC reconsideration of the limited supplemental coverage from space authorization granted SpaceX is "absurd," SpaceX said Thursday in docket 23-135. In its opposition to Dish's recon petition (see 2401040005), SpaceX said Dish was using "unserious bar-napkin math" to block "a more advanced competitor." It said Dish's worries that the authorization will let SpaceX begin decades of operations under the guise of testing is misguided. For instance, it ignores that SpaceX’s check-out testing "typically is very short in duration, lasting as little as a few minutes per day." In addition, it said there's no reasonable basis to conclude the initial "check-out testing" might cause harmful interference to Dish or other operators.

AT&T, Google and Vodafone are investing $155 million in supplemental coverage from space startup AST SpaceMobile to help in its commercial rollout, AST said Thursday. AST CEO Abel Avellan said the investment comes atop prior infusions from such wireless industry companies as Rakuten, American Tower and Bell Canada.

Dish Network and EchoStar are apparently attempting a form of default on Dish notes due in 2024, 2025 and 2026, Moody's said Wednesday. It said the debt exchanges announced last week and Tuesday for EchoStar notes due in 2028, 2029 and 2030, if successfully completed, would be classified as "distressed exchanges" -- a form of default involving the offer of a diminished financial obligation with the goal being avoidance of an eventual payment default. EchoStar didn't comment Wednesday.

2023 saw the lowest level of investment in the space economy in a decade, Space Capital said Tuesday. The $17.9 billion in private investment for 2023 was down 25% from 2022, it said. The venture capital firm's report said with DOD reworking its approach to space and relying more on commercial space providers, there now is "an inextricable link" between defense spending and commercial space. It said SpaceX's Starship launch rocket, being fully reusable and "ultra-affordable," will dramatically increase launch activity. Blue Origin acquiring United Launch Alliance "would introduce some long-awaited competition" in the launch industry this year, the report said. Declining interest rates are leading to higher equity valuations and better leveraged buy-out math, which could mean increased space industry M&A this year, it said.