New EchoStar and its board "are on track to bankrupt" its Dish Network subsidiary after having stripped it of its assets, investment fund Buxton Helmsley Group wrote the company Monday. It accused Dish, prior to EchoStar's acquiring it (see 2401020003), of having made a variety of material misstatements about its finances. It said the pending EchoStar/Dish debt swaps (see 2401170012) can't go forward until those "accounting shenanigans" are corrected. The combined companies didn't comment Tuesday.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
GPS interference is becoming a routine part of conflicts between nations and in intranational armed conflicts, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Monday. It said that conflict-related interference likely also extends to other global navigation satellite systems. "Any nation or group that fails to plan for this is planning to fail," the foundation said.
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.
The FCC Space Bureau approved Lynk Global's requested extension of its surety bond posting deadline (see 2401050062), according to a notation last week. The company had said damages involving its Tower 5 and Tower 6 satellites delayed their launch, and thus the need for an extension.