SpaceWorks predicts 263 nano/microsatellites will be launched into orbit this year, down slightly from the record 300-plus that went up in 2017, it said in a report Tuesday. The 2017 numbers were a 205 percent increase over 2016, it said, saying the total number of such smallsats launched over the next five years will be close to 2,600. It said commercial operators likely will account for more than 70 percent of those nano/microsatellites. It said satcom applications, which were 4 percent of nano/microsatellites launched between 2013 and 2017, are expected to be 22 percent of those launched between now and 2022. SpaceWorks defined nano/microsatellites as in the 1 to 100 kilogram range.

Comments for the next Open-Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act report are due March 1, replies April 16, said an FCC International Bureau public notice Tuesday in docket 18-18. The bureau said it's required by the Orbit Act to report annually to the House Commerce and International Relations and Senate Commerce and Foreign Relations committees. Chairman Ajit Pai said the requirement of annually reporting on the privatization status of long-since privatized Inmarsat and Intelsat is pointless (see 1706080064 and 1506100062).

The satellite industry remains split over whether the FCC should end its domestic converge requirement for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) systems. In comments posted Tuesday in docket 16-408, SpaceX and Boeing kept up their defense of eliminating the requirement. SpaceX said different space architectures are obviating the need to proscribe such coverage. That it and OneWeb plan to cover the entire U.S. means other operators should be allowed to go with different business models addressing different customer needs, SpaceX said. Boeing said Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) is wrong to think NGSO operators lack commercial incentive to provide broadband access there (see 1801080015), since rural and remote connectivity is one of the chief business cases for NGSO constellations. It said the polar, near-polar or highly elliptical orbits being proposed by OneWeb, Telesat Canada, LeoSat, Kepler Communications, Theia and Space Norway would mean good coverage of high latitude areas such as Alaska and the Arctic. Boeing said it disagreed that the FCC should keep the domestic coverage requirement and not give waivers to operators of mega constellations, since there's no clear line determining when too many satellites means not meriting a waiver. SES/O3b also has pushed for ending the domestic coverage requirement (see 1801300008). However, in joint comments in the docket posted Tuesday, Hughes, Intelsat and OneWeb said there aren't any compelling rationales for eliminating the requirement. They said the supposed additional flexibility from such a rule change would be at the expense of rural consumers, and that the agency is willing to grant waivers to the requirement when justified means there's no reason to change the rule.

The in-orbit satellite servicing market likely will be an opportunity for more than $3 billion in revenue over the next 10 years, with life-extension services making up most of that, Northern Sky Research said Tuesday. NSR said until in-orbit demonstrations prove the technology works, there will be "a reasonable level of apprehension" in the satellite community. It said in-orbit servicing opportunities in the near term include deorbiting and salvage operations, while such opportunities as satellite repair and alteration could be further out.

SES/O3b is backing the push for the FCC to dump the domestic coverage requirement for non-geostationary orbit satellites (see 1711150029). A docket 16-408 reply posted Monday said with several NGSO systems planning to offer ubiquitous domestic coverage, the FCC has no compelling policy reason to keep the requirement and constrain system designs for future applicants. O3b said in a filing that in meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai, the four other commissioners and the International Bureau, it argued proposed NGSO processing round application amendments and the petitions for reconsideration of the NGSO report and order would inject "significant uncertainty" into the Ka-/Ku-band and V-band processing rounds. It said FCC precedent handles all the relevant issues brought up by the applications, such as specifying changes that can be made to a processing round application without disqualifying it from consideration as part of the round.

ViaSat wants FCC International Bureau approval to operate two aircraft-mounted earth station antennas to provide broadband service via its ViaSat-2 satellite. An application Tuesday sought approval for the Mantarray M40 antenna and the Global Mantarray GM40 antenna. The company said ViaSat-2 is expected to start commercial service in Q1 and that granting the application would allow for broader in-flight connectivity service provision.

Eutelsat wants U.S. market access for its French-flagged Eutelsat 33C satellite. In FCC International Bureau filings Monday (see here and here), it also asked that the Ku-band satellite be added to the agency's permitted space station list at the 133 degrees west orbital slot and that its petition receive expedited consideration. It said the satellite was launched in 2005 and the end of its operational life will be October 2022 or later. It said the satellite -- currently at 33 degrees east -- will begin operating from 133 degrees west in the middle of this year. The company said 33C is intended to provide near-term service to the U.S. and other markets until a purpose-built Ku- and Ka-band satellite is deployed to 133 degrees west by 2021.

Iridium and SES/O3b are continuing objections to regulatory approval Intelsat is seeking for its planned Galaxy 15R satellite. The dearth of detail about the 15R satellite isn't acceptable since its Ka-band communications will include the 29.25-29.3 GHz band Iridium uses, Iridium said in an FCC International Bureau reply Monday. It said it would be "completely arbitrary" for the FCC to grant Intelsat's application without conditioning it on the company coordinating with Iridium, since Intelsat doesn't explain how it would comply with the coordination obligation, even while it's amenable to similar conditions in other shared or adjacent bands. The FCC "might not need a lengthy dissertation at this stage," but it needs Intelsat to do more than acknowledge the rules exist. In a separate bureau filing Monday, SES/O3b said Intelsat hasn't shown Galaxy 15R can operate on a noninterference basis with non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service systems, nor has it submitted the required interference analysis for Ka-band geostationary orbit FSS operations. Intelsat didn't comment Tuesday. The company said it wants to launch 15R in 2022 as a replacement for its Galaxy 15 (see 1705250004).

Dish Network bowed its latest HD DVR, the Alexa-compatible Hopper Duo, it said Monday. The DVR delivers Dish service to up to two TVs for homes with “smaller-scale” home entertainment systems, said the company. Two tuners can record two programs simultaneously, and the 500 GB hard drive stores up to 125 hours of HD recordings, it said. The finder feature lets users locate the remote by pressing a button on the Hopper's front panel, causing the remote to beep. The Duo is $10 monthly.

Streaming service Spider TV, being sued by Dish Network for copyright infringement (see 1801190004), told us Sunday it closed its company in the U.S. a "long time ago" and, with its main focus on Europe and the Middle East, it doesn't need the U.S. market.