The Space Systems Loral-built JCSAT-15 and Star One D1 satellites were launched Wednesday from the European Spaceport in French Guiana, the company said in news releases Thursday (see here and here). JCSAT-15, built for Sky Perfect JSAT, will provide broadcasting and communications services for Japan, Oceania and the Indian Ocean region from its orbit at 110 degrees east, SSL said. Star One D1, built for Embratel Star One, will provide broadcast and communications services in Latin America, it said.

Two post-trial briefings by the state plaintiffs suing Dish Network over Telephone Consumer Protection Act allegations (see 0903260144) shouldn't be admitted into evidence given the lack of description of the methodology and Dish's inability to replicate the results, Dish said in a motion (in Pacer) to strike filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois. The analyses tally the matches between area codes and addresses in the call records of Dish dealer Satellite Systems Network, Dish said, saying numerous state plaintiff analyses in the past have been "error-riddled." It also said even if the states -- California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio -- disclosed their methodology, "it would be too late" given the close of evidence. Counsel for the states didn't comment Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Maria-Elena James of San Francisco rejected an FTC push for sanctions against DirecTV (see 1610280027) but is ordering the company to produce one of its experts, Jerry Wind, for a limited deposition. In an order (in Pacer) Wednesday, the judge said DirecTV could have been more proactive in preserving website analytics data, but the FTC also could have been more proactive in getting discovery for that data and consumer testing the company did. The FTC might have preferred a different format for the DirecTV data, but the company did preserve and produce information to allow a comparison of different versions of DirecTV's website through documents, screenshots and source data, James said. She also said the court can't sanction DirecTV for not preserving information "solely because the FTC asserts potentially relevant other tests may have existed." But she ordered that Wind be made available for a four-hour deposition since the FTC did demonstrate prejudice in the form of DirecTV's failing to preserve electronically stored information, thus preventing the agency from confirming the information Wind relied on for an analysis done for the company. The agency is suing DirecTV under the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act for allegedly not properly communicating early cancellation fee terms to subscribers (see 1503110042). The second phase of the trial is to begin Jan. 30.

The satellite dish for Ligado's proposed content delivery network to distribute National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite-delivered data is operational in Reston, Virginia, and the CDN is operating, the company said in an FCC filing Wednesday in RM-11681. The next step is for George Mason University to start comparing NOAA data delivered via CDN with weather data from existing NOAA satellite systems, the satellite company said. It and GMU announced last week they would jointly test the CDN (see 1612150060), about which some weather interests have expressed skepticism (see 1611250033). Also posted Wednesday in the docket was a Ligado letter to NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan and NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, saying its planned use of the 1675-1680 MHz band doesn't overlap with thousands of terrestrial weather sensors. Ligado also said NOAA never argued the company's proposed protection zones around government-owned earth stations receiving NOAA satellite data "are anything other than entirely satisfactory." And it suggested the FCC issue a Further NPRM about requiring a licensee of the spectrum or NOAA to provide an alternate route to the satellite weather data, such as an alternate CDN. NOAA didn't comment Wednesday.

Dish Network's internal do-not-call (IDNC) list is two separate, distinct lists -- phone numbers for do-not-call requests made to it and numbers for do-not-call requests made to retailers that then shared the numbers with the company -- and a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class-action complaint improperly conflates them, Dish said in a brief (in Pacer) filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dish dealer Satellite Systems Network (SSN) had no relationship with other retailers on that list or any obligation to honor do-not-call requests made to other retailers, so there's no basis for IDNC class claims against SSN, Dish said, asking that any IDNC class claims based on the retailer list be rejected or that a question be added to the verdict sheet that would let a jury do that. Counsel for plaintiff Thomas Krakauer didn't comment Tuesday.

Preliminary design review for the first two ViaSat-3 satellites is done, ViaSat said in a news release Monday. Now, detailed design work can begin, with the first of the Ka-band ViaSat-3 satellites expected to launch in 2019, it said. ViaSat said it will build the satellite payload and integrate it into a Boeing payload module.

The international travel channel Travelxp 4K will debut on SES’ Ultra HD distribution platform next month through North American pay-TV providers, the satellite company announced Monday. Travelxp 4K will launch on the SES-1 satellite, one of three that host the company’s Ultra HD distribution platform in the region, it said. SES now has signed distribution agreements with more than 30 Ultra HD channels globally, it said. Travelxp 4K will showcase global travel content in 10-bit Rec.2020 color space with hybrid-log gamma high dynamic range, SES said.

EchoStar's EchoStar XIX satellite launched Sunday and is expected to go live in Q1. In a news release Monday, the company said the Ka-band satellite will be part of the HughesNet Gen5 high-speed satellite broadband service to be introduced in Q1.

SoftBank is putting $1 billion into satellite operator OneWeb, with the money to go toward OneWeb setting up a high-volume satellite production facility on Kennedy Space Center land in Florida, the Japanese conglomerate said in a news release Monday. The facility is expected to employ 3,000 within four years, with OneWeb starting production there in 2018, it said. Other investors have put in an additional $200 million, SoftBank said. SoftBank Group Director Ronald Fisher will join OneWeb's board, it said. SoftBank is the majority owner of wireless carrier Sprint. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the development follows his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, during which Son said he “shared my commitment to investing and creating jobs” in the U.S. (see 1612060073). “This is the first step in that commitment,” Son said.

Marine IT and VSAT provider OmniAccess, which uses Telesat capacity for mobile broadband and cruise ships and yachts in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, is expanding its relationship with the satellite company to bring that service to superyachts and passenger vessels in the Caribbean, Telesat said in a news release Thursday.