Pointing to problems its 33e satellite had with its main thruster, Intelsat is asking for more time for the satellite's in-orbit testing and drift. In an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, Intelsat requested a 30-day extension to its special temporary authority for the testing at 59.55 degrees east and the subsequent drift to 60 degrees east. The satellite was launched Aug. 24.

Another GPS equipment maker now has no objections to Ligado's proposed broadband terrestrial low-power service. In an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 11-109 signed by Topcon Positioning Systems Chief Strategy Officer Ivan Di Federico and Ligado CEO Doug Smith, Topcon said it now supports the FCC granting Ligado's license modifications because the two companies have an agreement that would involve coordination before Ligado's network deployment and mitigation efforts. The Topcon agreement follows similar agreements between Ligado and GPS firms Deere, Trimble, Garmin and NovAtel (see 1602040015 and 1606280067).

Spire plans to launch roughly 25 automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) satellites next year and another 50 in 2018 as it plans to start a satellite-based global aircraft tracking service, Spire AirSafe, the company announced Monday. Spire said the system for tracking ADS-B equipped aircraft will be in operation before the U.S. domestic ADS-B mandate in 2020. Rival Aireon also said it hopes to have its ADS-B constellation deployed by 2018 (see 1602250048).

The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2017 conference report adopted by the House last week and expected to be voted on this week by the Senate includes language directing the FCC to protect the Defense Department's GPS network from terrestrial commercial operations in the L-band. A lawyer with satellite and spectrum clients told us the language cements the status quo of the FCC as the chief spectrum regulator. The FCC didn't comment Monday. Section 1698 of the bill, regarding interference to DOD's GPS system, requires that the FCC not allow commercial terrestrial operations in the 1525-1559 MHz or 1626.5-1660.5 MHz bands until at least 90 days after it "resolves concerns of widespread harmful interference by such operations ... to [DOD] GPS devices." The section also directs the agency, if it makes a decision to allow terrestrial operations in the band, to notify the House committees on Commerce and on Armed Services and the Senate committees on Commerce and on Armed Services. That notification is to include an explanation of how various concerns have been resolved. The bill also requires the defense secretary to assess quarterly the ability of DOD GPS devices to receive GPS satellite signals without widespread harmful interference and to determine if commercial communications systems are interfering or will interfere. Any such interference is to be reported to Congress, the bill said, with the notification to include a list of the devices at risk, the source of the interference, descriptions of the manner of the interference and the magnitude of its harm. The interference report also is required to spell out the duration of the interference or expected interference, including the conditions and circumstances of its occurrence; how that interference would or could affect national security; and DOD plans to address it. The reports are required for two years after the bill is enacted or until the defense secretary determines there's no widespread harmful interference from commercial services. The GPS Innovation Alliance didn't comment. Those provisions came from the House version of the bill, as the Senate version had no similar language, according to the joint explanatory statement of the Conference Committee. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture Monday on the conference report. CTIA challenged some aspects of the House version of NDAA that would have seen the DOD supersede FCC oversight of spectrum (see 1605130054), the lawyer said. CTIA didn't comment. The lawyer also said the Senate likely will vote on the bill Tuesday.

ABS Global wants to get permission for U.S. market access for its C- and Ku-band ABS-3A satellite. In an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday, the Bermuda-based satellite operator said it wants to provide fixed satellite services including TV distribution, IP trunking, cellular backhaul and maritime services from ABS-3A's 3 degrees west orbit. ABS-3A has been operational since September 2015 and operates in the 3700-4200 MHz, 5925-6426 MHz, 10950-11200 MHz and 14000-14250 MHz bands, the company said.

Before approving a motion by counsel at Aran Correa to withdraw from representing defendant Bras Trading, the court should first resolve plaintiff Eutelsat's motion of summary judgment, Eutelsat said in a filing (in Pacer) Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Miami. In the motion (in Pacer) to withdraw Tuesday, Aran Correa cited "irreconcilable differences" in case strategies and administration and Bras' "failure to substantially fulfill obligations" to the firm. Eutelsat accused Bras of delaying prosecution, with two motions to stay, and said Aran Correa is the third firm that has withdrawn from representing the company. It also said withdrawal now, months after the briefing of the summary judgment motion, could cause further delay. Eutelsat said if the court grants the withdrawal motion, it should condition it on Bras being required to get new attorneys within 15 days. Bras didn't comment Thursday. Eutelsat is suing the company for allegedly failing to guarantee its subsidiary J C P Melo Telecomunicacoes' payments to Eutelsat for satellite broadband capacity. Bras said Eutelsat fulfilled only some of the services for which it billed (see 1608020014).

The first satellites in Iridium's Next constellation are tentatively scheduled for launch Dec. 16, the company announced Thursday. That launch, originally scheduled for September, was postponed by an explosion during a SpaceX preflight ignition test and subsequent investigation (see 1610270015). Iridium said Thursday a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will put up 10 Next satellites in the launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, pending Federal Aviation Administration approval.

The maker of the h.TV set-top box is no longer fully cooperating with its counsel and doesn't plan to seek new representation or to defend itself in the piracy lawsuit brought by Dish Network and broadcasters China Central TV and TVB Holdings (see 1604180064), said HTV International counsel from Ni Wang in a filing (in Pacer) Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Ni Wang and the plaintiffs also requested a telephone conference with the court "to determine how the matter should proceed." HTV didn't comment Thursday.

The FTC's push for sanctions against DirecTV under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as part of a fight over discovery in the agency's Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act suit against the company (see 1610280027) "is transparently tactical -- designed improperly to exclude critical proof in the case ... and not to cure any alleged prejudice to the FTC," the satellite operator said in an opposition (in Pacer) Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The FTC long has known DirecTV can't preserve any one iteration of its website, let alone the tens of thousands of iterations over time, and previously agreed discovery could be met by screenshots, the historical site source code and collateral advertising assets, DirecTV said, adding it produced all those documents. Instead, the company said, the FTC motion is trying to exclude a consumer survey of thousands of DirecTV customers that undermines the case, and that motion isn't the appropriate vehicle for challenging the survey's reliability. The company said it also offered to give the FTC access to all web analytics data it had about customer usage of and behavior on DirecTV.com, but the agency did nothing until after the close of discovery and now is "trump[ing] up this disingenuous Motion." Asking the court to deny the motion, DirecTV said if it grants any relief it also should schedule a hearing on the appropriate scope of the relief. The agency didn't comment Thursday.

Latin American mobile satellite service company Globalsat Group will get access to infrastructure for its low earth orbit network, and satellite operator LeoSat will get access to the Americas market, under an agreement they announced in a news release Wednesday. The two will market a joint high-throughput satellite data network. Globalsat CEO Alberto Palacios will join the LeoSat Customer Technical Advisory Committee, which advises on system configuration, product design and launch of LeoSat’s upcoming satellite constellation.