Spaceflight seeks FCC International Bureau approval for communications with its Sherpa spacecraft sometime in the first four months of 2016. In its IB application posted Friday, Spaceflight said it intends to launch Sherpa on a Falcon 9 between Jan. 15 and April 15 into an elliptical orbit of between 450 and 720 kilometers, and Sherpa would then deploy satellites from each of its five ports. The company is seeking special temporary authority for communications between Sherpa and three earth stations during Sherpa's 12-hour operational span so as to monitor the launch and to download status information. The downlink communications would be at 401.5 MHz, while the uplinks would be at 450.2 MHz, Spaceflight said. Sherpa -- a nonpropulsive spacecraft with no solar panels, attitude control, propulsion or pressure vessels -- is designed to deploy up to three microsatellites and several cubesats and nanosatellites, and then ultimately de-orbits back into the atmosphere roughly 20 years after launch, Spaceflight said.

A surety -- increasing by fixed amounts every year the penal sum of a bond -- would meet FCC goals of an "escalating" bond requirement for satellite operators so that a potential payment increases over time, Robert Duke of the Surety & Fidelity Association of America told International Bureau staff in a meeting detailed in an FCC filing posted Friday in docket 12-267. The agency last year initiated a rulemaking to modify Part 25 rules for earth station and satellite licenses, including revising bond requirements to try to deter spectrum warehousing (see 1411060049).

SES Americom hopes to run its AMC-6 C- and Ku-band satellite 12 more years, through June 30, 2027, filing an application Thursday with the FCC International Bureau requesting a license modification. AMC-6 began operation in 2000 and is licensed to operate through Nov. 20 of this year, SES said. There's sufficient fuel to run AMC-6 through the proposed extended term and to deorbit it, SES said.

Intelsat's C- and Ku-band Intelsat 34 launched successfully Thursday from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, the company said in a news release. SSL-built Intelsat 34 will join Intelsat 11 and 21 in providing video distribution services in Latin America, replacing Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11, plus broadband services for the aeronautical and maritime markets in the North Atlantic, Intelsat said. Two more Intelsat launches are scheduled for the first quarter of 2016, it said.

Intelsat's efforts to change or eliminate the two-degree spacing rule is both self-serving and unpersuasive, said SES Americom and EchoStar in a filing posted Friday in docket 12-267 in response to Intelsat arguments that ITU coordination would be preferable to the FCC spacing rules (see 1508100064). Numerous other satellite operators, including DirecTV, Iridium and ViaSat, also backed keeping the spacing rule, SES and EchoStar said. Meanwhile, Intelsat's argument that the growth of satellite operators internationally but few satellites licensed by the FCC to operate in previously unoccupied frequencies as indicating the ITU system works better "ignores the most obvious reason for this numerical imbalance -- robust development of the U.S. arc has left relatively few unused locations available for new satellite entry," EchoStar and SES said. That focus on the number of new satellites ignores the two-degree rule's role in ensuring spectrum and orbital resources access while coordination negotiations are underway. "It provides entrants with certainty that they can commence operations at reasonable power levels, rather than being at the mercy of an adjacent operator with ITU priority," the two said. The two-degree spacing rule also gives existing and new operators the right to operate under reasonable default levels and both have mutual incentives to come to agreements on higher levels, EchoStar and SES said. Intelsat's argument that the ITU system would better help U.S. licensees meet demand for small-antenna services has no basis, EchoStar and SES said. "SES, EchoStar and others including Intelsat itself have been able to successfully deploy mobility services and other small-antenna offerings under the existing two-degree spacing framework," the two said. Intelsat didn't comment Friday.

Dish Network subscribers in Wisconsin may receive a bill credit as part of a settlement reached after an investigation into consumer complaints by the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, said a news release from DATCP. The settlement includes $225,000 in civil forfeitures and assessments and a $4.25 bill credit to thousands of eligible customers, the release said. The settlement requires Dish to make changes to its communications with Wisconsin customers whenever Dish increases prices on satellite television offerings that are subject to an early termination fee, it said. "While we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the complaint filed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, we appreciate their constructive feedback regarding our communications with our customers," said a Dish spokesman. "We are pleased to amicably resolve this matter, so that we can continue to focus on providing outstanding customer service and the best value in pay-TV.”

The FCC denial of Dish Network’s $3.3 billion in AWS-3 auction bidding discounts “is clearly an unfavorable development for the company as the resulting significant cash outlays could further weaken the balance sheet and liquidity” and force “negative credit rating actions,” Moody’s said Wednesday in a research note. Much depends on how Dish finances the $3.3 billion obligation and manages its “credit metrics,” Moody’s said. Paying back the $3.3 billion in discounts would leave Dish with “less to work with,” possibly imperiling the company’s mergers and acquisitions activities, Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said on an Aug. 5 earnings call (see 1508050042).

Dish Network finished integration of its Hopper DVR with control modules put out by AMX, Crestron, Pro Control and RTI, the company said in a news release. They follow Control4, which released an IP module for Hopper to dealers in 2014. Dish said Tuesday the integration speeds up installation and lets dealers add IP control to the system. Dish opened its third-party application programming interface in 2013, allowing Hopper to be tied into home environmental and security control systems, with a single interface operating all of them.

Epson said it began shipping the Runsense SF-110 GPS watch ($139) designed for runners and hikers who want to track workouts and monitor daily activities. The fitness wearable measures steps, calories burned, distance, pace, time, laps and altitude, said the company. Users can set three customizable screens with up to nine real-time measurements, it said in a Tuesday news release. Runsense SF-110 users can sync their data with the Epson Run Connect app available for Android and iOS devices or with MapMyRun and Strava apps. Users can also enable Assisted GPS through Run Connect to download GPS satellite data directly to the watch for a faster initial GPS connection, Epson said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency signed a one-year contract with SES for O3b Networks’ services and ground equipment for use at the National Weather Service office in Pago Pago, American Samoa, SES said in a Monday news release. It said the NOAA contract will help the agency expand its broadband connectivity outside the continental U.S. for wider dissemination of weather and data forecasting.