DOD should pause further investment in intersatellite laser link technology until it demonstrates that it works, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. GAO said an initial tranche of satellites produced by the Space Development Agency that employ laser tech have yet to demonstrate all the planned communications capabilities, yet the agency has awarded almost $10 billion in contracts for two more tranches of satellites. GAO said DOD concurred with its recommendation that the space agency should demonstrate laser communications capabilities before making further investments in subsequent tranches.

Multi-orbit capabilities are "becoming a must-have" for satellite operators looking to stay competitive, Carolina Daza of consultancy Access Partnership wrote Wednesday. She said the biggest challenge facing multi-orbit networks is "significantly heterogeneous regulatory frameworks." She also cited regulatory hurdles, including the fact that spectrum licensing for non-geostationary and geostationary orbit systems typically follow "distinct regulatory paths" with different technical parameters. There are no standardized criteria for multi-orbit terminals, and regulators "can be reluctant when faced with the unknown, further complicating the licensing process."

Based on data from reentries, the median operational lifetime of a SpaceX Starlink satellite appears to be 5.3 years, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell wrote Tuesday on X.

As the satellite industry matures, the number of new constellation businesses forming is on the decline, Payload Research said Wednesday. It said 2024 saw seven constellation businesses launch -- those being satcom, earth observation or in-orbit servicing -- compared with 14 in 2023 and 16 in 2022. It said the peak in constellation business formation was 50 in 2015. "Seeing the graveyard of bankrupt competitors and the dominance of entrenched players, new entrepreneurs will then refrain from entering the market" unless they have a differentiated niche.

The FCC Space Bureau "got the Commission’s policy and precedent right" when it denied U.S. market access to Sateliot, "and Sateliot continues to get it wrong" in challenging the decision, EchoStar said. In an opposition filed with the Space Bureau this week to Sateliot's petition for review (see 2502100033), EchoStar said the FCC's findings about the infeasibility of operators sharing the 2 GHz band "remain true today." It said Sateliot hasn't argued that the Space Bureau got anything wrong in its denial.

The FCC is seeking feedback on charging regulatory fees for all authorized satellites and earth stations, not just ones that are operational. That is among the regulatory fee proposals in a Further NPRM issued Tuesday. The FNPRM asks for input by March 27, replies April 11, in docket 24-85 on a variety of ideas brought up during the FY 2024 space regulatory fee proceeding. The FNPRM tentatively promotes an alternate methodology for assessing satellite regulatory fees, with earth station fees and satellite fees being allocated proportionally to the FCC Space Bureau resources involved in licensing and regulation of each segment, and with different fee categories for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) versus geostationary orbit satellites. It also asks about other options beyond that alternate methodology, such as dividing the existing NGSO fee category into two tiers: constellations of up to 1,000 satellites and constellations of more than 1,000. It also asks about the idea of creating tiers of "small" and "large" NGSO constellations in the existing "less complex" NGSO fee category and creating subcategories of earth station regulatory fee payers. Chairman Brendan Carr said it is "important that the FCC put the right regulatory framework in place -- one that will further fuel the space industry’s growth."

Rocket Lab's new Neutron rocket likely won't be ready until 2026 or 2027, rather than mid-2025, Bleecker Street Research wrote Tuesday. It said numerous aspects of the rocket's development are not on track for a launch this year. It added that Neutron's only announced launch contract is likely with satellite startup E-Space, but E-Space's own financing is questionable.

The FCC made clear in denying Intelsat reimbursement costs related to an earth station site outside the U.S. that C-band relocation expenses involving foreign facilities aren't reimbursable, the C-band relocation payment clearinghouse (RPC) said Tuesday. In a docket 21-333 reply to Anuvu, the RPC said the agency's language is clear that the Intelsat denial also covers Anuvu's German earth station. In its appeal of the RPC's initial denial of $961,000 in reimbursement claims, Anuvu said the Intelsat language addresses a specific proposal involving construction of new satellite telemetry, tracking and control facilities, and not all types of potential transition expenses.

SpaceX stressed the importance of the FCC proceeding with care in selecting a space launch frequency coordinator for the agency's space launch service (see 2501230025). “As a company that launched more than 130 rockets to orbit in 2024 and must regularly coordinate its launch operations with other spectrum users, SpaceX has a strong interest in ensuring that any third-party coordinator improves upon the existing post-licensing launch spectrum coordination processes that launch service providers and other spectrum users have refined over years of experience,” said a filing this week in docket 13-115.

SpaceX on Tuesday challenged Viasat’s standing to seek consideration of an order authorizing SpaceX and T-Mobile to provide supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service (see 2412270017). “After decades of warehousing prime mid-band spectrum at the expense of consumers and first responders, Viasat and its front group," the Mobile Satellite Services Association, "seek to prevent an American satellite operator from delivering life-saving” coverage, said a filing in docket 23-135. Because Viasat didn’t participate in the underlying licensing docket, “it lacks standing to bring its petition for reconsideration,” SpaceX said: “Even if it had timely raised these claims, the Commission still must reject them because they fundamentally misread the Commission’s SCS licensing framework and its overarching goal to establish and maintain American leadership in the market for direct-to-cellular services both here and abroad.”