EchoStar scuttled a plan for swapping billions of dollars in Dish Network debt due through 2026 for new notes (see 2401170012), it said Monday night. It provided no reason for the move.

Skylo Technologies launched SMS-based texting capabilities on its satellite network, it said Monday. The capability lays the groundwork for a planned rollout of two-way voice calls and images on its network, it added.

During a session with FCC staff, DirecTV reiterated its criticism of Dish Network's study that purports to show no serious interference risks from terrestrial use of the 12 GHz band (see 2312270045). In a docket 20-443 filing Monday recapping a meeting with the Space and Wireless bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology staffers, DirecTV said the study didn't consider its direct broadcast satellite antennas that terrestrial operators would need to protect. DirecTV said because it constantly broadcasts on the full 500 MHz of 12 GHz spectrum to deliver service, it "is always 'talking,'” meaning there is no way to use “listen before talk” strategies to allow other systems to share the band.

Airbus purchased Eutelsat/OneWeb's stake in the companies' satellite manufacturing joint venture, including the JV's Florida manufacturing facility, Airbus said Monday. Airbus said it will continue manufacturing small satellites for customers. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Eutelsat expects revenue growth in its geostationary orbit business during fiscal year 2023-2024, thanks to Eutelsat 10B and Konnect VHTS satellites entering service, it told investors Monday. But non-geostationary orbit revenue is lagging projections, it said. While OneWeb has 100% of its satellites in place and a backlog of $1.1 billion at the end of last quarter, availability of the ground network is delayed, it said. That delay affects revenue, particularly in mobility and certain geographies, Eutelsat said. In addition, it said, the ground network should be 90% complete in Q2 2024.

Before authorizing any supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operation, the FCC must ensure incumbents operating in the same bands won't suffer harmful interference, EchoStar representatives urged during meetings with leaders of the Space and Wireless bureaus. In a Space Bureau filing Friday recapping a meeting with Bureau Chief Julie Kearney and Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt, EchoStar said interference protection also must extend to adjacent bands and other geographies. No SCS technical rules can be finalized before studies showing these technical requirements will address co-channel, adjacent channel and adjacent geography interference, it said. Alternately, SCS applications could be required to submit evidence subject to public comment showing that there wouldn't be harmful interference, EchoStar said. SCS use of terrestrial spectrum in the U.S. should require consent from, and appropriate lease agreements with, the terrestrial licensee as well as the licensee with a meaningful role in managing interference, it said.

2024 should bring more vertical and horizontal consolidation across the satcom industry as well as major moves in AI integration, Analysys Mason's Vivek Prasad blogged Wednesday. He said EchoStar's Jupiter-3 will drive geostationary orbit market growth in the Americas, while SpaceX's Starlink broadband growth will slow versus 2023 as it expands in emerging economies where average revenue per user is lower. Prasad predicted Eutelsat/OneWeb will make inroads in the enterprise very small aperture and backhaul markets, while Amazon will likely launch Kuiper satellites in earnest this year. He said big demand drivers in satcom this year will include network upgrades and expansion in backhaul and trunking as well as autonomous maritime platforms and unmanned aerial systems. While the video market's size will continue its slide, it will remain the largest single source of satcom market revenue, he said.

On-orbit services companies Orbit Fab and ClearSpace will partner on in-space refueling offerings, they said Wednesday. Under a memorandum of understanding, they will create refueling space architecture that uses an Orbit Fab fuel depot and ClearSpace refueling shuttle, they said.

SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper are jointly lobbying the FCC for expanded satellite use of the 17.3-17.8 GHz band. In a docket 20-330 filing Tuesday, they recapped a meeting with FCC Space Bureau staffers where they urged a non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlink allocation in the 17 GHz band. They said that while geostationary orbit operators had asked the FCC to delay considering NGSO use in the band until after the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, the adoption of an NGSO allocation at WRC-23 (see 2312150012) "moots any arguments" for inaction. At an FCBA event Tuesday, the Space Bureau said finalizing rules for NGSO use of the 17 GHz band was a 2024 priority (see 2401230043).

The satellite communications user terminals market should reach $238 billion by 2030, ABI Research said Tuesday. That market includes traditional very small aperture terminals (VSAT), broadband global area network terminals, satellite phones and 5G mobile devices, it said. Andrew Cavalier, satellite communications senior analyst, said SpaceX and Amazon's Kuiper will be the front-runners in satellite broadband due to their low cost, flat panel terminals. ABI said by 2030, annual shipments of flat panel VSAT terminals should reach 2 million annually.