Spectrum access is the key regulatory and operational hurdle for direct-to-device satellite services, with SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, Globalstar and Omnispace/Lynk controlling the mobile satellite service rights "that matter most for D2D," Xona Partners said this week. Their spectrum holdings give them less reliance on mobile network operators, greater pricing power and long-term strategic options, the firm said. D2D is also driving satellite system consolidation, with more mergers and acquisitions expected in 2026, Xona predicted. The Omnispace/Lynk Global merger and SES’ strategic positioning, as well as geostationary orbit operators’ push into low earth orbit fixed wireless and D2D in response to mounting revenue pressure, point to the likelihood of more consolidation across the sector, it added.

AST SpaceMobile is seeking FCC Space Bureau approval to add international S-band frequencies to its planned 248-satellite constellation. In an application posted Wednesday, AST said it wants to use the 1980-2025 MHz and 2160-2200 MHz frequencies outside the U.S. for mobile broadband connectivity. The S-band spectrum would let the company "provide higher capacity, space-based mobile broadband services to international users" and better compete with Chinese internet connectivity. The international S band is already included in AST's ITU filing, it said, and much of the band is underutilized.

Don't give SpaceX waivers of the equivalent power flux density rules until interference, economic and anticompetitive concerns have been addressed in the pending EPFD rulemaking, SES affiliates told the FCC in a filing posted Wednesday (docket 25-340). SpaceX is seeking a waiver of EPFD and processing round requirements for its proposed direct-to-device and mobile satellite service system, but numerous parties have challenged its application (see 2601050028). The SES affiliates also said any non-geostationary orbit processing round rules waiver should be conditioned on SpaceX operating such that it doesn't interfere with other NGSO systems authorized in a processing round.

SpaceX's plan to lower roughly 4,800 satellites orbiting at about 550 kilometers to about 480 kilometers (see 2601020014) shows that the need for large-scale avoidance of near-misses is shaping constellation design choices, Satmarin Exoflux's Michael De Coninck wrote Monday. The choice of 480 km isn't random, because below 500 km the long-term debris persistence problem "is materially different," he said. "If you’re the world’s largest constellation operator, the best sustainability policy is the one you can execute with your own propulsion and timeline, rather than waiting for a global consensus meeting that ends with 'we will establish a working group.'"

A total of 180 Amazon Leo satellites were launched in 2025, it told the FCC Space Bureau last week. Three satellites were subsequently removed before beginning regular operations, it noted.

There were 329 orbital launch attempts from Earth in 2025, with 321 reaching orbit or marginal orbit, astronomer Jonathan McDowell said last week. The U.S. accounted for 181, with China second at 92. It marked the sixth-straight year of increased launch cadence in both nations, said McDowell, who works at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics' Chandra X-ray Observatory. The U.S. launches took up 3,719 payloads and China put up 371, while 4,522 payloads were launched globally, McDowell reported. Of the U.S. payloads, 3,529 were commercial and 149 were for defense.

SpaceX is lowering roughly 4,800 satellites orbiting at about 550 kilometers to about 480 kilometers in the name of greater space safety, Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls wrote Thursday on social media. The lowering will happen over the course of 2026 and is "being tightly coordinated" with other satellite operators, regulators and U.S. Space Command, he said. Lowering the satellites "results in condensing Starlink orbits, and will increase space safety," because the amount of space debris and planned satellite constellations is notably less below 500 km, meaning a smaller aggregate likelihood of collision.

Spire Global is eyeing October to launch three Lemur-class satellites that would operate using the same frequencies and parameters as the company's existing constellation. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday, Spire said the three satellites would have standard Spire remote sensing and geolocation payloads, as well as custom payloads for detecting and tracking moving targets on Earth.

AST SpaceMobile said its supplemental coverage from space interference analysis shows that its operations won't cause harmful interference to terrestrial services. In a filing posted Monday in docket 25-201, AST said the FCC should stick with its established practice of license conditions that require operations within applicable interference protection limits. Requiring the company to provide incontrovertible proof of non-harmful interference, including successful coordination with all non-partner terrestrial licensees, before any approval would create "an impossible barrier to entry."

The Commerce Department's Office of Space Commerce is working toward having a draft mission authorization process in late January for novel commercial space activities, Jenner & Block's Trey Hanbury and Elizabeth Pullin wrote last week. The Commerce effort stems from the White House's commercial space executive order, issued in August (see 2508140006). OSC said it's considering a regulatory framework for in-space servicing, assembling and manufacturing (ISAM) activities, lunar operations and commercial low earth orbit destinations, the lawyers noted.