Space Intel Report
• Peter B. de Selding
International regulators have granted Europe’s Open Cosmos more time to deploy its planned low Earth orbit broadband network, but effectively limited the constellation to half its intended size. The decision is a setback to the company’s deployment plans and constrains the scale of its proposed satellite service.
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JCAS Airways is seeking a licence to operate in Japan but has pushed its planned launch to 2028. The revised timeline puts the airline’s entry into the market further out, with licensing and launch timing the key disclosed milestones.
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International regulators have granted Europe’s Open Cosmos more time to deploy its planned low Earth orbit broadband network, but effectively limited the constellation to half its intended size. The decision is a setback to the company’s deployment plans and constrains the scale of its proposed satellite service.
SpaceX has held preliminary talks with EchoStar about buying Boost Mobile or gaining wholesale access to its cellular network, potentially supporting a hybrid terrestrial-satellite service. Separate reports say Globalstar has asked the FCC to assess supplier implications involving Rocket Lab, while creditors challenge transfers of low-Earth-orbit satellite network assets.
Elain McCusker of the American Enterprise Institute argues that Congress’s proposed “right to repair” approach for the Pentagon needs revision. Better licensing and management of technical data, she says, would do more to help military maintainers than granting the government broad new rights to defense intellectual property.
WestJet has criticized the Canadian government’s provision of fuel loans to airlines. The available report does not specify the loan terms, recipient carriers or WestJet’s objections, limiting what can be concluded about the program’s scope or effects on competition and airline finances.
The US Department of Transportation is soliciting proposals from carriers to provide Essential Air Service at Hibbing, Minnesota, for a contract term beginning June 1, 2027. The service may be subsidized or unsubsidized; interested airlines must submit proposals by December 2, 2026.
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