SpaceX's planned purchase of 50 MHz of EchoStar spectrum will change the way SES has been managing spectrum, CEO Adel Al-Saleh told us Wednesday night during a company event in Washington. SES now needs to figure out "how do we solve our spectrum requirements differently?" he said. That entails more partnerships and more discussions with governments about getting landing rights, Al-Saleh said, adding that landing rights are as important as the amount of L- and S-band spectrum a satellite operator has available to it.

In the future, space launch sites have to function like airports, with "multiple launches a day from multiple providers," SpaceX blogged this week. It said it wants to work with federal regulators, federal launch ranges and the industry "to realize this vision." The company would make "significant investments in scientific research on blast and acoustics, physical infrastructure, and operational techniques and modern tools that foster dynamic, safe, and high-cadence spaceports in the U.S." SpaceX said its work with the FAA, NASA and Space Force have let it launch and land every two days on average from Cape Canaveral Space Force Center, "a cadence once dismissed as making it impossible for other launch providers to use the same range." Its Falcon family of rockets is on track to launch more than 100 times from Florida this year, "while other launch operators have continued their normal operations."

House Communications Subcommittee members traded partisan barbs during a Thursday hearing over a largely GOP-initiated set of broadband permitting bills (see 2509120072) that Democrats claim won’t be effective in speeding up connectivity buildout. Republicans filed many of the 29 bills in past Congresses, including several they previously combined into the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). Subpanel Democrats also punctuated the hearing with criticism of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for threats against ABC and parent company Disney that resulted in the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (see 2509180055).

Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held argument on the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana's decision to transfer a case against the legality of International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs and Section 232 tariffs as applied to tribal members to the Court of International Trade. One of the judges, Judge William Fletcher, appeared skeptical of the government's claim that the court can't review the district court's transfer order (Susan Webber v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 9th Cir. # 25-2717).

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:

The Organized Village of Kasaan, a tribe in Alaska, urged the FCC to preserve regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act that are important to protecting tribal interests. The FCC is looking at changing how it enforces both laws (see 2508180012). Kassan village is “home to the only remaining Haida longhouse in the United States, and our lands contain burial sites, carving sheds, and traditional food harvesting areas,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 25-217. Previous infrastructure projects “have disrupted salmon spawning grounds and crab habitats, which are central to our food security and cultural practices.”

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing Thursday on 29 bills aimed at streamlining broadband permitting rules, many of which Republicans have filed in past Congresses and some they previously combined into the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., introduced a bill Sept. 9 that would authorize the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to review and block foreign purchases of American real estate located near critical infrastructure, including drinking water facilities.

The FCC dropping its twin probes against EchoStar seemingly shows that the agency is all for EchoStar selling its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum to SpaceX and its 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz licenses to AT&T, wireless and spectrum experts told us. Some also said the SpaceX deal could open the door to the satellite operator becoming a wireless competitor.

The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services backed a proposal from ShipCom and Global HF Net to offer their public coast station system for greater use by land-based parties (see 2508190030), as long as the use is temporary. The proposed use shouldn't “impede future maritime requirements for the spectrum in accordance with its allocated purpose.” It also shouldn’t be expanded into HF maritime mobile spectrum reallocated to automatic connection system and international navigational data system use, the group added.