C-band order published, opening the window to challenge SES's $5.6bn
What happened
The FCC's Upper C-Band Report and Order (FCC 26-46, adopted 2-1 on 2026-07-22, released 2026-07-24, already covered in prior briefs) was published in the Federal Register on 2026-07-31 as Document Number 2026-15598, 91 FR 48700–48750 (GN Docket Nos. 18-122, 25-59): "Upper C-Band (3.98-4.2 GHz); Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz Band." Effective date set at 2026-09-29. This was the single open procedural item yesterday's brief flagged as "not yet occurred as of 07-30" — one of the "TWO tripwires" this desk has been tracking on the C-band thread (the other being SES's still-unfiled Transition Plan under GN 25-59).
Read-across for SES
Federal Register publication — not the July 22 adoption or July 24 release — is what starts the live 60-day Section 316 protest/reconsideration-petition clock on the order that assigns SES ~$5.607bn/89% of the C-band gross incentive versus Eutelsat's $504m/8% and Telesat's $189m/3%. This is the window in which any party could formally challenge the incentive-payment split. It also sets the 2026-09-29 effective date ahead of which SES's Transition Plan (GN 25-59, still unfiled) is due; per the same July 30 earnings call read for S1, Al-Saleh reiterated SES intends to file it "by the end of the year" and has "no incentive" to delay clearing, given the deal's structure rewards early delivery.
As the brief filed it
[AGE: ~15h] FCC's Upper C-Band Order (FCC 26-46) was published in the Federal Register today (Doc. 2026-15598, effective 2026-09-29) — starts the only live 60-day protest/reconsideration clock on SES's ~$5.6bn/89% share of the C-band incentive payment, the tripwire yesterday's brief flagged as still outstanding.