Please explain in the area below why an STA is necessary:
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (NGSC), through its affiliate, Orbital Sciences Corporation, will launch and operate the NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft as part of the NASA Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) program. The Cygnus mission will include launch (from Wallops Island Virginia), orbit raising maneuvers, approach and berthing with the International Space Station (ISS), unberthing and departure from the ISS followed by orbit maneuvering, and finally controlled destructive re-entry into the Earths atmosphere. Destructive re-entry is anticipated to be approximately 31 days after separation from the ISS. During the period between ISS departure and re-entry, the Cygnus spacecraft will perform operations for a number of payloads sponsored by NASA. The payloads include a NanoRacks CubeSat Satellite Deployer (NRCSD) to deploy microsats, a SEOPS SlingShot CubeSat deployer to deploy microsats, the Saffire fire experiment hosted payload, and a SEOPS hosted payload. The cubesats owners are responsible for obtaining their STA. Spacecraft telemetry is transmitted during all phases of mission operations. An STA is requested for the Cygnus spacecraft at the direction of NASA and the NTIA due to the short duration of the mission and the need for close coordination within the necessary frequency bands. This STA request is consistent with the FCC/NTIA policies developed during the STA application process for previous CRS Cygnus spacecrafts.
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