Attachment Legal

This document pretains to SAT-MOD-20180501-00038 for Modification on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATMOD2018050100038_1385217

                                         Before the
                             Federal Communications Commission
                                    Washington, DC 20554


      In the Matter of
                                                        File No. SAT-MOD- _____________
      Intelsat License LLC

      Application to Modify Authorization for
      Intelsat 5 (S2704)


                      APPLICATION OF INTELSAT LICENSE LLC
                    TO MODIFY AUTHORIZATION FOR INTELSAT 5

       Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”), pursuant to Section 25.117 of the rules of the Federal

Communications Commission (“Commission” or “FCC”),1 hereby seeks to modify the

authorization for the Intelsat 5 satellite (Call Sign S2704). Specifically, this modification seeks

authority to redeploy Intelsat 5 to, and operate the satellite in inclined orbit2 at, 137.0° W.L.

(223.0° E.L).

       In accordance with the Commission’s rules, this application has been filed electronically

as an attachment to FCC Form 312.3 Intelsat provides the technical information relating to the

proposed modification on Schedule S and in narrative form in the attached Engineering

Statement.4




1
       47 C.F.R. § 25.117.
2
       Intelsat 5 began inclined orbit operations in 2012. See Letter from Susan H. Crandall,
Assistant General Counsel, Intelsat Corporation, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, File No.
SAT-MOD-20121002-00176 (Oct. 24, 2012).
3
       47 C.F.R. §§ 25.117(b), (c).
4
       See 47 C.F.R. § 25.114.


       I.      REQUEST TO RELOCATE INTELSAT 5 TO 137.0° W.L.

       Intelsat requests authority to relocate Intelsat 5 to, and operate the satellite at, 137.0°

W.L. Intelsat is seeking to relocate the Intelsat 5 satellite to a new role after the successful

redeployment of Intelsat 1R to 157.1° E.L. Intelsat 5 is currently drifting to 93.2° W.L.5 The

FCC recently made available for reassignment the C-band frequencies at 137° W.L.,6 which

provides a new opportunity for the Intelsat 5 satellite. Intelsat will request 30-day and 180-day

grants of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) to drift Intelsat 5 to 137° W.L. instead of 93.2°

W.L. and to operate Intelsat 5 upon arrival at 137.0° W.L., which is expected to occur in late

May 2018.

       Intelsat 5’s specific telemetry, tracking, and control (“TT&C”) frequencies are as

follows:

                             Uplink                            Downlink
                           13999 MHz                          11451 MHz
                           14498 MHz                          11452 MHz
                                                              11454 MHz


The specific communications frequencies on Intelsat 5 are as follows7:

                            Uplink                            Downlink
                        5925-6425 MHz                      3700-4200 MHz
                       14000-14250 MHz                    11450-11700 MHz8

5
        See File No. SAT-STA-20180410-00027 (granted Apr. 13, 2018). Prior to the drift,
Intelsat 5 operated at 156.9° E.L. See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Public Notice,
Report No. SAT-01236, File No. SAT-MOD-20170331-00057 (May 5, 2017).
6
       See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Public Notice, Report No. SAT-01313
(Apr. 27, 2018).

7
       The Intelsat 5 spacecraft includes the 12750-13250 MHz, 10700-10950 MHz, and 11200-
11450 MHz frequency bands; however, Intelsat does not currently plan to use these bands at
137.0° W.L.


        II.     PUBLIC INTEREST SHOWING

        Grant of this modification application to relocate and operate Intelsat 5 at 137.0° W.L.

will serve the public interest by enabling Intelsat to provide new capacity at the 137.0° W.L.

orbital location.

        Grant of this relocation request will not result in an increased risk of harmful

interference. Intelsat will operate Intelsat 5’s communications payload and TT&C frequencies at

137.0° W.L. in conformance with any relevant coordination agreements and the FCC’s rules

governing operations vis-á-vis adjacent locations.

        III.    ITU COST RECOVERY

        Intelsat is aware that processing fees are currently charged by the International

Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) for satellite filings, and that Commission applicants are

responsible for any and all fees charged by the ITU.9 Intelsat is aware of and unconditionally

accepts this requirement and responsibility to pay any ITU cost recovery fees associated with the

ITU filings that the Commission makes on behalf of Intelsat for the satellite proposed in this

Application, as well as any ITU filings associated with any satellite system for which Intelsat

may request authorization at a later date.

        IV.     WAIVER REQUEST

        Intelsat requests that the waiver of Section 25.114(c)(4)(vi)(A) of the FCC’s rules,

requiring applicants to provide predicted space station antenna gain contours for each transmit



8
      Intelsat will submit to the Commission Appendix 4 information for a new satellite
network for the Ku-band frequencies at the nominal orbital location of 137° W.L. See
Engineering Statement at 4.
9
        See 47 C.F.R. § 25.111(d).


and receive antenna beam requested, previously granted for Intelsat 5 be extended to the satellite

at 137.0° W.L.10

       Additionally, Intelsat requests waiver of Section 2.106, Footnote NG52 of the U.S. Table

of Allocations, which restricts the use of the 11450-11700 MHz bands by the non-federal Fixed

Satellite Service (“FSS”) in the geostationary orbit to international systems only.11 Under

Section 1.3 of the Commission’s rules, the Commission has authority to waive its rules “for good

cause shown.”12 Good cause exists if “special circumstances warrant a deviation from the

general rule and such deviation will serve the public interest” better than adherence to the

general rule.13 In determining whether waiver is appropriate, the Commission should “take into

account considerations of hardship, equity, or more effective implementation of overall

policy.”14 Additionally, a waiver of the Table of Allocations is generally granted “when there is

little potential interference into any service authorized under the Table of Frequency allocations

and when the nonconforming operator accepts any interference from authorized services.”15



10
       See 47 C.F.R. § 25.114(c)(4)(vi)(A); Application of Intelsat License LLC to Modify
Authorization for Intelsat 5 (S2704), Stamp Grant, File No. SAT-MOD-20170331-00057,
Condition 9 (May 4, 2017).
11
       47 C.F.R. § 2.106, fn. NG52.

12
       47 C.F.R. § 1.3; WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969).

13
       Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990).

14
       WAIT Radio, 418 F.2d at 1159.

15
       See The Boeing Company, Order and Authorization, 16 FCC Rcd 22645, 22651 (Int’l
Bur. & OET 2001); Application of Fugro-Chance, Inc. for Blanket Authority to Construct and
Operate a Private Network of Receive-Only Mobile Earth Stations, Order and Authorization, 10
FCC Rcd 2860, 2860 (Int’l Bur. 1995) (authorizing MSS in the C-band); see also Application of
Motorola Satellite Communications, Inc. for Modification of License, Order and Authorization,


       Good cause exists to waive the international-only requirements for the 11450-11700

MHz frequency band on Intelsat 5. The purpose of NG52 is to limit the number of the FSS earth

stations with which the co-primary FS would need to coordinate.16 The International Bureau has

found that waiving NG52 would not undermine the purpose of the rules if the party seeking a

waiver: (1) will be utilizing earth stations that are receive-only in these bands and thus “not

capable of causing interference into FS stations” operating in the bands; and (2) agrees to “accept

any level of interference from FS stations” in these bands.17

       With respect to the 11450-11700 MHz band, grant of the requested waiver satisfies these

criteria and would be consistent with precedent.18 The earth stations operating in both these

bands on Intelsat 5 will not transmit and Intelsat agrees to accept any level of interference into

those earth stations from FS stations in the band. Intelsat will provide services in the 11450-

11700 MHz frequency band only on a non-interference/non-protected basis. Accordingly, the

earth stations operating in these bands pose no interference concerns with respect to co-




11 FCC Rcd 13952, 13952-13956 (Int’l Bur. 1996) (authorizing service to fixed terminals in
bands allocated the mobile satellite service).

16
       See Amendment of Part 2 of The Commission’s Rules to Conform, to the Extent
Practicable, with the Geneva Radio Regulations, as Revised by the Space WARC, Geneva,
Report and Order, 26 RR 2d 1257, ¶¶ 35-38 (1973). See also EchoStar KuX Corporation
Application for Authority to Construct, Launch and Operate a Geostationary Satellite Using the
Extended Ku-band Frequencies in the Fixed-Satellite Service at the 83º W.L. Orbital Location,
Order and Authorization, 20 FCC Rcd 919, ¶ 9 (Int’l Bur. 2004) (“EchoStar 83º Waiver”).

17
       EchoStar 83° Waiver, ¶ 13.

18
      See, e.g., DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, Fleet Management Notice for SKY-B1 Satellite,
Stamp Grant, File No. SAT-MOD-20170221-00019, Condition 10 (May 11, 2017).


frequency FS stations and therefore will not need to be coordinated with FS stations located

within United States and its territories.

       Intelsat also agrees to abide by the customer notification requirements that the

International Bureau has previously imposed when granting waivers of NG52.19 Intelsat will

inform its customers in writing, including any customers receiving end-user services from

resellers accessing capacity on Intelsat 5, of the potential for interference from FS operations in

the 11450-11700 MHz band.

       V.        11450-11700 MHZ FREQUENCY BAND

       Intelsat understands that operations in the 11450-11700 MHz frequency band are subject

to certain limitations and obligations, which Intelsat accepts and will fulfill.

       For operations in the 11450-11700 MHz frequency band, Intelsat accepts the following

condition:

                Intelsat’s use of the 11450-11700 MHz band (space-to-Earth) is subject to
                 footnote US211 to the United States Table of Frequency Allocations, 47
                 C.F.R. § 2.106, US211, which urges applicants for airborne or space
                 station assignments to take all practicable steps to protect radio astronomy
                 observations in the adjacent bands from harmful interference, consistent
                 with footnote US74.

       VI.       MILESTONE AND BOND REQUIREMENTS

       Because Intelsat 5 is already in-orbit and operating, grant of this modification application

is not subject to milestone conditions, and Intelsat is not required to post a bond under Sections

25.164(a) and 25.165 of the Commission’s rules.20 As such, there is no risk of warehousing.




19
     See, e.g., id.; Intelsat North America Request for Waiver, Stamp Grant, File No. SAT-
MOD-20050610-00122, Condition 3 (Sept. 30, 2005); EchoStar 83º Waiver, ¶ 13.
20
     See 47 C.F.R. §§ 25.164(a) and 25.165.


       VII.    CONCLUSION

       For the reasons set forth above, Intelsat respectfully requests that the Commission grant

this modification application.

                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                    Intelsat License LLC

                                                    By: /s/ Susan H. Crandall

                                                    Susan H. Crandall
                                                    Associate General Counsel
                                                    Intelsat Corporation

                                                    Cynthia J. Grady
                                                    Regulatory Counsel
                                                    Intelsat Corporation


Jennifer D. Hindin
Sara M. Baxenberg
WILEY REIN LLP
1776 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006


May 1, 2018


                                           Exhibit A
               FCC Form 312, Response to Question 34: Foreign Ownership
        The Commission previously approved foreign ownership in Intelsat License LLC
(“Intelsat”), in the Intelsat-Serafina Order.1 In December 2009 and October 2011, the
Commission also approved pro forma changes in Intelsat’s foreign ownership.2 There have been
no other material changes to Intelsat’s foreign ownership since the date of the Intelsat-Serafina
Order.




1
       Intelsat Holdings, Ltd. and Serafina Holdings Limited, Consolidated Application for
Consent to Transfer of Control of Holders of Title II and Title III Authorizations, Memorandum
Opinion and Order, 22 FCC Rcd 22,151 (2007).
2
       See Intelsat North America LLC, Intelsat LLC, PanAmSat Licensee Corp., PanAmSat H-2
Licensee Corp., and Intelsat New Dawn Company, Ltd., Applications for Pro Forma Transfer of
Control, File Nos. SAT-T/C-20091125-00128, SAT-T/C-20091125-00124, SAT-T/C-20091125-
00127, SAT-T/C-20091125-00125, SAT-T/C-20091125-00126, SES-T/C-20091125-01505,
SES-T/C-20091125-01502, SES-T/C-20091125-01506, SES-T/C-20091125-01504 and SES-
T/C-20091125-01503 (granted Dec. 3, 2009); Intelsat Application for Pro Forma Transfer of
Control, File Nos. SAT-T/C-20110810-00160, SAT-T/C-20110811-00161, SES-T/C-20110811-
00948, SES-T/C-20110812-00963 (granted Oct. 13, 2011), and 0004825139 (granted Oct. 19,
2011).


                                             Exhibit B
             FCC Form 312, Response to Question 36: Cancelled Authorizations
Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) has never had an FCC license “revoked.” However, on June
26, 2000, the International Bureau “cancelled” two Ka-band satellite authorizations issued to a
former Intelsat entity, PanAmSat Licensee Corp. (“PanAmSat”),1 based on the Bureau’s finding
that PanAmSat had not satisfied applicable construction milestones.2 In that same order, the
Bureau denied related applications to modify the cancelled authorizations. PanAmSat filed an
application for review of the Bureau’s decision, which the Commission denied, and subsequently
filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,
which was dismissed in January 2003 at PanAmSat’s request. Notwithstanding the fact that the
Bureau’s action does not seem to be the kind of revocation action contemplated by question 36,
Intelsat is herein making note of the decision in the interest of absolute candor and out of an
abundance of caution. In any event, the Bureau’s action with respect to PanAmSat does not
reflect on Intelsat’s basic qualifications, which are well-established and a matter of public record.




1
       All licenses previously held by PanAmSat Licensee Corp. have been assigned to Intelsat
License LLC. See IBFS File Nos. SAT-ASG-20101203-00252 (granted Dec. 23, 2010), SES-
ASG-20101203-0150 (granted Dec. 20, 2010), and SES-ASG-20101206-01502 (granted Dec.
20, 2010).
2
       See PanAmSat Licensee Corp., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 18720 (IB
2000).


                                          Exhibit C
                          FCC Form 312, Response to Question 40:
                Officers, Directors, and Ten Percent or Greater Shareholders

The officers and directors/managers of Intelsat License LLC are as follows:
Officers:
Jacques Kerrest, Chairman
Franz Russ, Deputy Chairman
Michelle Bryan, Secretary
Mirjana Hervy, Director, Finance

Board of Managers:
Jacques Kerrest
Franz Russ
Michelle Bryan

The business address of all Intelsat License LLC officers and members of the Board of Managers
is: 4 rue Albert Borschette, L-1246 Luxembourg

Intelsat License LLC is a Delaware limited liability company that is wholly owned by Intelsat
License Holdings LLC, also a Delaware limited liability company. Intelsat License Holdings
LLC is wholly owned by Intelsat Jackson Holdings S.A., a Luxembourg company. Intelsat
Jackson Holdings S.A. is wholly owned by Intelsat Connect Finance S.A., a Luxembourg
company. Intelsat Connect Finance S.A. is wholly owned by Intelsat (Luxembourg) S.A., a
Luxembourg company. Intelsat (Luxembourg) S.A. is wholly owned by Intelsat Investments
S.A., a Luxembourg company. Intelsat Investments S.A. is wholly owned by Intelsat Holdings
S.A., a Luxembourg company. Intelsat Holdings S.A. is wholly owned by Intelsat Investment
Holdings S.à r.l., a Luxembourg company. Intelsat Investment Holdings S.à r.l. is wholly owned
by Intelsat S.A., a Luxembourg company. Each of these entities may be contacted at the
following address: 4 rue Albert Borschette, L-1246 Luxembourg.

Intelsat S.A.’s ownership was approved by the Commission as part of the Intelsat-Serafina
Order and the recent Intelsat Pro Forma and is incorporated by reference. See Intelsat Holdings,
Ltd. and Serafina Holdings Limited, Consolidated Application for Consent to Transfer of
Control of Holders of Title II and Title III Authorizations, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 22
FCC Rcd 22,151 (2007) (“Intelsat-Serafina Order”); Intelsat Application for Pro Forma
Transfer of Control, File Nos. SAT-T/C-20110810-00160, SAT-T/C-20110811-00161, SES-
T/C-20110811-00948, SES-T/C-20110812-00963 (granted Oct. 13, 2011), and 0004825139
(granted Oct. 19, 2011) (“Intelsat Pro Forma”). On May 16, 2012, the International Bureau
granted an application to transfer control of Intelsat pursuant to a public offering of newly issued
voting shares by Intelsat, subsequent voting share sales by current shareholders and possible
private placements of newly issued voting shares. In the Matter of Intelsat Global Holdings,
S.A., Applications to Transfer Control of Intelsat Licenses and Authorizations from BC Partners
Holdings Limited to Public Ownership, Order, DA 12-768 (rel. May 16, 2012). This change of
control has not yet been fully consummated.



Document Created: 2018-05-01 10:13:18
Document Modified: 2018-05-01 10:13:18

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