Attachment grant

grant

DECISION submitted by IB,FCC

grant

2006-03-28

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20060303-00022 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2006030300022_491232

.. 3060-0678 Date &Time Filed: Mar 3 2006 7:45:38:903PM File Number: SAT-STA-20060303-00022 Callsign: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION APPLICATION FOR SPACE STATION SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY APPLICANT INFORMATION Enter a description of this application to identify it on the main menu: Application for Special Temporary Authority to Move EchoStar 6 from 110.2W to 110.35W for Traffic Transfer Purposes I . Applicant Name: EchoStar Satellite Operating Phone Number: 303-723-1000 Corporation DBA Name: Fax Number: 303-723-1699 Street: 9601 South Meridian Boulevard E-Mail: City: Englewood State: co Country: USA Zipcode: 80112 - Attention: David K Moskowitz I

ATTACHMENT Conditions of Authorization: SAT- STA-20060303-00022 Call Sign: S2232 Grant Date: March 28,2006 EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation's ("Echostar") request for special temporary authority (STA), File No. SAT-STA-20060303-00022, IS GRANTED. Accordingly, EchoStar IS AUTHORIZED for a period of 30 days commencing on March 29,2006, to (1) relocate its EchoStar 6 satellite from 110.2" W.L. to 100.35' W.L. and (2) operate the satellite at 110.35' W.L. with +/- 0.05 longitudinal stationkeeping in accordance with the terms, conditions, and technical specifications set forth in its application, Federal Communication Commission (Commission) rules, and this Attachment: 1. EchoStar shall coordinate all drift orbit operations with other potentially affected in orbit operators. 2. During the drift to and while operating at the 110.35" W.L. orbital location, no harmful interference shall be caused by EchoStar 6 to any other lawfully operating space station or other radiocommunication system. 3. In the event of any harmful interference as a result of EchoStar 6's operations during the relocation to or while operating at the 110.35" W.L. orbital location, EchoStar shall cease operations immediately upon notification of such interference and shall inform the Commission, in writing, immediately of such an event. 4. EchoStar is required to accept interference from other lawfully operating space stations or other radiocommunication systems. 5. Any action taken or expense incurred as a result of operations pursuant to this special temporary authority is solely at Echostar's own risk. 6. EchoStar is afforded thirty days from the date of release of this action to decline this authorization as conditioned. Failure to respond within this period will constitute formal acceptance of the authorization as conditioned. 7. This Grant is issued pursuant to Section 0.261 ofthe Commission's rules on delegated authority, 47 C.F.R. 9 0.261, and is effective immediately.

.. Contact Name: Pantelis Michalopoulos Phone Number: 202-429-6494 Company: Steptoe & Johnson LLP Fax Number: 202-429-3902 Street: 1330 Connecticut Ave., NW E-Mail: pmichalo@steptoe.com City: Washington State: DC Country: USA Zipcode: 20036 -1795 Attention: Relationship: Legal Counsel (If your application is related to an application filed with the Commission, enter either the file number or the 1B Submission ID of the related pplication. Please enter only one.) 3. Reference File Number or Submission ID 4a. Is a fee submitted with this application? @ If Yes, complete and attach FCC Form 159. If No, indicate reason for fee exemption (see 47 C.F.R.Section I . I 1 14). Governmental Entity 0 Noncommercial educational licensee 0 Other(p1ease explain): lb. Fee Classification CRY - Space Station (Geostationary) i. Type Request @ Change Station Location 0 Extend Expiration Date 0 Other ). Temporary Orbit Location 7. Requested Extended Expiration Date 110.3SW 2

1 8. Description (If the complete description does not appear in this box, please go to the end of the form to view it in its entirety.) See attached narrative and technical appendix. I ' ' I 9. By checking Yes, the undersigned certifies that neither applicant nor any other party to the application is subject Yes to a denial of Federal benefits that includes FCC benefits pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Act of 1988, Q 0 No 21 U.S.C. Section 862, because of a conviction for possession or distribution of a controlled substance. See 47 CFR 1.2002(b) for the meaning of &quot:party to the application&quot: for these purposes. I IO. Name of Person Signing David K. Moskowitz II 1. Title of Person Signing Executive Vice President and General Counsel 12. Please supply any need attachments. Attachment 1: STA Narrative I Attachment 2: Attachment A I Attachment 3: WILLFUL FALSE STATEMENTS MADE ON THIS FORM ARE PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND / OR IMPRISONMENT (US. Code, Title 18, Section lOOI), AND/OR REVOCATION OF ANY STATION AUTHORIZATION (U.S. Code, Title 47, Section 312(a)( I)), AND/OR FORFEITURE (U.S. Code, Title 47, Section 503). 3

FCC NOTICE REQUIRED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT The public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 2 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the required data, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. If you have any comments on this burden estimate, or how we can improve the collection and reduce the burden it causes you, please write to the Federal Communications Commission, AMD-PERM, Paperwork Reduction Project (3060-0678). Washington, DC 20554. We will also accept your comments regarding the Paperwork Reduction Act aspects of this collection via the Internet if you send them to jboley@fcc.gov. PLEASE DO NOT SEND COMPLETED FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. Remember -You are not required to respond to a collection of information sponsored by the Federal government, and the government may not conduct or sponsor this collection, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number or if we fail to provide you with this notice. This collection has been assigned an OMB control number of 3060-0678. THE FOREGOING NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995, PUBLIC LAW 104-13, OCTOBER 1,1995,44 U.S.C. SECTION 3507. 4

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 ~ ~ ~ ~ ) In the Matter of 1 1 ECHOSTAR SATELLITE OPERATING ) CORPORATION ) File No. SAT-STA-2006 ) For Special Temporary Authority to Move 1 EchoStar 6 to 110.35" W.L. and to Operate ) Temporarily For Traffic Transfer Purposes ) APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY By this application, EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation ("Echostar") respectfully requests special temporary authority ("STA") to move its EchoStar 6 satellite from its current orbital location of 110.2' W.L. to 110.35' W.L. and to temporarily operate at this location while traffic is transitioned to the new EchoStar 10 satellite. The instant request is for a 30-day STA starting on or around March 22,2006, or such later date as EchoStar has started to relocate its EchoStar 10 satellite to 110.2" W.L. with Commission authority. EchoStar is also filing a request for temporary authority to move EchoStar 6 to 110.4" W.L. after traffic transfer is complete, where EchoStar will store the satellite as an in-orbit spare for 180 days. Allowing EchoStar 6 to move to, and temporarily operate at, 110.35" W.L. will serve the public interest as it will enable EchoStar to safely maintain its satellites and minimize disruption to existing customers receiving service from the 110" W.L. orbital location during the transition of traffic from EchoStar 6 to EchoStar 8 and from EchoStar 8 to EchoStar 10. Following completion of traffic transfer, EchoStar 6 will be moved to 110.4" W.L. subject to separate Commission authority, where it will be stored as an in-orbit spare operating only on TT&C

frequencies. The proposed temporary operations at 110.35" W.L. will not cause harmful interference to any authorized spectrum user. EchoStar will also coordinate all drift orbit operations with other potentially affected in-orbit operators. I. DISCUSSION EchoStar is currently operating two satellites at 110' W.L. EchoStar 8 is a spot- and CONUS-beam satellite operating on 20 of Echostar's 29 assigned channels at the 110.0" W.L. orbital location.' EchoStar 6 is a CONUS-beam satellite operating on nine of those frequencies at the 110.2" W.L. orbital location.* EchoStar has requested authority to provide DBS service from the nominal 110" W.L. orbital position using the EchoStar 10 satellite, and plans to locate the satellite at the 110.2' W.L. orbital location. On February 3,2006, EchoStar received Special Temporary Authority to launch EchoStar 10 and to test it at the 138.5" W.L. orbital 10cation.~ Testing is due to be completed on March 2 1,2006. Once EchoStar IO moves to the 110.2' W.L. orbital location with the Commission's approval, EchoStar plans to transition spot beam operations from EchoStar 8 to EchoStar 10. This will free up capacity on EchoStar 8 for CONUS operations, and in turn will permit EchoStar to transfer the EchoStar 6 traffic to EchoStar 8. During traffic transfer, EchoStar proposes to operate EchoStar 6 at 110.35" W.L. This will allow EchoStar to safely maintain 1 EchoStar Satellite Corporation, Application f o r Minor ModiJication of Direct Broadcast Satellite Authorization, Launch and Operating Authority for EchoStar VIII, Order and Authorization, 17 FCC Rcd 11326 (2002). EchoStar Satellite Corporation, Application f o r Minor ModiJication of Four DBS Space Station Authorizations To Operate on I 1 Channels at I 19" W.L., To Operate on 10 Channels at 119" W L., To Operate on 28 Channels at 110" W.L., To Operate on 1 Channel at 110" WL., Application for Renewal of Special Temporary Authority to Operate a Direct Broadcast Satellite at the 110" W.L. Orbital Location, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 1521 1 (2003). See Stamp Grant, File No. SAT-STA-20060104-00004 (granted Feb. 3,2006). 2

three satellites at the 110” W.L. location during traffic transfer. EchoStar expects that the move and traffic transfer operations will take no more than 30 days. Upon completion of traffic transfer, EchoStar 6 will cease operation of its communications payload. EchoStar is simultaneously applying for temporary authority to then move the satellite to 110.4’ W.L. and to maintain it there as an in-orbit spare using only the satellite’s TT&C frequencies. EchoStar recognizes that its plan will result in operating EchoStar 6 outside of the 110” W.L. DBS “cluster” allotted to the United States by the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”).4 Under the current ITU Region 2 BSS Plan, the United States has the authority to allow satellite operators to provide Broadcast Satellite Service (“BSS”) (ie.,DBS service in the United States) at orbital locations within plus/minus 0.2’ of the designated orbital location, known as cluster^.^ Under this plan, the United States has sole authority over the BSS frequencies located at the 110’ W.L. cluster.6 This cluster consists of orbital locations from 109.8’ W.L. to 110.2’ W.L. In order to operate its satellite permanently outside of the authorized cluster, an operator must seek to modify the ITU Region 2 BSS Plan.7 However, EchoStar is not seeking to operate permanently on the DBS frequencies at 110.35’ W.L. Rather, it is only seeking temporary authority to operate EchoStar 6 at 110.35” W.L. while traffic is transferred to its new EchoStar 10 satellite. The Commission has previously granted temporary authority to operate outside of an orbital location cluster on the condition that operations do not cause harmful interference to lawfully operating satellite See 1TU Regulations, Appendix 30, Annex 7, Section B. Id. ITU Regulations, Appendix 30, Art. 10. 7 ITU Regulations, Appendix 30, Art. 4.2. 3

systems and that the satellite system operate without protection from lawful systems.' In fact, in very similar circumstances, the Bureau recently approved a similar request by DIRECTV for operation of the DIRECTV 6 satellite outside of the 1 10' W.L. cluster (east of the cluster).' For the reasons set forth below, the temporary operation of EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. will not cause harmful interference to any authorized user of the spectrum, and would be in the public interest. Accordingly, the Commission should grant the requested temporary authority, first, to operate EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. while DBS traffic is transferred to EchoStar 10. 11. GRANT OF THIS APPLICATION IS IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST The Commission has a long-standing policy of granting Special Temporary Authority where such authorization will not cause harmful interference and will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity. See e.g., In the Mutter of Newcomb Communications, Inc., 8 FCC Rcd. 3631, 3633 (1993); In the Matter of Columbia Communications Corp., 11 FCC Rcd. 8639, 8640 (1996); In the Matter of American Telephone & Telegraph Co., Order, 8 FCC Rcd. 8742 (1993). The requested operations meet both of these tests. Temporary operation of EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L will not cause harmful interference to any other U. S.-licensed satellite operator. Operating EchoStar 6 at these orbital locations instead of 1 10.2 W.L. would, if anything, reduce any potential for interference with DIRECTV 5 at 109.8' W.L. and any BSS satellites further east. In addition, the closest operational BSS satellites to the west of EchoStar 6's proposed location (except other EchoStar satellites) are two See Letter from Thomas S. Tycz, Chief, Satellite and Radio Communications Division, FCC, to David K. Moskowitz, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for EchoStar Satellite Corporation, at 2, dated Jan. 14, 2000 (granting authority to operate the EchoStar 4 satellite at 119.35' W.L., outside of the 119" W.L. cluster). 9 See, e.g., DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, DA-05-2654, Order and Authorization, File Nos. SAT-NO-20050504-00093 and SAT-STA-20050518-00105, at 1110,15-16 (rel. Oct. 5,2005) ("DIRECTV 6 STA").

DIRECTV satellites located at 119" W.L. Temporarily operating EchoStar 6 a mere 0.15" closer to 119" W.L. (and locating the satellite with only its TT&C beams operating a mere 0.2' closer) will not appreciably increase the interference experienced by the satellites located at that orbital location. This is demonstrated in the technical showing in Attachment A." The requested temporary operation of EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. for purposes of traffic transfer is also in the public interest because it will allow EchoStar to minimize disruptions of service to its existing customers that receive service from 110" W.L. as EchoStar 10 is brought into use at that location. Finally, EchoStar notes again that the International Bureau recently granted temporary authority to DIRECTV for a similar move for the same purpose, subject to certain conditions, which are acceptable to EchoStar." EchoStar accordingly seeks authority for a period of 30 days to move and temporarily operate EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. for the purposes of traffic transfer, subject to the following conditions : EchoStar shall coordinate all drift orbit operations with other potentially affected in- orbit operators. During relocation of the EchoStar 6 satellite, operations shall be on a non-harmful interference basis, meaning that EchoStar shall not cause interference to, and shall not claim protection from interference caused to it by any other lawfblly operating satellites. In the event that any harmful interference is caused as a result of operations during the relocation of the EchoStar 6 satellite, EchoStar shall cease operations immediately upon notification of such interference and shall inform the Commission immediately, in writing, of such event. The technical showing conservatively assumes the greater move of 0.2 degrees to lo 110.4' W.L. in light of the STA request simultaneously filed by EchoStar to move the satellite to 1 10.4" W.L. post-transition. See DIRECTV 6 STA at fTfT 15-16. 5

111. SECTION 304 WAIVER In accordance with Section 304 of the Communications Act of 1934,47 U.S.C. 0 304, EchoStar hereby waives any claim to the use of any particular frequency or of the electromagnetic spectrum because of the previous use of the same, whether by license or otherwise. IV. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, EchoStar respecthlly requests special temporary authority for a period of 30 days to move and temporarily operate EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. for traffic transfer purposes. Respectfully submitted, EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation Pantelis Michalopoulos David K. Moskowitz Chung Hsiang Mah Executive Vice President and General Counsel Steptoe & Johnson LLP EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation 1330 Connecticut Avenue N.W. 960 1 South Meridian Boulevard Washington, D.C. 20036 Englewood, CO 801 12 (202) 429-3000 (303) 723-1000 Counselfor EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation March 3,2006

ATTACHMENT A Technical Appendix Potential Interference Issues The Echostar-6 satellite operates in the frequency bands covered by Appendices 30 and 30A of the Radio Regulations. These bands are 12.2 - 12.7 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 17.3 - 17.8 GHz (Earth-to-space). Operational co-frequency satellites within 10 degrees of the 110"W orbital location, aside from Echostar's, are the DIRECTV DBS satellites at 101"W and 119"W." The result of the requested shift for the Echostar-6 satellite from 110.2"W to 110.35"W and then to 110.4"W provides a greater orbital separation from the DIRECTV satellites at the 101"W location and therefore there is no negative impact to these operations. With the proposed shift, the Echostar-6 satellite will move closer to the US-assigned 119"W orbital location where both EchoStar and DIRECTV satellites operate within a % 0.2 degree cluster. Currently, there are two operational satellites at the 1 19"W cluster - Echostar-7 located at I18.9"W and DIRECTV-7S located at 119.2"W. Currently the orbital separation between the Echostar-6 satellite and the DTRECTV-7S satellite is therefore nominally 9 degrees, or 8.9 degrees taking into account station-keeping tolerances of both satellites. With the requested shift of Echostar-6 to 110.35°W and then 110.4"W the orbital separation would be nominally 8.85 to 8.8 degrees, or 8.75 to 8.7 degrees taking into account the station-keeping tolerances of both satellites. Taking the worst case of EchoStar 6 at 110.4"W, the result of the shift in terms of receive earth station off-axis gain is a difference of less than 0.25 dB and the off-axis discrimination of the receiving earth station is still greater than 29 dB. Similarly the large feeder link earth stations used by EchoStar provide sufficient isolation at these orbital separations to prevent any uplink interference effects. Therefore, the proposed shift of Echostar-6 from 110.2"W to 110.35 and then to 110.4"W will result in negligible impact to the DIRECTV operations at the 1 19"W location. In addition to these operational satellites, a search using the ITU's on-line databases show there are several AP30/30A BSS filings at "tweener" orbital locations, e.g. 105.5"W and 114.5"W. There is no indication, however, that these satellites will be operational in the time-frame of the requested temporary operation of Echostar-6 satellite at the 110.35"W orbital location. At the 110.4 "W orbital location, the EchoStar 6 satellite will be closer to the 114.5"W orbital location. However, the EchoStar 6 satellite will not be providing service from this location so only its TT&C frequencies will be operating. If in the future ' Other operational co-frequency DBS satellites, e.g. the Canadian network at 91"W are further removed. The off-axis discrimination of the receive earth stations at separations greater than 10 degrees is 3 1 dB or greater (assuming an equivalent 45 cm dish antenna that meets ITU-R BO. 12 13 reference pattern). Thus, the requested shift of 0.2 degrees for the Echostar-6 satellite would have an even more attenuated impact on operations of DBS satellites operating more than 10 degrees away than what will be seen to be a negligible effect on the satellites at 119"W. 2 This annex covers both the proposed transitional operation of EchoStar 6 at 110.35' W.L. and the subsequent proposed temporary operation at 110.4" W.L. For simplicity, we will use the 110.4" W.L. position in this analysis.

a satellite is located at the 114.5"W orbital location, successful coordination of the TT&C frequencies should be possible given the narrow bandwidths and the larger earth station used by EchoStar for its TT&C operations. There are also many filings for use of the Region 2 17.3 - 17.8 GHz BSS downlink allocation. These satellites cannot be brought into use until 1 April 2007. Moreover, the issue with these networks is 17 GHz feeder link earth station interference into receiving earth stations, and this would be unaffected by the precise orbital location of the EchoStar 6 satellite. Similarly, there are FSS Ka- band filings that include the 17 GHz spectrum in the space-to-Earth direction. The ITU databases also includes FSS filings for the 12 GHz band in Regions 1 and 3. Because of the large geographic separation of the service areas the up to 0.2" shift of EchoStar 6 would not impact these networks either. Collision Avoidance Issues In considering current and planned satellites that may have a station-keeping volume that overlapping the Echostar-6 satellite's new proposed locations at 110.35"W and 110.4"W, we have reviewed the lists of FCC licensed satellite networks, as well as those that are currently under consideration by the FCC. In addition, non-USA networks for which a filing has been submitted to the ITU in the vicinity of 1 IO" W have also been reviewed. Only those networks that either operate, or are planned to operate, and have an overlapping station-keeping volume with the Echostar-6 satellite, have been taken into account in the analysis. For purposes of calculating potential station-keeping volume overlap, US satellites have been assumed to have a maximum east-west excursion of *0.05 from their nominal location, while non-US satellite networks have been assumed O to have a maximum excursion of *0.1" from their nominal location. Currently there are four operational US licensed satellites within k0.5"of 110"W.L. These are the DIRECTV-6 satellite at 109.5"W, the DIRECTV-5 satellite at 109.8"W, the Echostar-6 satellite at 110.2"W and the Echostar-8 satellite at 110.0"W. Additionally, EchoStar has requested authority to provide DBS service from the nominal 110" W.L. orbital position using the Echostar-10 satellite, and plans to locate the satellite at the 110.2' W.L. orbital location. Taking into account the maximum east-west excursion of *0.05", none of these satellites have the potential to overlap with the station-keeping volume of the Echostar-6 satellite at the 110.35"W or 110.4"W orbital locations. In addition to these operational satellites a review of the ITU on-line databases include the following non-USA filings at the 11O"W orbital location: EMARSAT-5B/M from the United Arab Emirates, INMARSAT-S7 from the United Kingdom and PAS- ENDEAVOUR-1 1OW from Australia. A review of the FAA Quarterly Launch Report does not indicate that these satellites will be launched in the near future. In addition to these filings there are US filings for Region 2 17 GHz BSS operations. The earliest these networks can be brought into use is 1 April 2007, however. It is noted that, with the assumed station-keeping maximum excursions stated above, there would be no overlapping station-keeping volume with the EchoStar 6 satellite at 1 10.35"W and 110.4"W orbital locations.

CERTIFICATION OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR PREPARING ENGINEERING INFORMATION I hereby declare under penalty of perjury that I am the technically qualified person responsible for preparation of the engineering information contained in the foregoing submission, that I am familiar with Part 25 of the Commission's rules, that I have either prepared or reviewed the engineering information submitted in this pleading, and that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. /SI Richard J. Barnett, PhD, BSc Telecomm Strategies, Inc. 6404 Highland Drive Chevy Chase, Maryland 208 15 (301) 656-8969 Dated: March 3,2006


Document Created: 2006-03-28 11:49:58
Document Modified: 2006-03-28 11:49:58
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