Attachment grant

grant

DECISION submitted by IB,FCC

grant

2008-04-04

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20080311-00067 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2008031100067_633791

GRANlED Date & Time Filed: Mar 11 2008 7: 14:07:640PM File Number: SAT-STA-200803 11-00067 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: AMC-4 S2135 STA REQUEST MAR 2008 1. Applicant Name: SES Americom, Inc. Phone Number: 609-987-4000x4187 DBA Name: Fax Number: 609-987-423 3 Street: 4 Research Way E-Mail: nancy.eskenazi@ses-americom. corn City: Princeton State: NJ Country: USA Zipcode: 08540 - Attention: Ms Nancy J Eskenazi

Attachment File No. SAT-STA-20080311-00067 Call Sign: S2135 April 4,2008 SES Americom, I n c h request for special temporary authority, File No. SAT- STA-2008031 1-00067, IS GRANTED, and SES Americom IS AUTHORIZED, for a period starting on April 4,2008 and ending on June 3,2008, to operate the AMC-4 satellite (Call Sign S2 135) within a station-keeping range of 0.15 degrees of longitude between 100.90" W.L. and 101.05" W.L., in accordance with the terms, conditions, and technical specifications set forth in the application for special temporary authority, this Attachment, and the Federal Communication Commission's rules. 1. Operation pursuant to this temporary authorization shall be consistent with the terms of frequency coordination agreements concerning operation of the AMC-4 space station and adjacent satellites. 2. This grant of temporary authority is without prejudice to disposition of SES Americom's pending application for modification of the space-station license for AMC-4 (File No. SAT-MOD-20080314-00072). Any action taken or expense incurred as a result of operations pursuant to this special temporary authority is solely at SES Americom's own risk. Call Sign 3f Grant Date vf & (or other identifier) Tern Dates GRANTED From TO: e C 64; &J 4s International Bureau

2. Contact Name: Karis A. Hastings Phone Number: (202) 637-5767 Company: Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. Fax Number: (202) 637-5910 Street: 555 Thirteenth Street, NW E-Mail: KAHastings@HHLaw.com City: Washington State: DC Country: USA Zipcode: 20004 -1109 Attention: Relationship: Legal Counsel (If your application is related to an application filed with the Commission, enter either the file number or the IB Submission ID of the related application. Please enter only one.) 3. Reference File Number or Submission ID 4a. Is a fee submitted with this application? IfYes, complete and attach FCC Form 159. If No, indicate reason for fee exemption (see 47 C.F.R.Section 1.1114). 0 Governmental Entity Q Noncommercial educational licensee 0 Other(p1ease explain): 4b. Fee Classification CRY - Space Station (Geostationary) 5. Type Request Q Change Station Location Q Extend Expiration Date Other 5. Temporary Orbit Location 7. Requested Extended Expiration Date 2

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 Attachment 1 I I 9. By checking Yes, the undersigned certifies that neither applicant nor any other party to the application is subject e Yes 0 No to a denial of Federal benefits that includes FCC benefits pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Act of 1988, 2 1 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 "party to the application" for these purposes. 10. Name of Person Signing 11. Title of Person Signing Nancy J. Eskenazi Vice President and Associate General Counsel I 12. Please supply any need attachments. Attachment 1: Attachment 1 Attachment 2: Attachment 3: WILLFUL FALSE STATEMENTSMADE ON THIS FORM ARE PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND / OR IMPRISONMENT (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001), AND/OR REVOCATION OF ANY STATION AUTHORIZATION (U.S. Code, Title 47, Section 3 12(a)(l)), 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 Application of ) ) SES AMERICOM, INC. ) File No. SAT-STA- ) For Special Temporary Authority to Operate ) AMC-4 with Expanded Stationkeeping at 101”W.L. ) EXPEDITED ACTION REQUESTED APPLICATION OF SES AMERICOM, INC. SES Americom, Inc. (“SES Americom”) hereby respectfhlly requests special temporary authority for a period of up to sixty days for operations of the AMC-4 satellite at the nominal 101” W.L. orbital location as described herein pending action on its underlying application for regular authority. Specifically, SES Americom seeks authority to operate AMC-4 within its own assigned stationkeeping volume and within the adjacent stationkeeping volume proposed for AMC-2. Grant of the requested authority will serve the public interest by giving SES Americom the flexibility to operate AMC-2 and AMC-4 in formation within a total 0.15 degree EastjWest stationkeeping volume. This method of joint operation will optimize fuel efficiency and enhance SES Americom’s ability to ensure the availability of back-up capacity for AMC-4, which has experienced a number of solar array circuit failures. SES Americom currently operates AMC-4 at 101” W.L. in the C-, Ku- and extended Ku-bands. For the past year, however, the power available on AMC-4 has been decreasing due to failures affecting circuits on the satellite’s solar arrays. Initially, isolated failures occurred that did not affect the spacecraft’s overall performance. However, in recent months the failures have increased, and currently eight of the satellite’s twenty-four solar array

circuits are not providing power to the spacecraft. In order to decrease the load on the satellite, one transponder that was not in use for customer service has been turned off. SES Americom has projected that additional transponders would need to be turned off in the second quarter of 2008 if current conditions continued. To ensure that capacity is available to avoid service interruptions, SES Americom applied to reassign AMC-2 to 101" W.L. and collocate it there with AMC-4. See File No. SAT- MOD-20080 124-00030 ("AMC-2 Modification"). Pursuant to special temporary authority granted in File No. SAT-STA-20080214-00046, AMC-2 is now being drifted to 101" W.L. and is scheduled to arrive at that location by March 13. In order to accommodate SES Americom's need to relocate AMC-2 to 101" W.L., Mobile Satellite Ventures ("MSV"), which is authorized to operate MSAT-2 at 100.95"W.L., agreed to seek reassignment to 101.3" W.L. MSV has been granted special temporary authority to move MSAT-2 to 101.3" W.L. (File No. SAT-STA-20080221-00050, granted Feb. 28,2008), and has an application pending for permanent reassignment of the spacecraft (File No. SAT- MOD-20080303-00055). Relocation of MSAT-2 creates additional unoccupied stationkeeping volume adjacent to AMC-4's current assignment at 101.O" W.L. +/-.05 degrees. To optimize the efficiency of the joint operations of AMC-2 and AMC-4 once AMC-2 arrives at the nominal 101" W.L. orbital location, SES Americom would like the ability to operate both AMC-2 and AMC-4 in formation, with the joint stationkeeping volume bounded by 100.90"W.L. to the East and 101.05" W.L. to the West. Accordingly, SES Americom is amending the AMC-2 Modification to seek assignment of AMC-2 to 100.95" W.L. and to request that AMC-2 be authorized to operate within its proposed stationkeeping volume as well as within the adjacent 2

stationkeeping volume of AMC-4. SES Americom is also requesting special temporary authority for AMC-2 operations consistent with the amendment. In addition, SES Americom is preparing an application for modification of the AMC-4 license to allow operation of the spacecraft both within its own assigned stationkeeping volume at 101.O" W.L. +/-.05 degrees and within the proposed assigned stationkeeping volume for AMC-2 at 100.95" W.L. +/-.05 degrees. Pending action on that modification, SES Americom seeks temporary authority to permit AMC-4 within this combined stationkeeping volume, which is bounded by 100.90" W.L. and 101.05" W.L. Grant of the requested authority will serve the public interest by facilitating efficient operation of AMC-2 and AMC-4 and will not adversely affect any other authorized operator. As described in the AMC-2 Modification, relocation of AMC-2 to the nominal 101" W.L. orbital location is required in order to ensure that capacity is available to decrease the load on AMC-4 given its solar array circuit failures. Flying AMC-2 and AMC-4 in formation within a total stationkeeping volume of 0.15 degrees will result in fuel savings that will extend the time during which AMC-2 can provide back-up for AMC-4. The proposed stationkeeping volume of AMC-4 does not overlap with that of any spacecraft other than AMC-2. DIRECTV holds Commission licenses for operations in the adjacent positions on either side of the requested AMC-4 stationkeeping volume. Specifically, D-8 is assigned to operate at 100.85"W.L. +/-.05 degrees, and D-9S is assigned to operate at 101.1" W.L. +/-.05 degrees. Thus, DIRECTV does not operate in the stationkeeping volume between 100.90"W.L. and 101.05"W.L. within which SES Americom seeks to operate AMC-4. As discussed above, MSV has been authorized to move MSAT-2 to 101.3" W.L. 3

Furthermore, the operation of AMC-4 within the full proposed stationkeeping volume will not result in harmful interference to adjacent operations. The nearest operational FSS C/Ku-band satellites to 101" W.L. are Intelsat's Galaxy 16 at 99" W.L. and SES Americom's AMC-1 at 103" W.L. The small proposed shift in AMC-4's operation to include the stationkeeping volume between 100.90" W.L. and 100.95" W.L. will have a de minimis effect on the interference environment in which adjacent satellites operate. As discussed above, joint operation of AMC-4 and AMC-2 at the nominal 101" W.L. orbital location is necessary due to events beyond SES Americom's control in order to avoid potential interruptions of service for AMC-4 customers. The Commission has consistently recognized that ensuring continuity of service is an important public interest objective? The requested special temporary authority will allow AMC-4 to operate in formation with AMC-2 in the stationkeeping volume bounded by 100.90"W.L. and 101.05" W.L. and will serve the public interest by permitting SES Americom to optimize use of its satellite assets and respond to the unanticipated technical problems with the AMC-4 solar arrays. SES Americom hereby certifies that no party to this application is subject to a denial of federal benefits pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988'21 U.S.C. €j862. 1 See, e.g., DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, Request for Special Temporary Authority to Conduct Telemetry, Tracking and Control During the Relocation of DIRECTV 1 to the 72.5" W.L. Orbital Location, Order and Authorization, DA 05- 1890 (Sat. Div. rel. July 14, 2005) at 7 18 (granting STA to relocate spacecraft to a location where it will replace a satellite with failing solar panels "will enable DIRECTV to maintain continuity of DBS service to its customers"); DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, Application for Authorization to Operate DIRECTV 5, a Direct Broadcast Satellite, at the 109.8" W.L. Orbital Location, Order and Authorization, DA 05-2654 (Sat. Div. rel. Oct. 5,2005) at 7 8 ("DIRECTV's proposal to provide DBS service from this location will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity in that it will ensure continuity of service to DIRECTV subscribers"). 4

SES Americom waives any claim to the use of any particular frequency or of the electromagnetic spectrum as against the regulatory power of the United States because of the previous use of the same, whether by license or otherwise, and requests an authorization in accordance with this application. For the foregoing reasons, SES Americom seeks temporary authority for a period of up to 60 days to permit operation of AMC-4 within its assigned stationkeeping volume and within the adjacent stationkeeping volume proposed for AMC-2 as well. Respectfully submitted, SES Americom, Inc. By: /s/ Nancy J. Eskenazi Nancy J. Eskenazi Of Counsel Vice President and Peter A. Rohrbach Associate General Counsel Karis A. Hastings SES Americom, Inc. Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. Four Research Way Washington, D.C. 20004- 1109 Princeton, NJ 08540 Tel: (202) 637-5600 Dated: March 11, 2008 5


Document Created: 2008-04-04 17:26:10
Document Modified: 2008-04-04 17:26:10
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