Attachment STA Request

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20100430-00088 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2010043000088_813886

April 30, 2010 Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C.. 20554 INTELSAT. Re: Request for Special Temporary Authority to De—Orbit the Galaxy 9 Satellite, Call Sign $2146 Dear Ms. Dortch: PanAmSat Licensee Corp. ("PanAmSat"), pursuant to Section 25.120 of the rules of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC" or "Commission"),‘ herein requests Special Temporary Authority ("STA"), beginning on May 15, 2010 and lasting for a period of thirty days, to de—orbit the Galaxy 9 satellite (Call Sign $2146) from its current location at $1.0° W.L.* and to perform telemetry, tracking and command ("TT&C") functions with Galaxy 9 during this maneuver. ‘ Grant of this STA is in the public interest. The Galaxy 9 satellite was launched _ in May 1996 and is nearing the end of its useful life. PanAmSat originally had planned to de—orbit the spacecraft on July 1, 2010. In order to provide additional margin for the de—orbit altitude, PanAmSat now seeks to commence de—orbiting the spacecraft sometime between May 15, 2010 and June 13, 2010. PanAmSat intends to de—orbit the Galaxy 9 satellite to a perigee 150 km above synchronous altitude. PanAmSat has reserved 2.5 kilograms of fuel for this purpose. To calculate the reserved fuel figure, PanAmSat used the "rocket equation" —i.e., it used the expected mass of the satellite at the end oflife and the required delta—velocity to achieve the desired orbit. PanAmSat has assessed the fuel gauging uncertainty and believes it has provided an adequate margin of fuel reserve to address the assessed uncertainty in the remaining propellant. As a satellite launched prior to March 18, 2002, the minimum perigee requirements for decommissioning set forth in Section 25.283(a) of the © Commission‘s rules do not apply to Galaxy 9.° . 147 C.F.R. § 25.120. 2 See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT—00465, File No. SAT—MOD—20070522—00072 (Aug. 10, 2007) (Public Notice). 347 C.F.R. § 25.283(d). . Intelsat Corporation 3400 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008—3006 USA www.intelsat.com T +1 202—944—6800 F+1 202—944—7898

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary April 30. 2010 _ Page 2 The de—orbit of Galaxy 9 will not cause any significant risk of harmful interference to other satellites. During the de—orbit, the satellite‘s communications payload will remain inactive and only the TT&C payload will operate. PanAmSat requests authority to operate the following TT&C frequencies: 4199.0 MHz (Horizontal and Vertical) and 4199.875 MHz (Horizontal and Vertical) (telemetry downlink) and 6424.5 MHz (Vertical) and 5925.5 MHz (Horizontal) (command uplink). These frequenc1es will be coordinated and will operate on a non—interference basis." Finally, consistent with Section 25.283(c), upon completion of de—orbit — maneuvers,all stored energy sources will be discharged by venting excess propellant, discharging batteries, relieving pressure vessels, and other appropriate measures. | For the reasons set forth herein, PanAmSat respectfully requests that the Commission expeditiously grant this request for special temporary authority to de—orbit the Galaxy 9 satellite. Sincerely, C_a Creo_ Susan H. Crandall > Assistant General Counsel Intelsat Corporation ‘ Ce: Bob Nelson Karl Kensinger Kathyrn Medley ‘ Stephen Duall f * See 47 C.F.R. § 25.283(b).


Document Created: 2019-04-20 20:21:27
Document Modified: 2019-04-20 20:21:27
© 2025 FCC.report
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FCC