Attachment STA Request

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20110126-00016 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2011012600016_862589

January 26, 2011 Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Re: Request for Special Temporary Authority for Galaxy 15, Call Sign S2387 Dear Ms. Dortch: Intelsat License LLC1 (“Intelsat”) herein requests Special Temporary Authority (“STA”)2 for seven days, from January 31, 2011 through February 6, 2011, to operate the communications payload on Galaxy 15 at 93.0° W.L. in the event that Intelsat decides to conduct further testing of the satellite. As the Commission is aware, on April 5, 2010, the Galaxy 15 satellite suffered an anomaly of unknown origin. Due to this anomaly, the satellite drifted outside of its authorized +/- 0.05º East/West station-keeping box pursuant to STA.3 1 The licenses previously held by PanAmSat Licensee Corp. recently have been assigned to Intelsat License LLC. See Letter from Jennifer Hindin to Marlene H. Dortch, Notification of Consummation of Pro Forma Assignment and Transfer of Control and Name Change, File Nos. SES-ASG-20101203- 01501, SES-ASG-20101206-01502, SES-T/C-20101203-01503, SES-ASG- 20101203-01504, SES-ASG-20101206-01512, SAT-ASG-20101203-00251, SAT-ASG-20101203-00252, SAT-T/C-20101203-00253, SAT-T/C-20101203- 00254, and 0004520968 (filed Jan. 18, 2011). 2 Intelsat has filed this STA request, an FCC Form 159 and an $830.00 filing fee electronically via the International Bureau’s Filing System. 3 See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00750, File No. SAT-STA-20101228-00268 (Jan. 14, 2011) (Public Notice); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00741, File No. SAT- STA-20101129-00248 (Dec. 3, 2010) (Public Notice); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00735, File No. SAT-STA- 20101029-00227 (Nov. 5, 2010) (Public Notice); Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00727, File No. SAT-STA- 20100929-00203 (Oct. 8, 2010); Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00720, File No. SAT-STA- 20100830-00185 (Sep. 10, 2010) (Public Notices); See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00715, File No. SAT-STA-20100803-00172 (Aug. 13, 2010) (Public Notice); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00706,

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch January 26, 2011 Page 2 On December 23, 2010, Galaxy 15 lost Earth lock, all power drained from its battery, and the command unit reset, as it was designed to do.4 Shortly thereafter, Galaxy 15 began accepting commands and Intelsat began receiving telemetry from the satellite. The satellite initially was placed in Sun acquisition mode for diagnostic testing. On December 27, 2010, after the spacecraft’s batteries were fully charged and the satellite was thermally balanced, Galaxy 15 was placed in Earth acquisition mode. Currently, Galaxy 15 is located at 93.0° W.L. where it is collocated with Intelsat’s Galaxy 25, which is operated at 93.10° W.L. Intelsat has been conducting tests to determine the functionality of every aspect of the satellite.5 Intelsat herein seeks further authority in the event that it or its customers wish to conduct additional testing while the satellite is located at 93.0° W.L. The specific communications frequencies that will be utilized at 93.0° W.L. are as follows: 3700-4200 MHz (space-to-Earth) 5952-6425 MHz (Earth-to-space) To the extent Intelsat conducts further tests of Galaxy 15 at 93.0° W.L., it will coordinate the testing with all operators of satellites operating co-frequency up to six degrees away from 93.0° W.L. Specifically, Intelsat will coordinate the proposed testing with StarOne, which operates Brazilsat B2 at 92.0° W.L.; Inmarsat, which operates Inmarsat 4F3 at 98.1° W.L.; and SES AMERICOM, Inc., which operates AMC-3 at 87.0° W.L. In addition, Intelsat will internally coordinated the proposed testing with the following of its satellites: Galaxy 25 File No. SAT-STA-20100628-00149 (Jul 9, 2010) (Public Notice); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00698, File No. SAT- STA-20100601-00118 (Jun. 11, 2010) (Public Notice); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00687, File No. SAT-STA- 20100430-00087 (May 7, 2010); Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00682, File No. SAT-STA-20100409-00071 (Apr. 16, 2010) (Public Notice). 4 The satellite’s communications payload had earlier shut off as a result of power loss. 5 See Policy Branch Information; Actions Taken, Report No. SAT-00751, File No. SAT-STA-20110107-00007 (Jan. 21, 2011) (Public Notice).

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch January 26, 2011 Page 3 (call sign $2154) at 93.10° W.L., Galaxy 3C (call sign $2381) at 95.05° W.L., Galaxy 19 (call sign $2647) at 97.0° W.L., Galaxy 16 at (call sign $2687) at ©99.0° W.L., Galaxy 17 (call sign $2715) at 91.0° W.L., and Galaxy 28 (call sign $2160) at 89.0° W.L. In the unlikely event that harmful interference occurs, Intelsat will take all necessary steps to eliminate the interference. Grant of this STA request will allow Intelsat to further assess the health of Galaxy 15 following the loss and subsequent recovery of ability to command the satellite. Assuming.a successful outcome to the testing, this will in turn — help Intelsat return the satellite to commercial operation at either 129° W.L or 133° W.L., thereby serving the public interest. For the reasons set forth herein, Intelsat respectfully requests that the Commission expeditiously grant this STA request. Sincerely, Susan H. Crandall Assistant General Counsel Intelsat Corporation ce: Robert Nelson Karl Kensinger | Kathyrn Medley Stephen Duall


Document Created: 2011-01-26 16:12:14
Document Modified: 2011-01-26 16:12:14
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