Attachment Exhibit A

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20110318-00057 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2011031800057_876564

EXHIBIT A DG Consents Sub, Inc. Request for STA March 18, 2011 Narrative Description DG Consents Sub, Inc. (“DigitalGlobe”) hereby requests special temporary authorization, on a pre-grant basis commencing March 22, 2011, to increase the orbit of its QuickBird satellite as it has proposed in its pending modification of license application (File No. SAT-MOD- 20101122-00243) (“Modification Application”). In the Modification Application, DigitalGlobe proposes to increase the orbital altitude of its QuickBird satellite, the longest-operating satellite in its three-satellite non-geostationary satellite orbit (“non-GSO”) Earth Exploration-Satellite Service (“EESS”) system, to 496 kilometers from its present altitude of 450 kilometers. With this 46 kilometer increase in the orbital altitude of the near-circular QuickBird satellite, the mission life of the spacecraft can be extended by more than one year. This is significant, as QuickBird was launched in 2001, and has been the cornerstone of DigitalGlobe’s constellation for nearly a decade. If DigitalGlobe is to take advantage of the life-extending benefits of an increase in orbit altitude for QuickBird, however, it needs to begin orbit-raising maneuvers as soon as possible, and preferably on or about March 22, 2011. The Modification Application was accepted for filing in early December, and no comments were filed in response to the public notice. DigitalGlobe informed the Commission in the Modification Application that it had provided information pertaining to post-mission disposal of QuickBird in relation to the new orbit parameters to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”), and that it expected favorable action by NOAA under the applicable NOAA regulations. NOAA has now approved the change in DigitalGlobe’s post- mission disposal plans for QuickBird (referred to by NOAA as “QuickBird 2”). See Letter dated March 3, 2011, from Mary E. Kizca, Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, NOAA, to Alison Alfers, DigitalGlobe Inc., NOAA File: DG-2010-A15. DigitalGlobe incorporates by reference all of the technical showings it made in the Modification Application (both on Form 312, Schedule S and in Exhibit 43), and confirms that operation under this STA will not vary from what it proposed there. In recognition of the fact that the incorporated technical plan of the Modification Application that DigitalGlobe would use for the STA has been accepted for filing and placed on public notice, DigitalGlobe hereby seeks a 60-day STA to conduct orbit-raising and operate QuickBird at its new orbit – on a non-harmful interference basis and at its own risk – pending final action on the Modification Application. The public interest will be advanced by extension of the life of QuickBird and continued provision of the services that DigitalGlobe has provided over QuickBird since 2001. For these reasons, DigitalGlobe respectfully requests a pre-grant STA for its Modification Application in File No. SAT-MOD-20101122-00243, and asks that the STA be issued effective March 22, 2011 and run for 60 days or until the Modification Application is granted.


Document Created: 2011-03-18 16:36:59
Document Modified: 2011-03-18 16:36:59
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