Attachment Legal Narrative

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20120710-00113 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2012071000113_959114

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Application of ) ) SES AMERICOM, INC. ) File No. SAT-STA-____________ ) Call Sign S2134 For Special Temporary Authority to ) Relocate AMC-2 to 19.0° E.L. ) APPLICATION SES Americom, Inc. (“SES Americom,” doing business as “SES”) respectfully requests special temporary authority (“STA”), for a period of sixty days beginning on or about July 25, 2012, to relocate the AMC-2 C/Ku-band hybrid satellite from the nominal 5° E.L. to the nominal 19.2° E.L. orbital location, where the satellite would operate under the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) filings of the Luxembourg administration. Specifically, SES seeks temporary authority to perform C-band Telemetry, Tracking and Control (“TT&C”) in order to relocate AMC-2 from 4.98° E.L. to 19.0° E.L. (+/- 0.1 degrees) and to begin providing Ku-band frequencies from that location, pending the grant of long-term authority for the proposed operations. Grant of the requested authority will serve the public interest by allowing SES to redeploy AMC-2 to an existing SES location where it can expand Ku-band service to Southern Africa. I. BACKGROUND SES has filed a modification application to reassign AMC-2 to 19.0º E.L. for operations in accordance with the ITU filings of the Luxembourg Administration.1 Pending 1 See SES Americom, Inc., File No. SAT-MOD-20120524-00087 (filed May 24, 2012; on public notice June 22, 2012) (“AMC-2 Modification Application”).

action on the modification, SES seeks an STA to allow it to commence relocation of AMC-2 to 19.0º E.L. If authorized to redeploy AMC-2, SES will do so at its own risk and understands that such authority would be without prejudice to any action the Commission ultimately may make regarding the application to reassign AMC-2 to 19.0° E.L. As discussed herein, grant of the requested authority is consistent with Commission precedent2 and will serve the public interest. AMC-2 is a hybrid C/Ku-band satellite that was launched in 1997 and currently operates pursuant to FCC authority at the nominal 5° E.L. location under the ITU filings of Sweden.3 The satellite will soon be replaced by the SES-5 satellite, which was launched on July 9, 2012. SES Americom’s commonly-owned affiliate SES ASTRA S.A. (“ASTRA”) operates a number of satellites at the nominal 19.2° E.L. position pursuant to Luxembourg authority and is seeking to expand service from that orbital location. The proposed relocation of AMC-2 to the nominal 19.2° E.L. orbital location (specifically, at 19.0° to simplify station-keeping with other ASTRA satellites at that orbital location) will allow SES to begin offering Ku-band service from that location to Southern Africa. No customers of AMC-2 at the nominal 5° E.L. will be adversely affected by the proposed relocation. II. GRANT OF THE REQUESTED STA WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST Grant of the requested authority to relocate and operate AMC-2 will serve the public interest and is consistent with Commission precedent. The Commission has repeatedly observed that its policy is to allow “satellite operators to rearrange satellites in their fleet to 2 The Commission has routinely authorized operators to commence relocation of a satellite pending a request to reassign the satellite. See, e.g., Intelsat License LLC, Call Sign S2469, File No. SAT-STA-20110314-00053 (grant-stamped June 10, 2011) (authorizing Intelsat to drift Galaxy 26 from 50.75° E.L. to 50.0° E.L. pending action on the related modification application to reassign the satellite). 3 See File Nos. SAT-MOD-20111025-00209 (grant-stamped Feb. 24, 2012). 2

reflect business and customer considerations where no public interest factors are adversely affected.”4 As the International Bureau has explained: the Commission attempts, when possible, to leave spacecraft design decisions to the space station licensee because the licensee is in a better position to determine how to tailor its system to meet the particular needs of its customers. Consequently the Commission will generally grant a licensee’s request to modify its system, provided there are no compelling countervailing public interest considerations.5 Pursuant to this policy, the Commission has routinely authorized satellite operators to configure or reconfigure their fleets in order to satisfy customer demand, including demand for capacity outside the U.S.6 Here, the proposed relocation of AMC-2 will allow SES 4 SES Americom, Inc., Order and Authorization, DA 06-757 (IB rel. Apr. 7, 2006) at 4, ¶ 8, citing Amendment of the Commission’s Space Station Licensing Rules and Policies, Second Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 12507, 12509, ¶ 7 (2003). 5 AMSC Subsidiary Corp., Order and Authorization, DA 98-493, 13 FCC Rcd 12316 (IB 1998) (“AMSC Modification Order”) at 12318, ¶ 8 (footnote omitted). Although AMSC never implemented the relocation authorized in this case, the Commission has repeatedly reaffirmed its policy of allowing licensees to change their fleet configurations to accommodate customer requirements. See, e.g., Space Station Licensing Rules and Policies, First Reconsideration Order and Fifth Report and Order, FCC 04-147, 19 FCC Rcd 12637, 12653, ¶ 39 (“we generally permit licensees to modify their systems to adapt to changing business and customer needs,” citing AMSC Modification Order and other cases). 6 See, e.g., Afrispace, Inc., Order and Authorization, DA 06-4, 21 FCC Rcd 7 (IB 2006) (authorizing launch and operation of AfriStar-2 satellite for service to Africa and Europe from 21° E.L.); Assignment of Orbital Locations to Space Stations in the Ka-Band, Order, DA 96-708 (IB 1996) (assigning 33 orbital locations between 62° W.L. and 175.25° E.L. to 13 Ka-band applicants, finding that the public interest would be served by authorizing international operations pending the development of policies for Ka-band satellite service within the U.S.); Intelsat North America LLC, Call Sign S2159, File No. SAT-T/C-20100112-00009 (“Galaxy 27 Relicensing Application”), grant-stamped July 30, 2010 (authorizing Intelsat to relocate Galaxy 27 from 129° W.L. to 45.10° E.L.); PanAmSat Licensee Corp., Call Sign S2253, File No. SAT- MOD-20080225-00051, grant-stamped July 22, 2008 (authorizing relocation of Galaxy 11 from 91° W.L. to 32.80° E.L. in order to supplement service provided there by Intelsat 802, which had suffered an anomaly that reduced its available power); AMSC Modification Order (authorizing AMSC to relocate its satellite away from 101° W.L. in order to provide service to southern Africa). 3

to make efficient use of AMC-2 in order to expand the capacity available from the nominal 19.2° E.L. orbital location to include Southern Africa. As explained in SES’s pending modification application, reassignment of AMC-2 to 19.0º E.L. will not adversely affect other operators. The proposed stationkeeping volume will not overlap with that of any other spacecraft. SES will operate only the TT&C frequencies of AMC-2 during the drift.7 SES will follow standard industry practices for coordination of TT&C transmissions during the relocation process. Once AMC-2 arrives at the nominal 19.2º E.L. orbital location, SES will operate AMC-2’s Ku-band payload and C-band TT&C frequencies consistent with the ITU satellite network filings of Luxembourg and all associated coordination agreements. A full technical description and interference analysis of AMC-2’s proposed operations at 19.0° E.L. can be found in SES’s pending modification application.8 SES 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. § 862. SES 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. 7 The AMC-2 TT&C frequencies are as follows: Command: 6423.5 MHz (horizontal polarization; uplink) Telemetry: 3700.5 MHz (horizontal polarization; downlink), 4199.5 MHz (vertical polarization; downlink), and 12198.0 MHz (vertical polarization; downlink). 8 See AMC-2 Modification Application, Technical Appendix & Schedule S. 4

For the foregoing reasons, SES respectfully requests a 60-day STA to relocate AMC-2 from 4.98º E.L. to 19.0º E.L. beginning on or about 25 July 2012, and to operate the satellite’s Ku-band payload upon its arrival at 19.0º E.L. Respectfully submitted, SES AMERICOM, INC. By: /s/ Daniel C. H. Mah Daniel C. H. Mah Regulatory Counsel SES Americom, Inc. 1129 20th Street NW, Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20036 Dated: July 10, 2012 5


Document Created: 2012-07-10 17:17:13
Document Modified: 2012-07-10 17:17:13
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