Attachment Attachment A

This document pretains to SAT-STA-20131031-00127 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATSTA2013103100127_1018422

Attachment A GeoEye License Corp. Application for STA October 2013 Page 1 of 3 Description of Request for Special Temporary Authority GeoEye License Corp. (“GeoEye”) requests special temporary authority (“STA”) for up to 60 days to operate its non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO”) GeoEye-1 space station at an orbital altitude of 770 kilometers, which represents an 89 kilometer increase over the existing authorized altitude of 681 kilometers. 1 GeoEye-1 is one of two space stations comprising GeoEye’s non-geostationary satellite orbit (“NGSO”) Earth Exploration-Satellite Service (“EESS”) system authorized under Call Sign S2348. 2 GeoEye respectfully requests STA commencing on or before November 12, 2013 – the date on which the proposed GeoEye-1 altitude raise has been scheduled to take place. This request for STA is preparatory to an application that will be submitted at the earliest available opportunity requesting modification of the NGSO EESS constellation under Call Sign 2348 in two respects: (1) to request permanent authority to operate GeoEye-1 within an altitude range of between 590 and 830 kilometers but at a nominal altitude of 770 kilometers; and (2) to consolidate into a single constellation the space stations authorized to GeoEye under Call Signs S2348 and S2144 and the NGSO EESS space stations authorized to DG Consents Sub, Inc. (“DG Consents”) under Call Sign S2129. 3 GeoEye planned to submit this two-part modification in time to permit operations at the new nominal 770 kilometer orbital altitude by the scheduled November 12, 2013 implementation date. However, the nearly three-week long shutdown of the federal government unavoidably delayed that effort. Moreover, an erroneous “red light” designation of DG Consents as delinquent on an FCC regulatory fee payment – an error that took several days to correct – delayed the effort to seek consolidation of the GeoEye and DG Consents constellations. Consequently, GeoEye is submitting the instant request 1 See 47 C.F.R. § 25.120(b)(2). Although the application for permanent modification of license to implement this change in orbital altitude has not yet been filed, GeoEye expects that such an application will be filed within the next 15 days. 2 This application does not request any special temporary authority as to GeoEye-2, the second satellite comprising GeoEye’s NGSO EESS system. The license under Call Sign S2348 was granted in 1999 and initially authorized the operation of the OrbView-3 and OrbView-4 satellites. See SAT-LOA-19980203- 00012. OrbView-3 was successfully launched in 2003 and de-orbited in 2010; OrbView-4 failed to reach its intended orbit and was never put into operation. In 2005, GeoEye requested and received modification of its license to authorize the operation of the OrbView-5 satellite, which was launched in 2008 and later renamed GeoEye-1. See SAT-MOD-20050511-00097. GeoEye is a subsidiary of DigitalGlobe Inc. (“DigitalGlobe”) following the merger of DigitalGlobe and GeoEye’s then-parent company, GeoEye Inc., earlier this year. See SAT-T/C-20120817-00139. The transfer of control was consummated on January 31, 2013. 3 Like GeoEye, DG Consents is a subsidiary of DigitalGlobe. To permit the planned consolidation to take place, an application will first be filed requesting the pro-forma assignment to the two EESS space station licenses under Calls Signs S2144 and S2348 from GeoEye to DG Consents.

Attachment A GeoEye License Corp. Application for STA October 2013 Page 2 of 3 for STA in advance of the forthcoming request for permanent authority/consolidation in order to meet the planned November 12, 2013 date for the orbital raise. Operations of GeoEye-1 should not have any impact on other spectrum users. Indeed, the proposed increase in altitude will mean a reduction in power flux density (“PFD”) at the Earth’s surface. To the extent that the altitude change may make GeoEye’s EESS system more susceptible to interference, GeoEye commits not to claim any greater protection from harmful interference than it is entitled to claim with GeoEye- 1 at an orbital altitude of 681 kilometers. In support of its STA request, GeoEye provides the following technical specifications for the proposed new orbital altitude: 4 Schedule S The technical characteristics of the modified GeoEye-1 satellite are detailed in the Schedule S portion of this Application, a copy of which is included as Exhibit A hereto. GeoEye completed the Schedule S to the best of its ability and the limitations of the Commission’s software. However, certain data fields in Microsoft Access Database file would not accept GeoEye data, which, in turn, caused errors in the database. To rectify this, GeoEye was forced to input generic information into the electronic database file in order to maintain the integrity of the system. For example, tabs S6 (Service Area Characteristics) and S13 (Typical Emissions) are tailored to geostationary communication satellites and are not readily applicable to GeoEye’s low earth orbit remote sensing satellite. Generic data (e.g., zeroes) was therefore entered. Further, footnotes and comments are necessary to provide a complete and unambiguous data suite in some areas, such as tab S4 (Orbital Information Any discrepancies between the data in the electronic version of Schedule S and the version included in the print out in Exhibit A should be resolved in favor of the print version in Exhibit A. Link Budgets and Power Flux Density Calculation The modified satellite’s link budgets and PFD limits at the surface of the Earth are included as Exhibit B hereto. The PFD at the Earth’s surface produced by GeoEye-1 data 4 GeoEye does not include a showing on the orbital debris mitigation elements of Section 25.114(d)(14) of the Commission’s rules as such information is not relevant for an STA grant of 60-days’ duration. The existing orbital debris mitigation showing on record for GeoEye-1 will be revised as necessary in the forthcoming application requesting permanent authority to operate GeoEye-1 within the new altitude range.

Attachment A GeoEye License Corp. Application for STA October 2013 Page 3 of 3 and telemetry transmissions satisfy the PFD limits in Table 21-4 of the ITU Radio Regulations. 5 Predicted Gain Contours All radio frequency communications between the modified GeoEye space station and the U.S. will be via Remote Ground Terminals in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (Call Sign E040264), Fairbanks, Alaska (Call Sign E950499), and Dulles, Virginia (Call Sign E980375). Exhibit B hereto shows the predicted gain contours required by Section 25.114(d)(3) of the Commission’s rules at these three U.S. earth station sites. The Exhibit B showing depicts the contours from a 90° elevation angle. Public Interest Considerations The grant of this application will serve the public interest by permitting GeoEye to optimize its NGSO EESS constellation by increasing the area coverage of GeoEye-1, which will provide for a more consistent “revisit” time (i.e., the time between imaging opportunities available to GeoEye-1). The orbit raise will also place GeoEye-1 in the same orbital altitude as WorldView-2, a NGSO EESS space station licensed to DG Consents under Call Sign S2129. Operations of these two satellites in the same orbital altitude will allow for better coordinated imagery collection and decreased revisit times. The optimized service overall will in turn result in higher operational efficiencies and reduced customer costs. In summary, and on the basis of the information provided above, GeoEye respectfully requests, for a period of 60 days commencing on or before November 12, 2013. 5 Section 25.208 of the Commission’s Rules does not contain PFD limits at the Earth’s surface produced by emissions from NGSO EESS space stations operating in the 8025-8400 MHz band.

EXHIBIT A

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EXHIBIT B

GE1 370 Mbps DATA RATE DOWNLINK ANALYSIS Dulles, VA OQPSK Fo = 8.210 GHz Modulation 770 km Altitude DOWNLINK PARAMETERS: Frequency 8.21 GHz Orbit height in km 770 km Local elevation above hor. 5 degrees Data rate 370 Mbps Bandwidth (baseband) 185 MHz Spacecraft ant. EIRP at max scan 55.8 dBm Slant range 2718.88 km Ground ant. G/T 27.9 dB/K BER 5.00E-04 Required Eb/No (without coding) 8.3 dB Hardware imp. BER loss -2.5 dB LINK CALCULATION: TOTAL POWER TO GROUND: Satellite EIRP 55.8 dBm Path loss -179.4 dB Total loss (rain, polarization, etc.) -3.8 dB RECEIVER SENSITIVITY: Required Eb/No 8.3 dB Available Eb/No 10.0 dB DOWNLINK MARGIN 1.7 dB ANTENNA SIZES: Spacecraft Antenna Segment Spacecraft dish diameter 19.7 inches Approx. HPBW 9.0 degrees Gain of spacecraft antenna 26.0 dBic Loss between HPA out and ant. output -9.0 dB Transmitter Po 7.5 watts EIRP of satellite system 55.8 dBm -2-

Ground Antenna Segment Ground antenna G/T 27.9 dB/K System noise temperature 171.6 K (referenced at aperture) Directivity gain ground antenna 52.3 dBic Ground dish diameter 5.4 meters Approx. HPBW 0.5 degrees -3-

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GE-1 TELEMETRY DOWNLINK NADIR ANTENNA FREQUENCY 8.394 GHz WAVELENGTH 0.04 METERS 5 DEG SLANT POWER 2.0 WATTS RANGE 2718.88 KM ALTITUDE 770.0 KM DATA RATE 59.7 KBPS MARGIN DATA 4.5 dB ANTENNA: NADIR PARAMETER UNITS VALUE TOTAL TRANSMIT POWER dBm 33.0 PASSIVE LOSS dB -15.5 S/C ANTENNA GAIN > +/-108 DEG dBic 0.0 FREE SPACE DISPERSION LOSS dB -179.6 ATMOSPHERIC LOSS dB -2.9 GROUND STATION G/T dB/K 27.6 TOTAL RECEIVED POWER/T dBm/K -137.4 BOLTZMANN CONSTANT dBm/Hz-K -198.6 TOTAL RECEIVED POWER/KT dB-Hz 61.2 DATA CHANNEL DATA POWER/KT dB-Hz 61.2 INFORMATION RATE 32 KBPS dB-Hz 47.8 AVAILABLE S/N dB 13.4 REQUIRED Eb/No 1.00E-6 BER dB 13.1 CODING GAIN dB 4.2 AVAILABLE SIGNAL MARGIN dB 4.5 -5-

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GE-1 COMMAND UPLINK OMNI ANTENNA NOMINAL DigitalGlobe FREQUENCY 2.0920000 GHz UPLINK 51.3 dBW EIRP WAVELENGTH 0.14 METERS 5 DEG SLANT ALTITUDE 770.0 KM RANGE 2718.9 KM DATA RATE 64 KBPS CMD MOD INDEX 1.57 RAD MARGIN 5.7 dB ANTENNA: OMNI NOMINAL +/- 75 DEG PARAMETER UNIT VALUE UPLINK EIRP dBW 51.3 FREE SPACE DISPERSION LOSS dB -167.5 POINTING LOSS dB 0.0 ATMOSPHERIC LOSS dB -1.1 S/C ANTENNA GAIN < +/- 75 DEG dBi -10.0 POLARIZATION LOSS dB -0.5 S/C LINE LOSS dB -4.7 TOTAL S/C RECEIVED POWER dBm -102.6 SYSTEM TEMPERATURE dB-K 29.7 G/T dB/K -39.7 RECEIVED C/N0 dB-Hz 66.4 1.00E- REQUIRED BIT ERROR RATE 06 RECEIVED EB/N0 dB 18.3 IMPLEMENTATION LOSS dB -2 REQUIRED EB/N0 dB 10.6 MARGIN dB 5.7 -7-

EXHIBIT C

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TECHNICAL CERTIFICATE I, Jeff Culwell, hereby certify, under penalty of perjury, that I am the technically qualified person responsible for the preparation of the engineering information contained in the technical portions of the foregoing request for special temporary authority and the related attachments, that I am familiar with Part 25 of the Commission’s Rules, and that the technical information is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief. Jeff Culwell /s/ Jeff Culwell VP Operations DigitalGlobe, Inc. Dated October 31, 2013


Document Created: 2013-10-31 15:25:35
Document Modified: 2013-10-31 15:25:35
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