Attachment Supplement

This document pretains to SES-STA-20080331-00372 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2008033100372_649674

                               LEVENTHAL SENTER & LERMAN PLLC



                                                June 19, 2008


Stemen D. Brauce                                                                                           EMAL
 (200) #16—6782                                                                                      SBARUCH@LSLLAW.COM




  DELIVERY                                                       FILED/ACCEPTED
  Marlene H. Dorcth                                                     JUN 19 2008
  ScCrCl’dl‘y                                                    Rederal Commatacations Commission
  Federal Communications Commission                                    Office of the Secretary
  445 Twelfth Street, S.W.
  Washington, D.C. 20554

                            Re:     Applications of Northrop Grumman Space & Mission
                                    Systems Corporation for Special Temporary Authority,
                                    File Nos. SES—SAT—20080331—00371 through —00374

  Dear Ms. Dortch:

          In this letter, Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation ("NGST")
  addresses twoaspects of its pending, above—referenced requests for special temporary authority
  ("STA") to operate receive—only earth stations for demonstration purposes with a non—U.S.—
  licensed spacecraft that transmits in the 8025—8400 MHz earth—exploration satellite service
  ("EESS") band. First, and at the request of the Commission‘s International Bureau, NGST has
  contacted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA") Jet Propulsion
  Laboratory ("JPL") to informally coordinate the operations that NGST proposes in the above—
  referenced STA requests to conduct through its proposed receive—only earth stations in the 8025—
  8400 MHz EESS band, and identifies the conditions on such operations that are now agreed
  between NGST and NASA/JPL. Second, NGST addresses the impact of changes in the
  demonstration schedule that will delay the onset of the demonstration beyond the originally—
  proposed July 1 — August 15, 2008 commencement window.

  Coordination with NASA/JPL:

             As a result of the discussions, JPL has identified a series of operating conditions that
  would apply to three of the four earth station locations that are the subject of NGST‘s STA
  requests. These proposed conditions are identified by JPL on page 3 of the attached document,
  "NASA/JPL Response to NGST STA Request." Specifically, JPL indicates that:

              1. No conditions are required for the proposed NGST earth station in Honolulu, Hawaii;


Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
June 19, 2008
Page 2


         2. Operation of the proposed NGST earth station in Duluth, Georgia should be
            conditioned on the use by NGST of a 30—degree elevation angle mask;

         3. Operation ofthe proposed NGST earth stations in Redondo Beach, California and
            Irving. Texas should be subject to the conditions (i) that only the center frequency of
            8150 MHz on the subject satellite is to be used; and (ii) that receive operations
            should occur only when the angle of the ground station to the satellite is greater than
            or equal to 20 degrees.

        NGST has reviewed the analysis provided by JPL, and agrees to restrict the operation of
the Duluth, Redondo Beach, and Irving earth stations in the manner described by JPL. All other
operations would be as technically proposed in the subject NGST STA requests.

Change to NGST Demonstration Timetable:

         NGST offers the following update to information regarding its proposed timetable of
operations. In the STA requests, NGST proposed that the Commission grant the STAs for a
period of 30 consecutive days, to commence between July 1, 2008 and August 15, 2008, the
precise dates of which NGST was to provide in writing to the Commission no fewerthan 3
business days ahead of the term‘s commencement. NGST hereby reiterates its intention to have
the STAs run for a 30—day period commencing on a minimum of 3 business days‘ notice.
However, due to the complexity of arrangements with the operator of the non—U.S. licensed
satellite whose signals NGST would receive, and issues regarding the earth station receive
equipment the company will be using, NGST will not be in a position to commence the proposed
operations by August 15, 2008, and there is a possibility that the program may be delayed bysix
months or more.

        Under these circumstances, NGST requests that the Commission specify that the 30—day
demonstration period is to commence on or before February 15, 2009 (six months after the last
day, August 15, 2008, of the commencement window proposed in the above—referenced STA
requests). As is currently proposed, the 30—day term itself is subject to the condition that NGST
verify the starting date in writing no fewerthan 3 business days prior to the start of the term.


Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
June 19, 2008
Page 3


       Please let me knowif you have any questions concerning the foregoing discussion or the
attached materials from NASA/JPL.

                                           Respec fully
                                                    /yours,
                                                            z_
                                                                &?M f/
                                            )yé/LM\ {%‘
                                           ,,,,,          w          L
                                          ~Stepheh D. Baruch
                                           Attozfizc{\!_/‘m Northrop Grumman Space &
                                                Mission Systems Corp.
Enclosure

cce (w/ encl.):   Mr. Scott Kotler
                  Karl Kensinger, Esq.
                  Mr. Peter J. Hadinger


                       —PL




NASA/JPL Response to
 NGST STA Request
     June 4, 2008


                              Background                                      DL

*   NASA/JPL received a special temporary authority (STA) coordination request (file #:
    SES—STA—20080331—00371, SES—STA—20080331—00372 , SES—STA—20080331—00373
    , and SES—STA—20080331—00374) about Northrop Grumman Space & Mission
    Systems Corporation (NGST) plans to operate three receive—only earth station
    antennas with an Israeli spacecraft — TECSAR — as part of a demonstration program.

*   The proposed receive—only earth stations are Redondo Beach, California, Honolulu,
    Hawaii, and either Duluth, Georgia or Irving, Texas. NGST will use only one earth
    station at a time, and over the course of the requested 30—day period, which will
    commerce between July 1, 2008 and August 15, 2008.

e   The proposed receive frequencies are 8150 MHz, 8250 MHz, and 8350 MHz. Only
    the one that centers at 8150 MHz will be received at Redondo Beach.


                                      JPL Position                                             IJIPL

1.   JPL has no objection to operations of TECSAR at the Honolulu ground station.

2.   JPL has no objection to operations of the TECSAR at Duluth ground station if a 30—
     degree elevation mask is used at that ground station.

3.   Using information and link parameters provided by NGST and/or derived from the
     NGST‘s STA, a study has been conducted to determine if potential interference to
     the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) at Goldstone exists. Results show that
     TECSAR can meet the deep space protection criterion when downlinking to the
     ground station in Redondo Beach, CA if the following conditions are met
     —— Use only the 8150 MHz frequency, and
     —— Downlink only when the ground station to satellite elevation is 20 degrees or above.

     The same conditions are applied to Irving ground station.


       Backup Slides   L




TECSAR—DSN Interference
        Analysis


                           Interference Analysis                                         JPL

*   A software (SOAP) simulation for 100 days was performed to determine if the
    TECSAR satellite can interfere with NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) at Goldstone
    site when downlinking to the Earth Station in Redondo Beach, CA using frequency
    8150 MHz.

*   The study was based on a set of parameters either provided by NGST or derived
    from the STA Request:
     —   Spectral rolloff of 45 dB from 8150 MHz to DSN band, 8400 MHz — 8450 MHz
     —   Antenna pattern for the transmitting satellite antenna based on ITU—R $672—4 with the
         following parameters
           *   Circular beam, 41 dBi peak gain
           *   LS=—30 dB
           *   Backlobe level: 41 dB below the peak gain
     —   Satellite on—axis EIRP: 26 dBW
     —   Data rate of 155 Msps using 8 PSK modulation, resulting in 51.6 Msps channel symbol rate
     —   Peak transmitted EIRP density of —51 dB(W/Hz), see next chart for detail

*   In addition, the study assumes that the 70m DSN antenna at Goldstone is pointed to
    the TECSAR satellite


                  Interference Link Budget                                            JPL

             Carrier Frequency         8150     MHz
             Satellite On—Axis EIRP    26       dB(W)
             Data Rate                 155      Msps
             Modulation                BPSK
             Channe! Symbo! Rate       §1.7     Msps
                                       77.      dB(Hz)
             On—Axis EIRP Density      —51.1    dB(W/Hz)
             Off—Axis Gain Reduction   —25      (assumed)
             Space Loss                ~169     dB (assuming 825 km range)
             DSN Revd Ant Gain         74.5     on—axis, 70m

             Spectral Rolloff          ~45      dB (based on information from NGST)
             DSN Received
             Interference Spectral
             Density                   ~215.6   dB(W/Hz)
             Protection Criterion      +221     dB(W/Hz)

             Interference Margin       —5.4     dB



»The above simple link analysis indicates that TECSAR can interfere with
the Goldstone DSN when TECSAR transmits at 8150 MHz to Redondo
Beach.
»This is confirmed by a computer simulation using SOAP.


                                                                              SOAP Output based on a simulation for 100 days                                                                    L
                                                                                    Figure 1. Interference Margin, Ant Pattern and Ant Gain Reduction vs. Sat Ant Off—Axis Angle



                                                        80                                                                                                                                           40




                                                        20      \L                                                                                                                                   35




                                                        10 + us                                                                                                                                      so
Sat Tx Ant Gain Reduction and Interference Margin, dB




                                                                                                                                                                         NWmz

                                                                     ««««««                                                                                                                          25




                                                                                                                                                                                                          Tx Ant Gain Pattern, dBi
                                                        410 —                                                                       ,,,,,,,                                                          20
                                                                                                                                              ——Gt—Gmax                   |
                                                                                                                                                  Interference margin, dB |
                                                        +20 —
                                                                                                                                                    Gain Pattern, dBi        [
                                                                                                                                                                                                     15


                                                                                                                                                   Gt=off—axis transmitting antenna gain
                                                                                                                                                   Gmax=41 dBi
                                                                                                                   ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,                                                                    10




                                                        «40                                              ,,,,,,,                                                                                 —5




                                                        —50                                   +                                                                                                      0
                                                                               5             10                                          15   20                        25                 30   35
                                                                                                      Off—Axis Angles from Satellite Antenna Boresight, deg


                                                               SOAP Output based on a simulation for 100 days—cont‘d                                                           J[@Bf_


                                                                         Figure 2. Redondo Elevation Angle and Goldstone—received PSD vs. Sat Ant Off—Axis Angle



                             70                                                                                                                                                    +200




                             60                                                                                                                                                    205
Redondo Stations to TECSAR Elevation Angles, deg




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                                                                    PSD Revd by GLO                                                                                                is §
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                                                                    DSN X—band Protection Citarion dB(W/Hz)                                                                                8
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                                10 —                                                                                                                                               +230




                                                                                                                                        —              —             >            + 285
                                                   0.5   0.7      0.9                   11               1.3           1.5             1.7            1.9          2.1   2.3     2.5
                                                                                              Off—Axis Angles from Satellite Antenna Boresight, deg

                                                                                                   (only off —axis angle <2.5 deg is shown here)


                                       SOAP Output based on a simulation for 100 days—cont‘d                                                          _J[@B(_


                                                        Figure 3. TECSAR Elevation Angle with Relative to Redondo Beach


                        90




                        80 —

                                                            [——nea
                        70 +
Elevation Angles, deg




                        60 —




                        50 —




                        40 —

                               |                    P                         6                                                     A           4

                        30




                        20 —       .         1 1            }            1    i _1      P           1 B          I 3         1 1          1 B
                                       100                200                     300                 400                   500                 600        700
                                                   Time, 60 seconds per unit, not continuous for the first 10 days in the month of July



Document Created: 2008-06-24 16:17:11
Document Modified: 2008-06-24 16:17:11

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