Attachment Exhibit A

This document pretains to SES-STA-20110202-00105 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2011020200105_866657

                                                                    Exhibit A

                                                                    Lockheed Martin Corp.
                                                                    Earth Station STA
                                                                    Call Sign E050272
                                                                    February 2011

                                           Description

       Lockheed Martin Corporation (“Lockheed Martin”) hereby respectfully requests special
temporary authority (“STA”) to continue operating its Napa, California earth station (Call Sign
E050272) at slight variance from the station’s license under a 30-day extension of the Lockheed
Martin STA now in force for Call Sign E050272 in File No. SES-STA-20101222-01581
(“December STA”).

        The Galaxy-15 satellite, which is operated by PanAmSat Licensee Corp. (“PLC”)
nominally at the 133º W.L. orbital location and is the host platform for LM-RPS1, suffered an
anomaly of unknown origin in April 2010 that caused the satellite to drift eastward. In
December 2010, PLC was able to regain control of the Galaxy 15 satellite, and has since moved
the satellite to a temporary holding slot at 93º W.L., where tests of the LM-RPS1
radionavigation-satellite service (“RNSS”) payload are ongoing via the Napa earth station under
the December STA. See Lockheed Martin Letter, dated January 4, 2011, in File No. SES-STA-
20101222-01581.

          From the onset of the anomaly until just before PLC recovered control of the satellite,
Lockheed Martin has been able to use the Napa earth station to access the LM-RPS1 payload in
its intended manner for the provision of radionavigation-satellite service (“RNSS”). To the
extent that the space station has moved outside its designated station-keeping box, Lockheed
Martin’s operation of the Napa earth station with a few slightly altered transmission parameters
takes place under the authority granted in the December STA.

       Once PLC concludes its tests of the Galaxy 15 payload and subsystems, Lockheed Martin
understands that PLC intends to request Commission authority to relocate Galaxy 15 to its
assigned orbital location (and the assigned orbital location of LM-RPS1) at 133º W.L., or
possibly to the nearby orbital location of 129º W.L. As of now, it appears that the satellite will
not be moved out of its current location before March 3, 2011. See STA Request of Intelsat
License LLC, File No. SAT-STA-20110127-00017, at Narrative.

        Since the satellite has been at its current location at 93º W.L., Lockheed Martin has been
able to communicate with LM-RPS1 using the Napa earth station in its intended manner for the
provision of RNSS on a test and demonstration basis. Lockheed Martin requests an extension of
its authority to operate the Napa earth station with LM-RPS1 at 93º W.L., and during any
westward drift following completion of testing that may occur prior to the expiration of the 30-
day term requested here (i.e., by March 7, 2011). Lockheed Martin will apprise the Commission
of any additional developments as events warrant.


        During the 30-day term requested in this STA, the elevation angle from the earth station
to the satellite and other technical transmission parameters will be at values Lockheed Martin
was authorized to use in the December STA (see File No. SES-STA-20101222-01581, at Exhibit
A, p.1). Lockheed Martin notes further that the location of the satellite in the geostationary arc,
the elevation angle range, and the azimuth range, are all within levels for which Lockheed
Martin provided an updated frequency coordination study for the operation of the E050272 earth
station with LM-RPS1 during the eastward drift that occurred before control of the satellite was
recovered in December 2010. The Comsearch study, which was included as Attachment 1 to
Exhibit A to the Lockheed Martin’s STA request for Call Sign E050272 in File No. SES-STA-
20101028-01360 is incorporated by reference into the instant STA request, covers a satellite arc
that extends to 75º W.L., an elevation angle range of 24.3˚ to 44.3˚ and an azimuth range with an
eastern limit that is between 119.8˚ and 197˚. Therefore, the Comsearch study includes the
range of elevation angles and eastern azimuth range proposed for operation through March 7,
2011. The report shows no potential interference cases.

        Lockheed Martin has notified the GPS Directorate (operators of the co-frequency GPS
system) of the status of the LM-RPS1 satellite, as required. Lockheed Martin confirms that it has
coordinated at-variance operations of LM-RPS1 with the GPS Directorate for the duration of the
requested STA term. Lockheed Martin recognizes and accepts that all operations at variance
with its license for Call Sign E050272 are on a non-harmful interference/non-protected basis.

         Continued use of a viable LM-RPS1 satellite via the Napa earth station by Lockheed
Martin is in the public interest. The LM-RPS1/E050272 network is part of a GPS augmentation
system that provides the Federal Aviation Administration (the sole customer of Lockheed Martin
for LM-RPS1 capacity) with enhanced navigation data that is used in managing the nation’s air
traffic and control systems. Any denial to Lockheed Martin of the ability to provide its customer
with a viable enhanced navigation data would cause a serious prejudice to the public and national
interests. As long as Lockheed Martin can reliably communicate that information over LM-
RPS1 via its Napa earth station without harmfully interfering with any authorized users of the
spectrum, it should be allowed to do so.

        Lockheed Martin remains prepared to submit permanent applications for the modified
authority should such submissions be necessary or appropriate following a determination of the
intended operating location for the recovered Galaxy-15 satellite. Under these circumstances, a
30-day STA (i.e., until March 7, 2011) to allow Lockheed Martin to continue operating its Napa
earth station (Call Sign E050272) with LM-RPS1 is appropriate. See 47 C.F.R. § 25.120(b)(2).



Document Created: 2011-02-02 10:43:52
Document Modified: 2011-02-02 10:43:52

© 2024 FCC.report
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FCC