Attachment 20110930120343.pdf

20110930120343.pdf

DECISION submitted by IB/FCC

Granted STA

2011-09-29

This document pretains to SES-STA-20110919-01112 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2011091901112_919368

                                               E080168     SES—STA—20110919—01112        182011004331
                                               Sirius XM Radio Inc.




                                                                                                                      Approved by OMB
                                 |                                                                                           3060—0678

                            APPLICATION FOR EARTH STATION SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY



APPLICANT INFORMATIONEnter a description of this application to identify it on the main menu:
E080168 Ellenwood GA STA for Tests with XM—5
 1. Applicant


           Name:        Sirius XM Radio Inc.              Phone Number:                        202—380—4000
           DBA Name:                                      Fax Number:                          202—380—4500

           Street:      1221 Avenue of the Americas       E—Mail:                              James.Blitz@siriusxm.com
                        36th Floor
           City:        New York                          State:                               NY
           Country:     USA                               Zipcode:                             10020       —
           Attention:   James S. Blitz


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Condition of Grant of:
Sirius XM Radio Inc.
SES—STA—20110919—01112
E080168




"Strius XM Radio Inc. will not exceed the previously—coordinated parameters during the
proposed testing and will not cause harmful interference to the operations of any other
spacecraft and authorized terrestrial operations. Sirius XM Radio will cease
transmissions promptly in the event any harmful interference is caused by such
operations."
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                                    Before the
                     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                              Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of Applications by

XM RADIO LLC and                                        Call Sign $2786
SIRIUS XM RADIO INC.                                    Call Signs E080168 & E990291

For Special Temporary Authority to
Perform Tests with XM—5

                 REQUEST FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY

               XM Radio LLC ("XM Radio") and its parent company Sirius XM Radio Inc.

("Sirius XM" and with XM Radio, the "Sirius XM Parties"), respectfully request space station

and earth station special temporary authority ("STA") for a period of up to 30 days commencing

on October 10, 2011 to permit testing of the XM—5 space station at 85.15° W.L. using earth

stations in Ellenwood, Georgia and Vernon, New Jersey. XM—5 is an in—orbit spare spacecraft

launched in October 2010. The Sirius XM Parties seek authority to test the performance of XM—

5 under two scenarios in which XM—5 might be needed to provide primary service. First, the

parties propose to test how XM—5 would perform in the event the satellite needed to be activated

in lieu of Sirius XM‘s FM—5 or of its nongeostationary HEO constellation. Second, they plan to

assess the transmission performance of XM—5 in the satellite frequency bands used for the legacy

XM Radio terrestrial repeaters. Grant of the requested authority will serve the public interest by

permitting the Sirius XM Parties to better prepare for and respond to possible future

circumstances that would require use of XM—5.

               Specifically, the Sirius XM Parties request authority to operate the

communications payloads of XM—5 at 85.15° W.L. and authority for the Sirius XM earth stations

EO80168 and E990291 to communicate with XM—5 for purposes of performing the tests. In


addition to the two Sirius XM earth stations, XM Radio‘s earth station E040204 will also be used

for the planned tests. No STA is required for that facility because it is already authorized to

cormmunicate with XM—5 at 85.15° W‘L.,l and the proposed operations will conform to the earth

station‘s license terms.

                XM—5 is authorized to serve as an in—orbit spare for XM Radio‘s fleet of satellite

digital audio radio service ("SDARS") spacecraft that provide a high—quality, continuous, multi—

channel audio service throughout the United States.2 XM—5 is also equipped with frequencies

allowing it to serve as back—up capacity for the SDARS serviceé of XM Radio‘s affiliate,

Satellite CD Radio LLC,3 The XM—5 license authorizes activation of the satellite‘s

communications payloads only "in the event of a service outage of the XM—3 (Call Sign: $2617),

XM—4 (Call Sign: $2616), FM—1, FM—2, FM—3 (Call Sign: $2105), or FM—5 (Call Sign: $2710)

space stations." *

                Immediately following launch, XM Radio performed a series of in—orbit payload

tests of XM—5 while the satellite was temporarily located at 80° W.L. to assess the spacecraft‘s




     See File No. SES—MOD—20101022—01324, grant—stamped Jan. 4, 2011. Transmissions from
earth station EQO40204 to XM—5 will conform to the terms of the EQ40204 license.

    See File No. SAT—LOA—20090217—00025 (Call Sign $2786), grant—stamped Aug. 31, 2009.

    iSee id.


    Id., Attachment at «] 2.


                       eae     5                                    .    .                       .
performance characteristics.       Further tests were performed earlier this year to allow evaluation

of XM—5‘s ability to provide substitute capacity in the event of an anomaly affecting XM-3.6

               The Sirius XM Parties now propose to conduct further tests of XM—5‘s

performance. The first set of tests will simulate the conditions that would apply in the event

XM—5 was needed to restore capacity because of an anomaly affecting the FM—5 space station or

the Sirius XM HEO constellation. For these tests, XM—5 will transmit at 2322.93 MHz. The

uplink signals for this set of tests will be at 7062.29 MHz and originate from the Sirius XM earth

stations in Ellenwood (Call Sign E0O80168) and Vernon (Call Sign E990291). The second set of

tests will allow evaluation of the transmission performance of XM—5 in the satellite frequency

bands used for the legacy XM Radio terrestrial repeaters. XM—5 will transmit at 2337.49 MHz

and 2340.02 MHz. The uplink signals for this set of tests will be at 7056.89 MHz and

7059.42 MHz and will originate from the XM Radio earth station in Ellenwood (Call Sign

E040204).

               The proposed testing will not cause harmful interference to the operations of any

other spacecraft. XM Radio operates the only satellites using either S—band or X—band

frequencies located within two degrees of 85.15° W.L. XM Radio does not share S—band

spectrum with other satellite systems (except its affiliate, Satellite CD Radio), and the SDARS

downlink frequencies are not subject to two degree spacing rules.

               The proposed testing will also not result in harmful interference to regularly

authorized terrestrial operations. The earth stations that will communicate with XM—5 have been



     See File No. SAT—STA—20100917—00194, grant—stamped Oct. 22, 2010 (authorizing
positioning of XM—5 at 80° W.L. and testing at that location).

6   See File Nos. SAT—STA—20110103—00001, grant—stamped Jan. 13, 2011 & SAT—STA—
20110624—00121, grant—stamped July 14, 2011.


coordinated with terrestrial licensees for the frequencies and EIRP levels proposed for use here.

The Sirius XM earth stations (Call Signs E080168 and E990291) were not specifically

coordinated for operations with a geostationary satellite located at 85.15° W.L. However, these

stations were coordinated for communications with the nongeostationary satellite fleet operated

by Satellite CD Radio, involving a range of antenna orientations.7 Sirius XM will not exceed the

previously—coordinated parameters during the proposed testing.

                Accordingly, no additional coordination should be required to permit temporary

use of the E080168 and E990291 antennas during the brief period of the requested STA.8 In

addition, and in any event, the Sirius XM Parties will conduct all testing on a non—harmful

interference basis, and will cease transmissions promptly in the event any harmful interference is

caused by such operations.

                XM Radio and Sirius XM hereby certify 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.



‘    Furthermore, Call Sign E080168 is located at the same facility in Ellenwood as Call Sign
EQ40204, and as noted above, that station has been fully coordinated with terrestrial licensees for
the frequencies and EIRP levels proposed for use here.

        To the extent necessary, the Sirius XM Parties seek a waiver of Section 25.203(c) to
permit temporary use of call signs E080168 and E990291 for operations with XM—5 as described
herein without the requirement to conduct a prior coordination with terrestrial licensees or
applicants. Grant of a waiver is justified here because it would not conflict with the underlying
purpose of the rule‘s coordination requirement. See Pan4mSat Licensee Corp., 17 FCC Red
10483, 10492 (Sat. Div. 2002) ("the Commission may grant a waiver of its rules in a particular
case if the relief requested would not undermine the policy objective of the rule in question and
would otherwise serve the public interest") (footnotes omitted). Here, the purpose of the rule is
to avoid interference to terrestrial licensees, and that purpose is achieved because the antennas to
be used have previously been coordinated with terrestrial licensees for the frequencies and power
levels proposed and for operations with a nongeostationary satellite fleet.


                For the foregoing reasons, XM Radio and Sirius XM respectfully request special

temporary authority for a period of up to 30 days commencing on October 10, 2011 to conduct

the tests described herein. Grant of the requested authority will serve the public interest by

facilitating XM Radio‘s ability to evaluate the performance of the XM—5 space station and will

not result in harmful interference to any other regularly authorized operations.

                                      Respectfully submitted,

XM Radio LLC                                       Sirius XM Radio Inc.

/s/ James 8. Blitz                                 s/ James S. Blitz
James S. Blitz                                     James S. Blitz
Vice President, Regulatory Counsel                 Vice President, Regulatory Counsel
XM Radio LLC                                       Sirius XM Radio Inc.
1500 Eckington Place, NE                           1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36" Floor
Washington, D.C. 20002                             New York, NY 10020
(202) 380—4000                                     (212) 584—5100

Of Counsel
Karis A. Hastings
SatCom Law LLC
1317 F Street, NW., Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 599—0975

Dated: September 19, 2011


2. Contact


             Name:         Karis A. Hastings                    Phone Number:                         202—599—0975
             Company:      SatCom Law LLC                       Fax Number:
             Street:        1317 F Street, N.W., Suite 400      E—Mail:                               karis@satcomlaw.com



             City:         Washington                           State:                                 DC
             Country:      USA                                  Zipcode:                              20004       —
             Attention:                                         Relationship:                          Legal Counsel


(If your application is related to an application filed with the Commission, enter either the file number or the IB Submission ID of the related
application. Please enter only one.)
 3. Reference File Number or Submission ID
   4a. Is a fee submitted with this application?
«@, IfYes, complete and attach FCC Form 159.       If No, indicate reason for fee exemption (see 47 C.F.R.Section 1.1114).
{3 Governmental Entity       ¢% Noncommercial educational licensee
g4 Other(please explain):

4b. Fee Classification    CGX — Fixed Satellite Transmit/Receive Earth Station

5. Type Request

y Use Prior to Grant                               3 Change Station Location                          @ Other


6. Requested Use Prior Date


7. CityEllenwood                                                           8. Latitude
                                                                           (dd mm ss.s h)   33   39    51.0   N


9. State   GA                                                               10. Longitude
                                                                            (dd mm ss.s h)    84   16   24.0    W
11. Please supply any need attachments.
Attachment 1: STA Request                         Attachment 2:                                      Attachment 3:


12. Description.   (If the complete description does not appear in this box, please go to the end of the form to view it in its entirety.)
     Sirius XM Radio Inc.            requests special temporary authority to use its Ellenwood,                                     Georgia
    earth station         ({call sign EO80168)           to communicate with the XM—5 satellite                         (call sign $2786)
     for testing purposes.




13. By checking Yes, the undersigned certifies that neither applicant nor any other party to the application is               Yes        g34 No
subject to a denial of Federal benefits that includes FCC benefits pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti—Drug Act
of 1988, 21 U.S.C. Section 862, because of a conviction for possession or distribution of a controlled substance.
See 47 CFR 1.2002(b) for the meaning of &quot;party to the application&quot; for these purposes.


14. Name of Person Signing                                                  15. Title of Person Signing
   James S. Blitz                                                              Vice President, Regulatory Counsel
           WILLFUL FALSE STATEMENTS MADE ON THIS FORM ARE PUNISHABLE BY FINE AND / OR IMPRISONMENT
                  (U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1001), AND/OR REVOCATION OF ANY STATION AUTHORIZATION
                     (U.S. Code, Title 47, Section 312(a)(1)), AND/OR FORFEITURE (U.S. Code, Title 47, Section 503).


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Document Created: 2019-04-27 07:29:38
Document Modified: 2019-04-27 07:29:38

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