Minor Amendment to S

LETTER submitted by EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation

Letter--Minor Amendment to SES-STA-20120412-00360

2012-04-26

This document pretains to SES-STA-20120412-00360 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2012041200360_949721

Stephanie A. Roy 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW 202.429.6278 Washington, DC 20036-1795 sroy@steptoe.com Tel 202.429.3000 Fax 202.429.3902 steptoe.com April 26, 2012 Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 Re: 30-Day Special Temporary Authority to Operate E070014 to Provide TT&C for QuetzSat-1 during Relocation to 45° W.L.; IBFS File No. SES-STA-20120412-00360 Dear Ms. Dortch: Pursuant to Section 25.116(a) of the Commission’s rules, EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation (“EBC” and, collectively with its affiliates, “EchoStar”) submits this letter to make a minor amendment to, and offer certain additional information regarding, its above-captioned request for Special Temporary Authority (“STA”). EBC amends its answer to “Question 12: Description” by substituting the following narrative: “EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation seeks Special Temporary Authority to operate its transmit/receive earth station, E070014, to provide Telemetry, Tracking, & Control (“TT&C”) for QuetzSat-1, a satellite currently being held at its test location at 67.1° W.L., during its relocation to the nominal 45° W.L. orbital location. See attached narrative.” EBC also offers the following details on the ownership of the QuetzSat-1 satellite, its registration as a space object, and the satellite authorization at 45° W.L.: • QuetzSat-1 is owned by SES Satellite Leasing Limited (“SES SL”), a company incorporated in the Isle of Man, United Kingdom. SES SL procured the launch of the satellite by International Launch Services. The satellite was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on September 29, 2011. • SES SL holds a space activity license issued by the United Kingdom (“UK”) Space Agency under the Outer Space Act 1986 (UK) for the QuetzSat-1 satellite. This space activity license covers “launch of the satellite and deployment to its operational longitude station on the geosynchronous arc,” including in-orbit testing. By its terms, this license will remain in force until QuetzSat-1 is

Marlene H. Dortch April 26, 2012 Page 2 deployed to its designated orbital location to the satisfaction of the UK Secretary of State. • Based on its issue of a space activities license to SES SL, the UK is expected to register QuetzSat-1 as a UK space object on the space object registries of the UK and/or the United Nations. • EBC previously held STA to operate two of its transmit/receive earth stations (Call Sign E980005 and E070014) with QuetzSat-1 for purposes of raising the satellite to its testing location at 67.1° W.L. and testing it at that location.1 SES Americom, Inc. (“SES Americom”), a commonly owned affiliate of SES SL, also previously held an STA to use one of its earth stations (Call Sign E970336) to perform in orbit testing and associated TT&C for the QuetzSat-1 satellite at 67.1° W.L.2 • Since the expiration of EBC’s STA to operate with QuetzSat-1 at 67.1° W.L. for orbit raising and testing, SES SL has been using earth stations in Mexico and Canada to maintain the satellite at its testing location pending instructions from EBC’s affiliate, EchoStar 77 Corporation (“EchoStar 77”), to move the QuetzSat- 1 satellite to its final operational location.3 • The Mexican and Canadian antennas currently being used for QuetzSat-1 TT&C are not capable of following the QuetzSat-1 satellite all the way to the 45° W.L. orbital location due to look-angle constraints. Accordingly, EBC is requesting authority to operate its transmit/receive earth station (Call Sign 070014) to enable SES SL to perform TT&C for the QuetzSat-1 satellite during its relocation to the nominal 45° W.L. orbital location. Separately, SES Americom has requested special temporary authority to use its transmit/receive earth station (Call Sign E080162) for the same purpose. These two U.S. antennas are capable of following the satellite out to 45° W.L. • Once at the 45° W.L. nominal orbital location, QuetzSat-1 will operate as a Brazilian-licensed satellite pursuant to an authorization issued to EBC’s affiliate, HNS Americas Comunicações Ltda. (“HNS Americas”) by the Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicações of Brazil (“Anatel”). The Anatel authorization permits HNS Americas to operate a Broadcast Satellite Service (“BSS”) spacecraft at the 1 See, e.g., Stamp Grants, File Nos. SES-STA-20110815-00956 and SES-STA-20110815-00955 (granted Sept. 26, 2011). 2 See, e.g., Stamp Grant, File No. SES-STA-20110729-00873 (granted Sept. 12, 2011). 3 Pursuant to an agreement between EchoStar 77 and SES Latin America S.A. (a commonly-owned affiliate of SES SL), EchoStar 77 has contracted for the entire service capacity of QuetzSat-1, and may direct SES to move QuetzSat-1 to an orbital location of EchoStar 77’s choosing. Copies of the agreement between EchoStar 77 and SES are on file with the Commission. See File No. SES-MFS-20110707- 00793.

Marlene H. Dortch April 26, 2012 Page 3 nominal 45° W.L. orbital location under the B-SAT-3A-2 space network filing with the ITU. • Anatel will exercise jurisdiction over the operations of the satellite at the nominal 45° W.L. orbital location through the HNS Americas license. Contractual and governance arrangements are in place to enable HNS Americas to direct SES SL and its affiliates to comply with Anatel’s requirements. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Stephanie A. Roy Counsel for EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation cc: Paul Blais Stephen Duall Karl Kensinger


Document Created: 2012-04-26 16:58:34
Document Modified: 2012-04-26 16:58:34
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