Attachment SESSTA2015082400550.

SESSTA2015082400550.

DECISION submitted by FCC

GRANT

0000-00-00

This document pretains to SES-STA-20150824-00550 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2015082400550_1159777

              SES—STA—20150824—00550      182015001558
Spaceflight, 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:
SHERPA earth station STA — Tukwila
 1. Applicant


             Name:           Spaceflight, Inc.           Phone Number:                        202—262—1825
             DBA Name:                                   Fax Number:

             Street:         PO Box 1922                 E—Mail:                              THornsby@SpaceflightIndustries.
                                                                                              com


             City:           Bellevnue                   State:                                WA
             Country:         USA                        Zipcode:                             98009          &
             Attention:      Ms Indra Hornsby




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                                                                                     Call Sign______GrantDate_\\B@r—\
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                                                                                     (or other identifier)
                                                                                                                  Ceommennmmesimmmuense




                                                                  GRANTED
                                                              International Bureau


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                                                                      Call Signnlmmmerrensensnomene
                                                                                     _.            Grant Date. Qg%«l‘\\o
                                                                      (or other identifier)

Applicant:      Spaceflights, Inc.
File No.:       SES—STA—20150824—00550|_         GRANTED
Call Sign:     None                            International Bureau
Special Temporary Authority

Spaceflights, Inc., is granted special temporary authority, for 180 days, from November 23, 2016
to May 21, 2017, to operate a fixed earth stations in Tukwila, Washington, to provide space
operation communications to the SHERPA spacecraft as it deploys approximately 90 small
spacecraft in low Earth orbit over the course of a twelve—hour operational period. Spaceflight
Inc. seeks authority to use center frequencies 401.5 MHz (space—to—Earth) and 450.2 MHz
(Earth—to—space) for space operation communications, under the following conditions;

1. Spaceflight, Inc. must coordinate with the local Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE)
coordinators for the uplink transmissions to the satellite for 450.1 MHz.

2. Operations on a non—interference basis only.

3. Operations on a non—protected basis only.

4. In the event that there is a report of interference, Spaceflight, Inc. must immediately terminate
transmissions and notify the FCC in writing.

5. Spaceflight must ensure that radio—frequency operations with SHERPA will occur during
times that will not interfere with Meteorological Satellite operations, in accordance with the
conditions set forth in the SHERPA spacecraft grant of special temporary authority, IBFS File
No. SAT—STA—20160821—00060.

6. Grant of this authorization is without prejudice to any determination that the Commission may
make regarding any other pending or future Spaceflight Inc.‘s applications.

7. Transmitter(s) must be turned off during antenna maintenance to ensure compliance with the
FCC—specified safety guidelines for human exposure to radiofrequency radiation in the region
between the antenna feed and the reflector. Appropriate measures must also be taken to restrict
access to other regions in which the antennas‘ power flux—density levels exceed the specified
guidelines.

8. Spaceflight, Inc. shall take extraordinary measures to ensure that the antenna does not create
the potential for exposure of persons who may be within the immediate vicinity of
radiofrequency radiation in excess of FCC safety guideline to prevent human exposure in excess
of the FCC—specified safety limits. Warning signs, such as those discussed in the FCC‘s OET
Bulletin 65, shall be posted informing members of the public to keep outside the exposure area
that exceeds limit.

9. Any action taken or expense incurred as a result of operations pursuant to this special
temporary authority is solely at Spaceflight, Inc.‘s own risk.


2. Contact


             Name:         Jonathan L. Wiener       |          Phone Number:                        202—429—4900
             Company:      Goldberg Godles Wiener & Wright Fax Number:                              202—429—4912
                           LLP                                     ’
             Street:       1229 19th Street, NW                E—Mail:                              jwiener@g2w2.com


             City:         Washington                          State:                                DC
             Country:      USA                                 Zipcode:                             20036      —2413
             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
C Other(please explain):

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

5. Type Request


 C» Use Prior to Grant                            G Change Station Location                         @ Other



6. Requested Use Prior Date
      01/15/2016


7. CityTukwila                                                              8. Latitude
                                                                            (dd mm ss.s h)    47     29    55.4    N
9. State   WA                                                               10. Longitude
                                                                            (dd mmss.s h)      122    17    23.6   W
11. Please supply any need attachments.
Attachment 1: Request for STA                      Attachment 2: Rad Haz                              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.)
     Spaceflight Inc., pursuant to Section 25.120 of the Commission‘s Rules, hereby requests—
     Special Temporary Authority to permit it to communicate with a spacecraft, known as
     SHERPA,       and corresponding earth stations for a duration of up to twelve                                     (12)   hours to take
     place in a single occurrence between January 15,                             2016 and April 15, 2016.




13. By checking Yes, the undersigned certifies that neither applicant nor any other party to the application is                Yes        £y 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 "party to the application" for these purposes.


14. Name of Person Signing                                                   15. Title of Person Signing
   Indra Hornsby                                                                General 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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THE FOREGOING NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995, PUBLIC LAW 104—13, OCTOBER
1, 1995, 44 U.S.C. SECTION 3507.


                   REQUESTS FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY

         Spaceflight Inc. ("Spaceflight"), pursuant to Section 25.120 of the Commission‘s
Rules, hereby requests Special Temporary Authority ("STA") to permit it to             '
communicate with a spacecraft, known as SHERPA, and corresponding earth stations
for a duration of up to twelve (12) hours to take place in a single occurrence between
January 15, 2016 and April 15, 2016.1

         As described in greater detail in the attached Technical Annex, SHERPA is a non—
propulsive, free—flying spacecraft intended to deploy auxiliary spacecraft from each of
five ports. SHERPA itself is proposed to be affixed to the payload on a Falcon 9 launch
that is currently scheduled to occur within above—stated launch period. SHERPA will
be placed in a sun synchronous elliptical orbit of 720 x 450 km, 97.4 degree inclination.
After its deployment from the launch vehicle, SHERPA will initiate a sequence of
procedures to begin the deployment of its own payload and the communication that is .
the subject of the instant requests will commence.

        Spaceflight seeks authority to permit it to establish communications between
SHERPA and three earth stations during the twelve—hour operational of the SHERPA
payload.2 The communications links, which will consist of two—way data transmissions,
will permit the Spaceflight technical crew to track the launch and download status
information from SHERPA. The proposed frequencies for communication to and from
SHERPA are UHF frequencies authorized under the FCC‘s Table of Frequency
Allocations for space operations.

      The payload of SHERPA will consist of small spacecraft that are owned and to be
operated by Spaceflight‘s customers. Each customer is expressly required under its
agreement with Spaceflight to obtain all licenses, authorization, clearances, and permits
that may be necessary to operate its individual spacecraft.

      — Spaceflight asserts that grant of the instant requests for Special Temporary
Authority will be in the public interest. Such grant will permit Spaceflight to initiate a
new and innovative deployment technology for small spacecraft, thereby providing a
cost—efficient means for placing them into their designed orbits.


1 Recent developments in the spacecraft launch industry have resulted in a number of launch delays and
uncertainties as to when future launches will occur. The timeframe set forth above reflects the current
launch period assigned for the Spaceflight launch. Spaceflight has not yet been assigned an exact date of
the SHERPA launch. Accordingly, Spaceflight is herein seeking STA to cover a period of three (3)
months. However, as described herein, the actual communications for which STA is sought will occur
over a period of only twelve (12) hours. Spaceflight will notify the Commission as its launch period is
narrowed to a particular day as soon as that information is confirmed to it by the launch provider.
2 Spaceflight is submitting concurrently unique applications for space station STA to cover the
communications of SHERPA and earth station STA to cover the ground station locations.


        Technical Annex: Spaceflight SHERPA Spacecraft Description
The Spaceflight SHERPA spacecraft is a non—propulsive, free—flying spacecraft intended to deploy
auxiliary spacecraft from each of five ports. The spacecraft is primarily composed of commercial off the
shelf (COTS) hardware, with the core structure being a custom ESPA Grande ring. Auxiliary satellites are
integrated to each port using simple plates and separated using proven separation systems, such as the
Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC) Motorized Lightband (MLB) and the Innovative Solutions in Space
(ISIS) QuadPack. The configuration, shown in Figure 1, is
intended to deploy three microsatellites using MLBs as well
as several CubeSats and nanosatellites from twenty—one
(21) QuadPack dispensers. Each QuadPack holds 12VU worth
of CubeSat payload. A CubeSat, based on the Cal Poly
CubeSat standard, has nominal dimensions 10 x 10 x 10 cm.
SHERPA runs flight software on COTS Andrews Space
CORTEX avionics and it is equipped with its own power and
power distribution system to deploy each auxiliary
spacecraft in a pre—programmed sequence. The primary
mission is satisfied by successful deployment of each
auxiliary payload. The confirmation of successful payload
deployment is given by the transmission of telemetry
containing SHERPA state vectors taken upon each discrete
deployment event.
The SHERPA mission itself is expected to last approximately
                                                                   Figure 1. SHERPA Spacecraft shown

thebrimerybayload.TheprimarypayloadtslaunchedInto_
        .        *             ‘
                                                   Mlegrated with the Payload Attach Fitting
                                                   {below) and the Primary Payload Adapter
720 km circular sun synchronous orbit and then separated.                        (above)
The upper stage, with SHERPA attached, executes a
maneuver to lower the perigee of the orbit to 450 km and
change the inclination to 97.4 degrees. At this orbit, SHERPA is separated from the upper stage. The
separation event activates the SHERPA spacecraft through the closing of separation switches, which will
turn on for the first time. After initialization, SHERPA begins a pre—programmed sequence of
deployments. No uplink is necessary to begin deployments. For each deployment event time, position,
and velocity (determined via GPS receiver) are logged in the form of a state vector to be transmitted.
Upon completion of deployments, SHERPA transmits the telemetry to a ground station. SHERPA‘s
communication system utilizes an onboard UHF radio with 4 antenna.
SHERPA batteries are expected to last for duration less than 20 hours until they‘re expended. Ultimately,
SHERPA de—orbits through orbital decay due to atmospheric drag approximately 20 years after launch.


Location                        SHERPA (space segment)       North Pole, Alaska       Tukwila, Washington          NASA Wallops
Link direction                            Downlink           Uplink                   Uplink                       Uplink
                                                             M2 Antenna Systems
Antenna Manufacturer            Spaceflight Systems Inc      Inc                      M2 Antenna Systems Inc MIT Lincoln Labs
Antenna Model                   n/a                          450CP34                  450CP34                      n/a

Antenna Size                    n/a                          3.05—m boom length       [3.05—m boom length          18.3—m diameter
Number of Antennas                                                                                             1                                     1
                                Mobile, LEO                  1625 Richardson
                                Orbit: 720 x 450 km, 97.4°    |Highway, North Pole,   (3415 S 116th St #123,       |Building U—25, Mainland Road
Address, City, State            inclination                  Alaska                   Tukwila, WA                  Wallops Island, VA 23337
Lat/Long coordinates in                                      64° 47‘ 37.0" N,         47° 29‘ 55.44" N, 122°       37° 51‘ 18" N
minutes,seconds                 Mobile, LEO                  147° 32‘ 10.8" W         17‘ 23.64" W                 75° 30‘ 47" W
Site Elevation AMSL             Mobile, LEO                  144 m AMSL               15.9 m AMSL                  12.6 m AMSL
Frequencies                     401.5 MHz                    450.2 MHz                450.2 MHz                    450.2 MHz
Output Power (W)                2W                           5W                       5W                           8W
ERP (W)                         2.07 W                       63 W                     63 W                         15,310 W
Frequency tolerance            *                             *                        *                            *
Emissions (bandwidth of signal
plus emission type)             825KG1D                      27K6G1D                  27K6G1D                      27K6G1D
                                                            A single channel          A single channel
                                A single channel containing containing digital        containing digital           A single channel containing digital
Modulating Signal               digital information         information               information                  information

*in lieu of frequency tolerance, the occupied bandwidth of
the emission shall not extend beyond the band limits set


Radiation Hazard Report                       .                                                      Exhibit
                                                                                                 Page 1 of 5

 Analysis of Non—lonizing Radiation for a 3.05—Meter Yagi Antenna Earth Station
                                                      System

This report analyzes the non—ionizing radiation levels for a 3.05—meter Yagi antenna earth station
system. The analysis and calculations performed in this report comply with the methods described in
the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology‘s General RF Exposure Guidance, 447498 DO1 vO5r02.
The radiation safety limits used in the analysis are in conformance with Title 47 Chapter I, Subchapter
A, Part 1, Subpart I, Section 1.1310. Section 1.1310 specifies that there are two separate tiers of
exposure limits that are dependent on the situation in which the exposure takes place and/or the
status of the individuals who are subject to the exposure. The Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE)
limits for persons in a General Population/Uncontrolled environment are shown in Table 1. The
General Population/Uncontrolled MPE is a function of transmit frequency and is for an exposure period
of thirty minutes or less. The MPE limits for persons in an Occupational/Controlled environment are
shown in Table 2. The Occupational MPE is a function of transmit frequency and is for an exposure
period of six minutes or less. The purpose of the analysis described in this report is to determine the
power flux density levels of the earth station in the far—field, near—field, transition region, and between
the antenna edge and the ground and to compare these levels to the specified MPEs.

                  Table 1. Limits for General Population/Uncontrolled Exposure (MPE)



                                  1.34 — 30                    180/Frequency(MHz2z)~2

                                  300—1500        _            Frequency(MHz)/1500



                      Table 2. Limits for Occupational/Controlled Exposure (MPE)

                                                                     &



                                   3.0—30                      900/Frequency(MHz)42
                                   [ 0O—3                                  s1       .

                                  300—1500                      Frequency(MHz)/300
                                  00—                   s                  .


Radiation Hazard Report                                                                      Exhibit
                                                                                         Page 2 of 5
            Table 3. Formulas and Parameters Used for Determining Power Flux Densities

                                          #




Frequen


Transmit Power                                                 5
                                                                6
Antenna Gain (factor                                     39.81071706
                                                              5
Antenna Efficien                                             0.95
                                                               35


Radiation Hazard Report                                                                            Exhibit
                                                                                               Page 3 of 5
1. Far Field Distance Calculation         A
The distance to the beginning of the far field can be determined from the following equation:

      Distance to the Far Field Region                    Rf = 0.60 D/A                       (1)
                                                              = 8.36 m


The maximum main beam power density in the far field can be determined from the following
equation:

      On—Axis Power Density in the Far Field              S = GP/(A4mtRy")                    (2)
                                                             = 0.23 W/m?
                                                             = 0.023 mW/cm*

2. Near Field Calculation
Power flux density is considered to be at a maximum value throughout the entire length of the defined
Near Field region. The region is contained within a cylindrical volume having the same surface area as
the antenna. Past the boundary of the Near Field region, the power density from the antenna
decreases linearly with respect to increasing distance.

The distance to the end of the Near Field can be determined from the following equation:

      Extent of the Near Field                            Rp; = D* /(42)                      (3)
                                                              = 3.48 m


The maximum power density in the Near Field can be determined from the following equation:

      Near Field Power Density                            Saft = 41P/Agurface                 (4)
                                                             = 12.8 W/m
                                                             = 1.28 mW/cm*

3. Transition Region Calculation
The Transition region is located between the Near and Far Field regions. The power density begins to
decrease linearly with increasing distance in the Transition region. While the power density decreases
inversely with distance in the Transition region, the power density decreases inversely with the square
of the distance in the Far Field region. The maximum power density in the Transition region will not
exceed that calculated for the Near Field region. The power density calculated in Section 2 is the
highest power density the antenna can produce in any of the regions away from the antenna. The
power density at a distance Ry can be determined from the following equation:

      Transition Region Power Density                     Stz = SnfRnf/Rtz                    (5)
                                                             = 1.28 mW/cm*


Rr is calculated at a distance of 3.48 meters from the antenna, which is the worst—case distance. This is
the edge of the near—field, Rnf.


Radiation Hazard Report                                                                                  Exhibit
                                                                                                     Page 4 of 5
4. Region between the Antenna and the Ground
Assuming uniform illumination of the antenna surface, the power density between the antenna and
the ground can be determined from the following equation:

      Power Density between Antenna and Ground                Sg = P/Agurface                        (6)
                                                                 = 3.37 W/m*
                                                                  = 0.337 mW/cm*

5. Summary of Calculations


             Table 4. Summary of Expected Radiatibn Levels for Uncontrolled Environment




                                                    i.                0.0227 _       _ !Satisfies FCC MPE
_N                   3                         Saf          1.28         Potential Hazard
 Transition Region (Rar<Re<R#)           _|___Se _ [ ____ _ 1.28_ _____ Potential Hazard _
 Between Reflector and Ground        |         Sg                     0.337             Potential Hazard


              Table 5. Summary of Expected Radiation Levels for Controlled Environment
                                                                  >


      ¢


                                                                      0.022      ;             s    EC MP
 Near Field (Rn: = 3.48 m                                2C            1.28            Satisfies FCC MPE
             egior           <             ,                  O   0 1,.28
 Between Reflector and Ground                                         0.337            Satisfies FCC MPE


It is the applicant‘s responsibility to ensure that the public and operational personnel are not exposed
to harmful levels of radiation.


Radiation Hazard Report                                                                               Exhibit
                                                                                                  Page 5 of 5
6. Conclusions
Based upon the above analysis, it is concluded that FCC RF Guidelines have been exceeded in the Near
Field, the Transition Zone, and the region between the Antenna and the Ground of the Uncontrolled
(Table 4) environment. In the Controlled (Table 5) environments none of the regions have levels that:
exceed the FCC RF Guidelines. The applicant proposes to comply with the Maximum Permissible
Exposure (MPE) limits of 0.3 mW/cm> for the Uncontrolled Areas, and the MPE limits of 1.5 mW/cm?
for the Controlled Areas.

The earth station Yagi antenna will be mounted on a platform; so the applicant agrees that the
antenna will be in an area secured from the public and worker personnel not familiar with the earth
station system. Non—assigned worker personnel and the general public must be accompanied by
knowledgeable earth station personnel when they enter the earth station secured area.

The earth station‘s secured area will be marked with the required radiation hazard signs as described
in the recent FCC R&O 13—39. The area in the vicinity of the earth station secured area will also have
signs to inform those in the general population and those who may be working in the area or otherwise
present that they are close to a RF System capable of producing hazardous levels.

The applicant agrees to abide by the conditions specified in Condition 5208 provided below:

       Condition 5208 — The licensee shall take all necessary measures to ensure that the antenna does not
       create potential exposure ofhumans to radiofrequency radiation in excess ofthe FCC exposure limits
       defined in 47 CFR 1.1307(b) and 1.1310 wherever such exposures might occur. Measures must be taken
       to ensure compliance with limitsfor both occupational/controlled exposure andfor general
      population/uncontrolled exposure, as defined in these rule sections. Compliance can be accomplished in
       most cases by appropriate restrictions such asfencing.
      Requirementsfor restrictions can be determined by predictions based on calculations, modeling or by
      field measurements. The FCC‘s OET Bulletin 65 (available on—line at wwwfee.gov/oet/rfsafety) provides
       information on predicting exposure levels and on methodsfor ensuring compliance, including the use of
      warning and alerting signs andprotective equipmentfor worker.



Document Created: 2016-11-29 17:36:29
Document Modified: 2016-11-29 17:36:29

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