Attachment STA Request

This document pretains to SES-STA-20170213-00154 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2017021300154_1182415

February 10, 2017

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

         Re:     Request for Special Temporary Authority
                 Hagerstown, Maryland Earth Station KA258

Dear Ms. Dortch:

Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests a grant of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) 1 for
180 days, commencing April 25, 2017, to use its Hagerstown, Maryland Ku-band earth station—call
sign KA258—to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) services and telemetry, tracking, and
command (“TT&C”) during in-orbit testing (“IOT”) at 176° E.L. for the Eutelsat 172B satellite.
Eutelsat 172B is expected to be launched on April 25, 2017.2 Intelsat expects the LEOP and IOT
periods to last approximately 200 days.3

The Eutelsat 172B LEOP and TT&C operations will be performed at the following frequencies: 13750.6
MHz, 13999.5 MHz, 14499.8 MHz, 13753.6 MHz, 14002.5 MHz, and 14496.8 MHz (CP) in the uplink;
and 11200.6 MHz and 12250.1 MHz (CP) in the downlink. The LEOP operations will be coordinated
with all operators of satellites that use the same frequency bands and are in the LEOP path. 4 The TT&C
operations at the IOT location will be coordinated with potentially affected adjacent operators. All
operators potentially affected by either the drift or the TT&C operations at the IOT location will be
provided with an emergency phone number where the licensee can be reached in the event that harmful
interference occurs.

The 24x7 contact information for the Eutelsat 172B LEOP mission is as follows:

Ph.:     (703) 559-7701 – East Coast Operations Center (primary)
         (310) 525-5591 – West Coast Operations Center (back-up)

Request to speak with Harry Burnham or Kevin Bell.

1
  Intelsat has filed its STA request, an FCC Form 159, a $200.00 filing fee, and this supporting letter
electronically via the International Bureau’s Filing System (“IBFS”).
2
 The in-orbit testing location for Eutelsat 172B, which Intelsat understands is licensed by France, will
be at 176° E.L. The final location of Eutelsat 172B will be at 172° E.L.
3
  Intelsat is seeking authority for 180 days to accommodate the longer orbit-raising time period required
for an electric propulsion satellite.
4
    Airbus, the manager of the Eutelsat 172B LEOP mission, will handle the coordination.


Ms. Marlene H. Dortch
February 10, 2017
Page 2



In further support of this request, Intelsat herewith attaches Exhibits A and B, which contain a 13 GHz
report and a waiver request. In the extremely unlikely event that harmful interference should occur due
to transmissions to or from its earth station, Intelsat will take all reasonable steps to eliminate the
interference.

Finally, Intelsat clarifies that during the Eutelsat 172B LEOP mission, Airbus will serve as the mission
manager. Airbus will build and send the commands to the Intelsat antenna, which will process and
execute the commands. Telemetry received by Intelsat will be forwarded to Airbus. Intelsat will
perform the ranging sessions by sending a tone to the spacecraft periodically. Intelsat will remain in
control of the baseband unit, RF equipment, and antenna.

Grant of this STA request will allow Intelsat to help launch and safely station—keep the Eutelsat 172B
satellite at the IOT location. This, in turn, will help provide additional capacity from the 172° E.L.
orbital location and thereby promotes the public interest.

Please direct any questions regarding this STA request to the undersigned at (703) 559—6949.

Respectfully submitted,




Cynthia J. Grady
Regulatory Counsel
Intelsat Corporation




ce: Paul Blais



Document Created: 2017-02-10 17:23:01
Document Modified: 2017-02-10 17:23:01

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