Attachment SESSTA2017042100448.

SESSTA2017042100448.

DECISION submitted by FCC

GRANT

0000-00-00

This document pretains to SES-STA-20170421-00448 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2017042100448_1235248

                                                                                           182017001117
                                            E110104     SES—STA—20170421—00448
                                            SES Amer icom , 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:
Request for STA for Daysto Provide TT&C with E110104 for ASTRA 1D Drift to and Operation at 72.5 W.L.
 1. Applicant


           Name:        SES Americom, Inc.                  Phone Number:                             202—478—7143

           DBA Name:                                        Fax Number:                               202—478—7111
           Street:      1129 20th Street NW                 E—Mail:                                   petra.vorwig@ses.com
                        Suite 1000
           City:        Washington                          State:                                        DC
           Country:     USA                                 Zipcode:                                  20036       —
           Attention:   Ms Petra A Vorwig




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                                      International Bureau


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                                                                           {or other identifier)
Application:    SES Americom, Inc.                                                                 Term Dates
File No.:      SES—STA—20170421—00448                      _         /     From                        / To: 2 4yLZof?
Call Sign:     E110104                            |_   GRANTED                                     /i                -
Special Temporary Authority                       | International Bureau   Approved:


SES Americom, Inc. is granted special temporary authority for 180 days, beginning June 21,
2017 to December 18, 2017, to operate its fixed earth stations in Bristow, Virginia (call signs:
E110104), to provide telemetry, tracking, and command ("TT &C") service for ASTRA 1D
satellite as it drifts from 47.3 W.L. to 72.5 W.L., using the following frequencies: 14013.00 MHz
and 14493.00 MHz (Earth—to—space); and 11447.50 MHz and 11454.00 MHz (space—to—Earth),
under the following conditions:

1. All operations must be within the coordinated emission and power limits.

2. During the drift to the satellite‘s permanent orbital locations 72.5° W.L., SES Americom, Inc.,
will coordinate with operators of co—frequency satellites in the drift path.

3. All operations under this grant of special temporary authority shall be on an unprotected and
non—harmful interference basis. SES Americom, Inc., shall not cause harmful interference to, and
shall not claim protection from interference caused to it by, any other lawfully operating radio
communication system.

4. In the event of any harmful interference as a result of operations under this grant SES
Americom, Inc. shall cease operations immediately upon notification of such interference and
shall immediately inform the Commiussion, in writing, of such an event.

5. Grant of this special temporary authority is without prejudice to any determination that the
Commussion may make regarding pending or future SES Americom, Inc. applications.

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

7. SES Americom Inc.‘s request for a waiver of Section 25.210(j) is GRANTED. Section
25.210(j) requires geostationary space stations to be maintained within +0.05 degrees of their
assigned orbital locations unless specifically authorized by the Commission to operate with a
different longitudinal tolerance. The operations of ASTRA 1D satellite with an east—west station
keeping tolerance of +0.10 degrees of its assigned orbital location in the east/west direction is
authorized as long as no other space station is located within the station—keeping volume. Should
a spacecraft be launched or relocated into the station—keeping volume of ASTRA 1D, then Astra
1D is required to maintain +0.05° East/West station—keeping, or coordinate its operations with
that of the other spacecraft.

8. This grant is issued pursuant to Section 0.261 of the Commussion‘s rules on delegated
authority, 47 C.F.R. § 0.261, and is effective upon release.


2. Contact


             Name:          Karis Hastings                     Phone Number:                          202—599—0975
             Company:       SatCom Law LLC                     Fax Number:

             Street:        1317 F St., NW                     E—Mail:                                karis@satcomlaw.com
                            Suite 400
             City:          Washigton                          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         C» Noncommercial educational licensee
€} Other(please explain):

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

5. Type Request

 g74y Use Prior to Grant                           gy Change Station Location                         «y Other


6. Requested Use Prior Date


7. CityBristow                                                            8. Latitude
                                                                          (dd mmss.s h)     38   47     0.6   N


9. State   VA                                                              10. Longitude
                                                                           {(dd mm ss.s h)   77    34   25.4   W
11. Please supply any need attachments.
Attachment 1: STA Narrative                       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.)
     SES Americom,       Inc.    requests special temporary authority for 180 days to operate its
     E110104 earth station to provide TT&C service for the ASTRA I1D satellite as it drifts from
     47.3 W.L.     to 72.5 W.L.         and during temporary operations at 72.5 W.L.




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 ofthe 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&gquot; for these purposes.


14. Name of Person Signing                                —                 15. Title of Person Signing
  Petra A. Vorwig                                                              Senior Legal & 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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                                     Before the
                      FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of Application by                        )
                                                       )
SES AMERICOM, INC.                                     )       Call Sign E110104
                                                       )
For Special Temporary Authority to                     )
Communicate with ASTRA 1D to Perform                   )
TT&C During and After Relocation to 72.5° W.L.         )
                  REQUEST FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY

               By this application, SES Americom, Inc. ("SES Americom" or "SES")

respectfully requests earth station special temporary authority ("STA") for a period of 180 days

to permit SES to use its E110104 earth station to communicate with the ASTRA 1D spacecraft in

order to provide Tracking, Telemetry and Command ("TT&C"): (1) during the planned

relocation of the spacecraft from its current position at 47.3° W.L. to 72.5° W.L.; and (2) once

the satellite arrives on—station at 72.5° W.L. (+/— 0.10° east/west station keeping).

               SES Americom‘s affiliate, SES ASTRA S.A. ("SES ASTRA"), holds an

authorization from the Luxembourg Ministry of State, Office of Media and Communications‘ for

the ASTRA 1D Ku—band spacecraft. SES ASTRA has requested that SES Americom assist with

providing TT&C to support the planned relocation of ASTRA 1D to 72.5° W.L. Upon arrival at

72.5° W.L., ASTRA 1D will operate in inclined orbit and join the AMC—3 spacecraft, which is

currently operating at 72.0° W.L.

               SES is not requesting U.S. market access or any other authorization from the

Commission in relation to the non—U.S.—licensed ASTRA 1D spacecraft, and therefore is not


   Ministére d‘Etat, Service des Médias et des Communications of the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg.


providing full technical information about the ASTRA 1D satellite as part of this application."

Details regarding the ASTRA 1D TT&C operations, including the certifications required under

Section 25.140 of the Commission‘s rules, are provided in the attachments to this request. A

basic technical description of the satellite‘s proposed operations, and an orbital debris mitigation

statement for ASTRA 1D, are provided in Attachments 2 and 3 for the Commission‘s

information. As discussed below, communications with ASTRA 1D will not adversely affect the

operation of any adjacent satellites.

               Grant of this request is in the public interest as the requested TT&C authority will

facilitate the safe operation of ASTRA 1D as it drifts to and is located at 72.5° W.L.

               No Harmful Interference to Other Spacecraft. TT&C transmissions during

drift of ASTRA 1D will be on a non—harmful interference basis. The drift of the spacecraft will

be coordinated with other satellite operators consistent with industry practice."

               Apart from AMC—3, located at 72.0° W.L., the nearest satellite to 72.5° W.L. with

overlapping Ku—band operations is ARSAT 1 operated at 71.8° W.L. by Empresa Argentina de

Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Andnima (ARSAT). SES has coordinated operations with

ARSAT 1.

               Waiver Requests. SES requests limited waivers of the Commission‘s

requirements in connection with the instant request. Grant of these waivers is consistent with

Commission policy:



*   See Waiver Requests, infra. See also SES Americom, Inc., File No. SES—STA—20170323—
00336, filed Mar. 23, 2017.

    The 24/7 point of contact for the proposed ASTRA 1D operations is the SES Payload
Management Operations Centre (PMOC) in Woodbine, MD, 1 410 970 7580; e—mail:
PMOC@ses.com.


                       The Commission may waive a rule for good cause shown.
                       Waiver is appropriate if special circumstances warrant a
                       deviation from the general rule and such deviation would
                       better serve the public interest than would strict adherence
                       to the general rule. Generally, 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.*

                Sections 25.137 and 25.114. SES requests a waiver of Section 25.137 and the

other Commission rules cross—referenced therein. SES seeks authority in connection with

providing TT&C for ASTRA 1D, a foreign—licensed spacecraft. Section 25.137 requires that

applicants proposing to use U.S.—licensed earth stations to communicate with foreign—licensed

spacecraft demonstrate that the Commission‘s policies for U.S. market access are satisfied.

Section 25.137 also incorporates by reference other requirements for Commission—licensed space

stations, including the obligation to file detailed technical information as specified in

Section 25.114.

               Waiving Section 25.137 is consistent with the purpose of the rule, which was

intended to address situations in which a non—U.S.—licensed satellite is to be used to serve the

United States. Here, the E110104 earth station will be used solely for TT&C, not for

commercial operations. Thus, SES is not seeking authority to communicate with ASTRA 1D for

purposes of providing U.S. service within the meaning of Section 25.137.

               To the extent the Commission disagrees, SES requests a waiver of the market

access and other requirements imposed in Section 25.137. Grant of a waiver will not undermine

the objectives of these requirements. The market access test described in the rule is intended to




    PanAmSat Licensee Corp., 17 FCC Red 10483, 10492 (Sat. Div. 2002) (footnotes omitted).

                                                  3


ensure that U.S.—licensed systems have "effective competitive opportunities."" Because SES

Americom is not seeking authority to provide commercial services in the United States, the

requested modification does not raise any concerns about competitive equality."

               Strict adherence with Section 25.114‘s requirements for detailed technical

information is also unnecessary and would be unduly burdensome. SES Americom is proposing

to use only for the limited purpose of performing TT&C for the satellite as it drifts to and is

located at 72.5° W.L., and the relevant technical characteristics of those transmissions are

provided below. The transmissions to the spacecraft will be conducted on a non—harmful

interference basis. In these circumstances, no valid purpose would be served by requiring a

complete description of the ASTRA 1D spacecraft.

               SES Americom‘s request is consistent with Commission precedent. In similar

cases in which limited communications by U.S. earth stations with a foreign—licensed satellite

were proposed, the Commussion has granted operational authority without requiring a market

access showing under Section 25.137 or full technical data as required by Section 25.114. ‘

               Section 2.106 Footnote NGS2. To the extent that reception of telemetry at

11447.5 MHz and 11454 MHz constitutes a domestic (F.e., non—international) service, SES



    47 C.FR. § 25.137(a).

°m any event, the ASTRA 1D spacecraft at 72.5° W.L. will be operating under the authority
of Luxembourg, a WTO member country, and therefore is exempt from the requirement to make
a showing of effective competitive opportunities. 47 C.EF.R. § 25.137(a)(2).

?    See, e.g., Hawaii Pacific Teleport, L.P., File No. SES—STA—20131030—00914 (Call Sign
EQ30115), granted Nov. 18, 2013 (granting authority for earth station to provide TT&C services
to ASTRA 3A operating at 176.85° W.L).; PanAmSat Licensee Corp., File Nos. SES—STA—
20090922—01211 (Call Sign B4132) & SES—STA—20090922—01212 (Call Sign EO40125), both
grant—stamped Oct. 16, 2009 (granting authority for earth stations to communicate with foreign—
licensed NSS—12 spacecraft for purposes of providing launch and early operations services).

                                                 4


Americom respectfully requests a limited waiver of the international—service—only restriction."

Such a waiver is warranted in the circumstances for the limited purpose of TT&C. As the

Commission has recognized, TT&C operations generally require uplink and downlink capability

from the same earth station. For this reason, the Commission has previously granted waivers of

the international service restriction to enable TT&C to be performed in the U.S. using the

extended Ku—band frequencies."

               Grant of the requested waiver would not undermine the purpose of the restriction,

which is to ensure that earth station deployments in the extended Ku—band do not negatively

impact the deployment of fixed service ("FS") in the same band or cause interference to such

operations. The telemetry downlink signals from ASTRA 1D in the extended Ku—band are

narrow in bandwidth, and will comply with the power flux density limits in the Commission‘s

rules and, thus, will not interfere with FS station operations. Moreover, only a small number of

U.S. earth stations will be used to perform TT&C in the extended Ku—band."" Once ASTRA 1D

is on—station at 72.5° W.L., the TT&C will be performed by E110104 and another SES antenna

in Woodbine, MD (Call Sign EO50287). N As a result, there will be no significant restrictions

placed on the deployment of FS in this band.


    47 U.S.C. § 2.106 Footnote NGS52.

     See, e.g., EchoStar KuX Corporation, 20 FCC Red 919 (Int‘l Bur. 2004) ("EchoStar 83W
Order‘); EchoStar Satellite LLC, 20 FCC Red 930 (Int‘l Bur. 2004) ("EchoStarl 09W Order");
EchoStar KuX Corporation, 20 FCC Red 942 (2004) ("EchoStar 121W Order"). These
decisions granted waivers of the international only restriction in Footnote NG104, which has
been replaced by Footnote NGS2.

° See EchoStar 83W Order, at § 16 ("The Commission has waived this [international only]
requirement where the number of potential earth stations in a particular service is inherently
small."); EchoStar 109W Order, at § 16 (same);,; EchoStar 121 W Order, at § 17 (same).

    See SES Americom, Inc., File No. SES—STA—20170323—00336, filed Mar. 23, 2017.

                                                5


                Section 25.210(j). The ASTRA 1D satellite is authorized by the Luxembourg

Government to operate at 72.5° W.L. within a +/— 0.1 degrees east/west station keeping box. To

the extent necessary, SES respectfully requests a waiver of Section 25.210(j) of the

Commission‘s rules, which requires geostationary space stations to be operated within a +/— 0.05

degrees east/west station keeping box. The Commission has previously waived this rule based

on a finding that allowing an increased station keeping volume would "not adversely affect the

operations of other spacecraft, and would conserve fuel for future operations."""

               The facts here fit squarely within this precedent. Allowing ASTRA 1D to be

maintained within an increased station keeping volume will not harm other operators. ASTRA

1D‘s station keeping volume will not overlap with that of any other satellites. In addition,

allowing ASTRA 1D to be flown at 72.5° W.L. in an expanded east—west station keeping volume

of +/—0.1 degrees will result in fuel savings for the spacecraft. This will prolong the time during

which ASTRA 1D will be available to provide service. Under these circumstances, grant of any

necessary waiver of Section 25.210(j) will serve the public interest.

               SES hereby certifies 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.




    See SES Americom, Inc., File Nos. SAT—MOD—20080124—00030 & SAT—AMD—20080311—
00070, grant—stamped May 19, 2008, Attachment at " 1.


                For the foregoing reasons, SES respectfully requests special temporary authority

to communicate with ASTRA 1D for a period of up to 180 days in order to provide TT&C

during relocation of the satellite and once it is on ‘station, as described herein. Grant of the

requested authority will promote safe operation of the satellite during and after its relocation.

                                               Respectfully submitted,

                                               SES AMERICOM, INC.

                                               By: /s/ Petra A. Vorwig

Of Counsel                                     Petra A. Vorwig
Karis A. Hastings                              Senior Legal & Regulatory Counsel
SatCom Law LLC                                 SES Americom, Inc.
1317 F Street, NW., Suite 400                  1129 20th Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20004                         Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 599—0975                            Tel: (202) 478—7143

Dated: April 21, 2017


                         Attachment 1: TT&C Emission Characteristics

1.             Earth Station Transmission Characteristics

E110104 (Manassas, VA)
Emission Designator: 800KFID
Max EIRP: 78.8 dBW
Max EIRP Density: 54.8 dBW/4kHz

These EIRP and EIRP density levels are within the maximum EIRP and EIRP den51ty levels
authorized in the current E110104 earth station license.

2.             TT&C I*’requenciesI

Telecommand:           14013 MHz (omni) horizontal polarization
                       14493 MHz (spot) vertical polarization
Telemetry:             11447.5 MHz (spot) horizontal polarization/ (omni) vertical polarization
                       11454 MHz (spot, omni) vertical polarization




* In compliance with Section 25.202(g)(1) of the Commission‘s rules, the proposed TT&C
operations will cause no greater interference and require no greater protection from harmful
interference than communications traffic in these bands.


                             Attachment 2: ASTRA 1D at 72.5° W.L.


1.             Orbital Location

72.5° W.L. +/— 0.1° east—west station keeping and operating in inclined orbit

2.             TT&C Frequencies

Telecommand:           14013 MHz (omni) horizontal polarization
                       14493 MHz (spot) vertical polarization
Telemetry:             11447.5 MHz (spot) horizontal polarization/ (omni) vertical polarization
                       11454 MHz (spot, omni) vertical polarization

3.             Section 25.140 Certifications

Section 25.140(a)(2). SES Americom certifies that the ASTRA 1D TT&C operations in the Ku—
band have been coordinated with ARSAT 1, located at 71.8° W.L. for the telecommand
operations, and there is no frequency overlap for the telemetry. There is no frequency overlap
with Nimiq 5 located at 72.7° W.L.

Section 25.140(a)(3)(ii). SES Americom certifies that the downlink EIRP density for its
operations in the conventional and extended Ku—bands will not exceed 17 dBW/4kHz for analog
transmissions and that the associated uplink operation will not exceed applicable EIRP density
envelopes in Section 25.218 unless the non—routine uplink and/or downlink operation is
coordinated with operators of authorized co—frequency space stations at assigned locations within
six degrees of the orbital location of the proposed space station.

3.             Compliance with PED limits in 11.45—11.7 GHz

The allowable PFD levels in the 11.45—11.70 GHz bands (per 4 kHz) are defined in
Section 25.208(b)(1) of the Commission‘s rules for all conditions, including clear sky, and for all
methods of modulation as follows:

For angles of arrival between 0 and 5 degrees above the horizontal plane: —150 dBW/m* in any 4
kHz band;
For angles of arrival 8 (in degrees) between 5 and 25 degrees above the horizontal plane: —150 +
(8—5)/2 dBW/m" in any 4 kHz band; and
For angles of arrival between 25 and 90 degrees above the horizontal plane: —140 dBW/m" in any
4 kHz band.

In order to demonstrate such compliance, the PFD levels for the telemetry carriers, are calculated
below. It can be seen from the results that compliance with the PFD levels has been achieved.


                                               TM Beam            .
 Elevation angle, deg                          5.0      10.0     15.0     20.0     25.0       90.0
 Max. EIRP, dBW                                18.0     18.0     18.0      18.0     18.0      18.0
 Gain roll—off at elevation angle, dBi        —20.0    —20.0    —20.0     —20.0    —20.0       0.0
 EIRP at elevation angle, dBW                  —2.0     —2.0     —2.0      —2.0     —2.0      18.0
 Carrier bandwidth, MHz                       0.20     0.20     0.20      0.20     0.20       0.20
 EIRP density at elevation angle dBW/4kHz     —18.2    —18.2    —18.2     —18.2    —18.2       1.8
 Minimum spreading loss, dB/m*                ~163.3   —163.2   —163.1    —162.9   —162.8    ~162.1
 25.208(a) pfd limit (10.95—11.2 and 11.45—
 11.7 MHz), dBW/m2/4kHz                       —150.0   —147.5   —~145.0   —142.5   —~140.0   —140.0


 pfd, dBW/m2/4KHz                             —181.5   —181.4   —181.3    —181.1   —181.0    —~160.3
 Margin, dB, relative to 25.208               31.5     33.9      36.3     38.6      41.0      20.3


4.                TT&C Contour Maps

SES Americom has previously provided the contour maps for the spot beam telemetry and
telecommand operations in gxt format in File No. SES—STA—20170323—00336. The antenna gain
contours for the TT&C omni beam operations are not included because the contours at 8 dB
below peak fall entirely beyond the edge of the visible Earth.‘




‘ See 47 C.FR. § 25.114(0)(4)(vi)(A).


                      Attachment 3: Orbital Debris Mitigation Statement

                Information regarding the orbital debris mitigation plan for ASTRA 1D is

provided below.


Spacecraft Hardware Design

                The ASTRA 1D satellite was built on the proven Boeing 601 bus and was

launched in November 1994. No debris is generated during normal on—station operations, and

the spacecraft will be in a stable configuration.

                The design of SES‘s spacecraft locates all sources of stored energy within the

body of the structure, which provides protection from small orbital debris. SES requires that

spacecraft manufacturers assess the probability of micrometeorite damage that can cause any loss

of functionality. This probability is then factored into the ultimate spacecraft probability of

success,. Any significant probability of damage would need to be mitigated in order for the

spacecraft design to meet SES‘s required probability of success of the mission. SES has taken

the following steps to limit the effects of such collisions: (1) critical spacecraft components are

located inside the protective body of the spacecraft and properly shielded; and (2) where

practical, all spacecraft subsystems have redundant components to ensure no single—point

failures. The spacecraft will not use any subsystems for ehd—of-life disposal that are not used for

normal operations.

Minimizing Accidental Explosions

               The spacecraft manufacturer generates a Failure Mode Effects and Criticality

Analysis for the spacecraft to identify all potential mission failures. This analysis indicates

failure modes, possible causes, methods of detection, and compensating features of the

spacecraft design.


                The design of the ASTRA 1D spacecraft is such that the risk of explosion is

minimized both during and after mission operations. In designing and building the spacecraft,

the manufacturer took steps to ensure that debris generation will not result from the conversion

of energy sources on board the satellite into energy that fragments the satellite. All propulsion

subsystem pressure vessels, which have high margins of safety at launch, have even higher

margins in orbit, since use of propellants and pressurants during launch decreases the propulsion

system pressure. Burst tests are performed on all pressure vessels during qualification testing to

demonstrate a margin of safety against burst. Bipropellant mixing is prevented by complete

isolation of propellant species from each other. Pressures, including a subset of the batteries,

will be monitored by telemetry.

                At the end of operational life, after the satellite has reached its final disposal orbit,

all on—board sources of stored energy will be depleted or secured, excess propellant remaining in

the chemical propulsion tanks will be vented, and the batteries will be discharged.

Safe Flight Profiles

                SES has assessed and limited the probability of the space station becoming a

source of debris by collisions with large debris or other operational space stations. Specifically,

SES has assessed the possibility of collision with satellites located at, or reasonably expected to

be located at, the requested orbital location or assigned in the vicinityof that location. Regarding

avoidance of collisions with controlled objects, in general, if a geosynchronous satellite is

controlled within its specified longitude and latitude station—keeping limits, collision with

another controlled object (excluding where the satellite is collocated with another object) is the

direct result of that object entering the allocated space.


             _ ASTRA 1D will be positioned at 72.5° W.L. with +/— 0.1 degree station keeping

tolerance. In considering current and planned satellites that may have a station—keeping volume

that overlaps the ASTRA 1D satellite, SES has reviewed the FCC databases for FCC licensed

satellite networks and those that are currently under consideration by the FCC. In addition,

networks for which a request for coordination has been published by the ITU within £+0.15

degrees of 72.5° W.L. have also been reviewed. Only those networks that either operate, or are

planned to operate, and have an overlapping station—keeping volume with the ASTRA 1D

satellite, have been taken into account in the analysis. While there are additional ITU filings

near 72.5° W.L., SES is not aware of other companies operating within the station keeping box

of ASTRA 1D.

               Based on these reviews, the only satellites operating near 72.5° W.L. are Nimiq 5,

which is operating 0.2 degrees away, and AMC—3 operating at 72.0° W.L., which is also

controlled and operated by SES. SES is not aware of any pending applications before the

Commission requesting authorization to use an orbital location within +0.15° of 72.5° W.L., and

within this sub—arc, SES is not aware of any proposals by any other administration to launch or

deploy a satellite to such locations in the near term. Based on the preceding, it is concluded that

physical coordination of the ASTRA 1D satellite with another party is not required at the present

time.


               On—station station—keeping operations will be within the +/— 0.1 degree E—W

control box with no inclination control, thereby ensuring adequate collision avoidance distance

from other satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

               SES uses the Space Data Center ("SDC") system from the Space Data

Association to monitor the risk of close approach of its satellites with other objects. Any close

                                                 3


encounters (separation of less than 10 km) are flagged and investigated in more detail. If

required, avoidance maneuvers are performed to eliminate the possibility of collisions. During

any relocation, the moving spacecraft is maneuvered such that it is at least 30 km away from the

synchronous radius at all times. In most cases, much larger deviation from the synchronous

radius is used. In addition, the SDC system is used to ensure no close encounter occurs during

the move. When de—orbit of a spacecraft is required, the initial phase is treated as a satellite

move, and the same precautions are used to ensure collision avoidance.

Post Mission Disposal Plan


               At the end of the satellite‘s life, SES plans to maneuver ASTRA 1D to a disposal

orbit with a minimum perigee of 263.2 km above the normal operational altitude. The proposed

disposal orbit altitude complies with the altitude resulting from application of the IADC formula

based on the following calculation:

       Area of the satellite (average aspect area): 24.0 m

       Mass of the spacecraft: 1277 kg

       Cr (solar radiation pressure coefficient): 1.50


Therefore the Minimum Disposal Orbit Perigee Altitude, as calculated under the IADC formula,

18:


36,021 km + (1000 x Cz x A/m) =36049.2 km, or 263.2 km above the GSO arc (35,786 km)


               SES intends to reserve 6.9 kg of fuel in order to account for post—mission disposal

of ASTRA 1D. SES has assessed fuel—gauging uncertainty and has provided an adequate margin

of fuel reserve to address the assessed uncertainty.



Document Created: 2017-06-07 16:12:59
Document Modified: 2017-06-07 16:12:59

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