Attachment Technical Annex

This document pretains to SES-STA-20170626-00686 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2017062600686_1241545

                                                EXHIBIT 1

         DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED SPECIAL TEMPORARY OPERATIONS
          (Response to Space Station/Earth Station STA Forms, Question 8 or 12)

         Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 25.120(b), EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation and

EchoStar Operating L.L.C. (together with their affiliates, “EchoStar”) request 60-day special

temporary authority (“STA”), commencing on or approximately July 3, 2017, to (i) move and

operate the EchoStar 3 satellite (Call Sign S2741) at 86.85º W.L. for a brief period; and (ii)

operate certain earth stations in Blackhawk, South Dakota (Call Signs E020248 and E150098),

and Gilbert, Arizona (Call Sign E010242) for telemetry, tracking, and control (“TT&C”)

communications on the following frequencies during EchoStar 3’s temporary move and

operations at 86.85º W.L.:1

                   EchoStar 3                                               EchoStar 3
               Uplink Frequencies                                    Downlink Frequencies
    TC1: 17.3015 GHz                                      TM1: 12.201 GHz
                                                          TM2: 12.203 GHz
                                                          TM3: 12.699 GHz


         Under the requested STA (and subject to STA renewal), EchoStar 3 will operate at 86.85º

W.L. for a brief period of approximately three to four months, in accordance with the United

Kingdom’s filings with the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”) for the USAT-S3

MOD-C and USAT-S3 MOD-D networks. Following such temporary operations, EchoStar will

commence maneuvers to deorbit the satellite. The accompanying Schedule S and Technical




1
  EchoStar concurrently is filing applications to modify the licenses of EchoStar 12 and associated earth
stations to permit moving the satellite to 86.4º W.L. for regular operations and to add the satellite at 86.4º
W.L. as a point of communications for TT&C operations.


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Annex contain technical and orbital debris mitigation information required under 47 C.F.R. §

25.114.

I.        BACKGROUND

          Launched in 1998, the EchoStar 3 satellite is capable of operating in the 17.3-17.8 GHz

BSS feeder uplink (ITU Appendix 30A) and the 12.2-12.7 GHz BSS downlink (ITU Appendix

30) bands. Until just a few years ago, EchoStar 3 provided capacity for service (via DISH

Network Corporation) to millions of satellite television subscribers. The satellite currently

operates as an in-orbit spare at 61.8º W.L. under STA.2

          In 2008, the Commission extended EchoStar 3’s license term for an additional 10 years. 3

EchoStar has placed EchoStar 3 in an inclined orbit in the north-south direction to extend the

useful life beyond its current license period, set to expire in 2018.4

          To accommodate the needs of its customer and development partner, SES Satellites

(Gibraltar) Ltd. (“SES”), EchoStar seeks to move and operate EchoStar 3 at 86.85º W.L. on an

STA basis for a brief period of approximately three to four months. SES currently operates

NIMIQ-1, a Canadian-licensed Ku-band BSS satellite, on a regular basis at 86.5º W.L. in

accordance with the United Kingdom’s ITU filings for the USAT-S3 MOD-C and USAT-S3

MOD-D networks, but seeks to operate the satellite on a temporary basis, requiring it to obtain

capacity from another satellite to replace that currently offered by NIMIQ-1. Consequently,

EchoStar has agreed, subject to obtaining FCC and other required regulatory approvals, to move


2
 See EchoStar, Stamp Grant, IBFS File No. SAT−STA−20161207−00126 (Jan. 26, 2017); see also
EchoStar, Stamp Grant, IBFS File No. SAT-STA-20140106-00003 (Jan. 26, 2014).
3
    See EchoStar, Stamp Grant, IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20071212-00173 (April 3, 2008).
4
 See Letter from Jennifer A. Manner, EchoStar, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, IBFS File Nos.
SAT-MOD-20120301-00033 et al. (July 16, 2014) (noting commencement of EchoStar 3’s inclined orbit
operations).


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and operate EchoStar 3 at 86.85º W.L. for a brief period of a few months to provide capacity

currently offered by NIMIQ-1.

          Upon completion of NIMIQ-1’s temporary operations, EchoStar 3 will no longer be

required to provide replacement capacity for existing NIMIQ-1 services, and EchoStar intends to

seek additional authority to deorbit EchoStar 3 on an STA basis.

II.       THE PROPOSED STA OPERATIONS WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST

          The proposed STA operations at 86.85° W.L. will offer substantial public interest

benefits. As an initial matter, the Commission has a longstanding policy of leaving fleet

management decisions to satellite operators because doing so generally serves the public interest.

Specifically, the Commission has determined that the satellite licensee “is in a better position to

determine how to tailor its system to meet the particular needs of its customers.”5 Thus, the

Commission “will generally grant a [satellite] licensee’s request to modify its system, provided

there are no compelling countervailing public interest considerations.”6 Consequently, the

proposed STA operations at 86.85º W.L. will serve the public interest by allowing EchoStar the

flexibility to determine how best to meet the needs of its customers. 7 At the same time, as noted

in Section III below, EchoStar 3 will operate under the requested STA on an unprotected, non-

harmful interference basis, thus ensuring no harmful interference to other authorized services.




5
    AMSC Subsidiary Corporation, 13 FCC Rcd 12316, ¶ 8 (IB 1998).
6
 Id.; see also SES Americom, Inc., 21 FCC Rcd. 3430, 3433 ¶ 8 (2006) (FCC “generally has allowed
satellite operators to rearrange satellites in their fleet to reflect business and customer considerations
where no public interest factors are adversely affected”).
7
 See supra nn.6 and 7; see also EchoStar STA Order ¶ 8 (“assessment of the motivation of [satellite]
operators … does not provide an appropriate basis for determining whether an STA would serve the
public interest); SES Americom ¶ 12 n.39 (FCC consideration of “incidental effect” resulting from STA
operations is “irrelevant to our public interest determination”).


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III.   OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS

       EchoStar 3’s STA operations at 86.85º W.L. will be subject to the conditions typically

imposed on U.S.-licensed satellites operating under STA in accordance with non-U.S. ITU

filings. These conditions include the following:

       1.      All authorized operations will be on an unprotected and non-harmful
               interference basis (i.e., EchoStar 3 will not cause harmful interference to,
               and will not claim protection from interference caused to it by, any other
               lawfully operating station). In the event of any harmful interference,
               EchoStar will cease operations immediately upon notification of such
               interference and will immediately inform the Commission in writing of
               such an event.

       2.      EchoStar will maintain full operational control of EchoStar 3 at all times.

       3.      EchoStar will maintain EchoStar 3 at 86.85º W.L. with an east-west
               longitudinal station-keeping tolerance of +/-0.05 degree.

       4.      In connection with the provision of service in any particular country,
               EchoStar will comply with the applicable laws, regulations, rules, and
               licensing procedures of that country.

       5.      During drift operations, all transponders other than TT&C transponders
               will be turned off.




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Document Created: 2010-01-01 00:00:00
Document Modified: 2010-01-01 00:00:00

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