Attachment STA Request

This document pretains to SES-STA-20190717-00988 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2019071700988_1799528

July 17, 2019 Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Re: Request for Extension of Special Temporary Authority 7.3m S-band Antenna, Paumalu, Hawaii Dear Ms. Dortch: Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests an additional 30 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”)1 previously granted to Intelsat2 to utilize a 7.3m S-band antenna located at its Paumalu, Hawaii teleport for telemetry, tracking, and command (“TT&C”) services during launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) and in-orbit testing (“IOT”) of the General Atomics Orbital Test Bed (“OTB”) satellite.3 OTB was launched on June 25, 2019. OTB was launched as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Technology Program (STP-2) and carried the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (“NASA”) Deep Space Atomic Clock, the U.S. Air Force’s Modular Solar Array, and other payloads. Because OTB is a low-Earth orbit (“LEO”) non- geostationary orbit satellites (“NGSO”), TT&C services from the S-band antenna to the satellite will occur 1-4 times per day, ranging from 8-10 minutes in duration.4 1 Intelsat has filed its STA request, an FCC Form 159, a $210.00 filing fee, and this supporting letter electronically via the International Bureau’s Filing System (“IBFS”). 2 See Satellite Communications Services Information, Actions Taken, Report No. SES-02159, File No. SES-STA-20181010-03148 (May 8, 2019) (Public Notice). 3 Intelsat understands that while the OTB satellite is not yet licensed, it will be licensed by the United States and that General Atomics has discussed the proposed satellite operations with Commission staff and other interested agencies. 4 The planned orbit for the OTB satellite is 720 km with an inclination of 24°.

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch July 17, 2019 Page 2 The OTB operations will be performed in the following frequencies: 2061.0 MHz, 2062.0 MHz, and 2063.0 MHz (RHCP) in the uplink, and 2272.5 MHz in the downlink (RHCP). The proposed operations will be coordinated with all operators of satellites that use the same frequency bands and are in the flight paths or are potentially affected by IOT operations.5 All operators of potentially affected satellites 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 7.3m S-band antenna operations 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. In further support of this request, Intelsat incorporates by reference Exhibits A and B6 included with its original STA request, which contain technical information that demonstrates that the operation of the earth station will be compatible with its electromagnetic environment and will not cause harmful interference into any lawfully operating commercial terrestrial facility and a waiver request. Grant of this STA extension request will allow Intelsat to safely place OTB in non-geostationary orbit; TT&C the spacecraft during IOT; and provide support to U.S. Government missions aboard the OTB satellite and thereby promotes the public interest. Please direct any questions regarding this request to the undersigned at (703) 559-6949. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Cynthia J. Grady Cynthia J. Grady Senior Counsel Intelsat US LLC cc: Paul Blais 5 ViaSat, Intelsat’s customer, will handle the coordination. 6 See supra n. 2.


Document Created: 2019-07-17 16:34:18
Document Modified: 2019-07-17 16:34:18
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