PanAmSat Licensee Corporation requested authority to launch and operate Galaxy 16 as a new C- and Ku-band satellite at the 99 degree west longitude (WL) orbital location, providing service to the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and portions of Canada and Mexico. It would replace PanAmSat's Galaxy 4R spacecraft at that location. PanAmSat also filed applications to modify its authorization for Galaxy 14 to specify operation from 125 degrees WL using C-band frequencies and to operate C-band satellite Galaxy 12 at 125.10 degrees WL. EchoStar requested modification of its DBS authorizations at the 110 degree WL location and for authority to launch and operate the EchoStar 10 satellite at that location.
EchoStar 10 is a spot-beam DBS satellite operating in the 12.2-12.7 GHz downlink and 17.3-17.8 GHz uplink frequency bands. The satellite will have 10 uplink spot beams and 49 downlink spot beams. Downlink beams will be directed to 45 locations in the contiguous United States (CONUS), as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba. In the filing, EchoStar requested a waiver of Section 25.215 of the FCC rules to allow EchoStar 10 to operate with a minimum cross-polarization isolation of 24.6 dB for the receive antennas and 28.3 dB for the transmit antennas within its coverage areas. See FCC Report SAT-00335 for additional information on the PanAmSat and EchoStar applications and FCC file numbers that can be used to locate the applications on the FCC International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) web site.
The FCC granted EchoStar's application, as amended, to launch and operate its EchoStar-109W satellite at 109.0 degrees WL using frequencies in the 10.95-11.2 GHz and 11.45-11.7 GHz bands for space-to-earth transmissions and in the 13.75-14.0 GHz band for earth-to-space transmissions. Telemetry, tracking and command frequencies are 13.752 and 13.997 GHz (earth-to-space) and 11.452 and 11.698 GHz (space-to-earth). Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) has surrendered licenses for non-voice, non-geostationary space stations in the "Little LEO service." The spectrum formerly licensed to VITA is now available to new applicants. Applications from PanAmSat for extension of special temporary authority (STA) for operation of Galaxy 14 at 146 degrees WL for in-orbit testing were granted. The last STA at that orbital location expired Nov. 11, 2005. The FCC also approved an application from PanAmSat for STA to operate Galaxy 14 at the 124.95 degree WL location from Dec. 15, 2005 to Jan. 14, 2006 and at the 125.0 degree WL location from Jan. 1, 2006 to Jan. 30, 2006. PanAmSat was also granted STA to operate Galaxy 12 at 125.10 degrees WL from Jan. 1, 2006 to Jan. 30, 2006. FCC Report SAT-00334 has more information on these actions.
In an Order and Authorization released Dec. 20, 2005, the FCC granted EchoStar Satellite LLC's request for a blanket authorization for one million receive-only earth stations, located in the United States, to receive Direct-to-Home (DTH) fixed satellite service (FSS) programming from Canada's Telesat Anik F3 satellite at 118.7 degrees WL. The FCC also granted, in part, EchoStar's application for two Ku-band uplinks with 9-meter antennas at Cheyenne, Wyo. to communicate with the satellite. The FCC said its action "will improve the choice of services to consumers in the U.S. multichannel video programming distribution (MVPD) market." EchoStar is not authorized to provide programming to U.S. customers that it obtains through exclusive agreements entered into with Canadian licensed space station operators, program suppliers, and/or program distributors. Refer to the Order and Authorization for construction/launch deadlines and other conditions.
