Satellite Update - Dec. 10, 2009

By Doug Lung
published

From FCC Report SAT-00652 [PDF]:

  • • The FCC granted Intelsat North America LLC special temporary authority (STA) to continue operating Intelsat 706 at 54.85 degrees east longitude (EL) through Jan. 4, 2010.
  • • The FCC granted Intelsat's application, as amended, to launch and operate Intelsat 15 at 85.15 degrees EL using the 14.00-14.50 GHz and 13.75-14.5 GHz bands (Earth-to-space) and the 10.95-11.20 GHz, 11.45-11.70 GHz and 12.5-12.75 GHz bands (space-to-Earth). The Satellite Division found that Intelsat North America satisfied the first three milestones required for a geostationary satellite.
  • • Intelsat received STA, commencing on Dec. 7 for a period of 30 days, to conduct in-orbit testing of Intelsat 15 at 63.15 degrees EL and to drift Intelsat 15 from that location to its assigned orbital location of 85.15 degrees EL after testing is complete.
  • • EchoStar's request for STA to operate its EchoStar 12 DBS satellite over channels 23 and 24 at 61.5 degrees west longitude (WL) for a period of 180 days was granted.
  • • SES Americom received STA to allow the AMC-5 satellite to drift outside its assigned station-keeping box of 78.95 degrees WL +/- 0.05 degrees for brief periods over seven days to enable thermal fuel gauging measurements to be taken for end-of-life planning purposes. Specifically, SES Americom is permitted to drift AMC-5 up to 0.0045 degrees beyond the eastern edge (78.90 degrees WL) of its assigned box for these limited periods.
  • • Sirius XM Radio Inc. was allowed to continue operating two types of indoor terrestrial repeaters with effective isotropically radiated powers (EIRP) of up to 10 watts and up to 0.0001 watts at trade shows and other indoor locations under STA for 180 days commencing Sept. 13, 2009 using the 2320-2345 MHz Satellite Digital Audio Radio band.
  • • Transfers of control between different Intelsat entities were also listed.


From FCC Report SAT-00651 [PDF]:

  • • A request for transfer of control of the license for Earth Exploration Satellite Service space station S2129 from Morgan Stanley and Company to the shareholders of DigitalGlobe. DigitalGlobe provides many of the satellite images used in Google Earth and Google Maps.
Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.