*Pages 1--5 from Microsoft Word - 41503* Federal Communications Commission DA 04- 2680 1 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D. C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) PANAMSAT LICENSEE CORP. ) File Nos. SAT- MOD- 20021226- 00240 ) SAT- AMD- 20040608- 00112 Application for modification of ) License for the PAS- 9 Satellite ) Call Sign: PAS- 9 ) PANAMSAT LICENSEE CORP. ) File Nos. SAT- STA- 20011206- 00103 ) SAT- STA- 20030620- 00116 Applications for Special Temporary ) Authority in Connection with the ) Call Sign: PAS- 9 Operations of the PAS- 9 Satellite ) ORDER AND AUTHORIZATION Adopted: August 25, 2004 Released: August 26, 2004 By the Chief, Satellite Division, International Bureau: I. Introduction 1. By this Order, we grant PanAmSat Licensee Corp. (PanAmSat) conditional authority to operate the C- band communications payload and Ku- Band 1 Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT& C) stations aboard its satellite, Call Sign PAS- 9, 2 from the 26.15º E. L. orbit location. Grant of this application, as amended, will permit PanAmSat to make maximum use of existing orbital resources and satisfy customer requirements. II. Background 2. PAS- 9 is a hybrid C/ Ku- band satellite that began providing service at 58º W. L. in October 1997. 3 The failure of a cell in PAS- 9’s battery system rendered the satellite incapable of providing the full range of services required at 58º W. L. Consequently, PanAmSat was authorized to launch and operate a replacement satellite, PAS- 23, at that location. 4 Following the initiation of service by PAS-23, PanAmSat filed and was granted a series of requests for special temporary authority (STA), first to 1 As used in this Order and Authorization, “C- Band” refers to the 5925- 6425 MHz (uplink) and 3700- 4200 MHz (downlink) frequency bands. The term “Ku- Band” refers to frequencies in the 10- 14 GHz range. This authorization is limited to specific Ku- Band frequencies. See ¶ 7, infra. 2 Panamsat currently refers to the satellite by the commercial name of PAS- 5. See http:// www. panamsat. com/ global_ network/ polar_ chart. asp. In this Order and Authorization, we will refer to the satellite by its Call Sign, PAS- 9. 3 PanAmSat Corp., Order and Authorization, 13 FCC Rcd 4743 (1997). 4 PanAmSat Corp., Order and Authorization, 15 FCC Rcd 11747 (2000). 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 04- 2680 2 relocate PAS- 9 to the155. 5º W. L. orbital location, 5 then to relocate PAS- 9 to 58.1º W. L. where it would serve as an in- orbit spare pending further reassignment. 6 On July 11, 2002, PanAmSat filed a request for STA to relocate PAS- 9 from 58.1º W. L. to 26.15º E. L., where it would provide back- up and supplemental capacity for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization’s (Arabsat) Arabsat 2A satellite. 7 This request was not granted initially, but was followed by two requests -- first to move PAS- 9 from 58.1º W. L. to 45. 15º W. L. 8 and then to 26.15º E. L. 9 —which were granted. The July 11 STA request was subsequently granted to permit operations at 26.15º E. L. 10 3. PanAmSat then filed the instant request for modification of its license to permit PAS- 9 to operate at the 26.15º E. L. orbit location. 11 Although the PAS- 9 is incapable of providing the full range of services required at 58.1° W. L., PanAmSat states that PAS- 9 still has many years of station- kept life remaining and still can provide useful services. 12 PanAmSat also states that it has entered into an agreement to lease all of the C- band transponders on the satellite to Arabsat for use at 26.15º E. L. 13 PanAmSat states that the PAS- 9 satellite will essentially be co- located with Arabsat 2A located at 26º E. L., with 0.15 degrees of separation to facilitate station- keeping. 14 On December 5, 2003, Panamsat submitted a copy of its agreement with Arabsat, subject to a request for confidential treatment. 15 On June 8, 2004, PanAmSat amended its application to change the proposed pointing of the PAS- 9 C- band and TT& C beams in order to meet customer requirements more effectively. III. Discussion 4. We find that the public interest will be served by permitting PanAmSat to operate PAS- 9 at the 26.15º E. L. orbit location, subject to conditions. Although PAS- 9 cannot provide the full range of services required at other orbital locations, use of this satellite at the 26.15° E. L. orbit location will permit PanAmSat to make use of a satellite that had been serving as an in- orbit spare because of its 5 Granted by Letter from Thomas S. Tycz, Chief, Satellite Division, to Joseph Godles, Esq., counsel for PanAmSat (June 8, 2001) (File No. SAT- STA- 20010226- 00014). See also File No. SAT- STA- 20011206- 00103 (requesting authority to continue operations at the 155.5º W. L. orbital location); 47 C. F. R. § 1. 62. With respect to File No. SAT- STA- 20011206- 00103, we are taking the ministerial action of granting the request, with an expiration date of June 18, 2002, by this Order and Authorization. 6 See File No. SAT- STA- 20020605- 00083 (granted June 18, 2002, with an expiration date of September 17, 2002). 7 See File No. SAT- STA- 20020711- 00099 (July 11 STA request). 8 See PanAmSat Request for Special Temporary Authority, File No. SAT- STA- 20020808- 00123, granted August 15, 2002, with an expiration date of September 16, 2004. 9 See PanAmSat Request for Special Temporary Authority, File No. SAT- STA- 20021002- 00180, granted November 21, 2002, expiration date January 21, 2003. 10 Granted December 27, 2002, with an expiration date of June 27, 2003. See also File No. 20030620- 00116 (requesting authority to continue operations at the 26. 15° E. L. orbital location); 47 C. F. R. § 1.62. With respect to File No. 20030620- 00116, we are taking the ministerial action of granting the request, with an expiration date of August 26, 2004. 11 PanAmSat’s application was placed on public notice on August 18, 2003, Report No. SAT- 00160, as corrected by Report No. SAT- 00161 (August 22, 2003). No comments were received. 12 February 11, 2002 STA, p. 1. 13 Id. at p. 2. 14 Id. 15 Letter from Joseph A. Godles, Counsel for PanAmSat, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, FCC. 2 Federal Communications Commission DA 04- 2680 5 16. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that in connection with the provision of service in any particular country, PanAmSat is obliged to comply with the applicable laws, regulations, rules, and licensing procedures of that country. 17. PanAmSat is afforded thirty days from the date of release of this grant and authorization to decline this authorization as conditioned. Failure to respond within this period will constitute formal acceptance of the authorization as conditioned. 18. This authorization is issued pursuant to Section 0.261 of the Commission’s rules on delegated authority, 47 C. F. R. § 0.261 and is effective upon release. Petitions for reconsideration under Section 1.106 or applications for review under Section 1.115, 47 C. F. R. §§ 1.106, 1.115, may be filed within 30 days of the date of the public notice indicating that this action was taken. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Thomas S. Tycz Chief, Satellite Division International Bureau 5