Federal Communications Commission
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C 20554
In the Matter of )
)Assignment of Orbital Locations
	
)to Space Stations in the Domestic
Fixed-Satellite Service
	
)
)In the matter of the Applications of
	
)
AT&T CORP.
ECHOSTAR SATELLITE CORPORATION
GE AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS, INC. )
)
)HUGHES COMMUNICATIONS GALAXY, NC.)
)
)
)LORAL SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS, LiD.
ORION NETWORK SYSTEMS, INC.
and
In the Matter of the Application of
GE AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS, NC.
Request for Extension of Construction
and Launch Milestones for GE-3
MEMORANDUM OPINION AN) ORDER
Adopted: June 5, 1998 Released: June 5, 1998
By the Chief, International Bureau:
)
)
)
)
)
)
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File Nos.
	
48-DSS-LA-94
62-SAT-AMFJND-95
63/64/65-SAT-P/LA-95
36-DSS-LA-94
37-DSS-P/LA-94
154-SAT-AMEND-95
69/70/7 1-SAT-PILA-95
1 9-DSS-PILA-94
3 l-SAT-AMEND-95
5-DSS-P/LA-95
67-SAT-AIvIEND-95
68-SAT-P/LA-95
12-SAT-MISC-96
72/73-SAT-P/LA-95
137-SAT-P-95
100/101-SAT-AMEND-96
74-SAT-PILA-95
40-SAT.-MP/ML-97
DA 98-1057
13863
Federal Communications Commission
INTRODUCI1ON
1.	By this Order, we grant in part the petition for reconsideration of the Assignment ofOrbital Locations' to Space Stations in the Domestic Fixed-Satellite Service ("1996 AssignmentOrder")1 filed by GE American Communications, Inc. ("GE Americom")2 by reassigning the GE-3
satellite from 67° W.L. to the 81° W.L. orbital location.3 We also grant GE Americom's separate
request for extending the implementation of milestones for GE-3, to the extent indicated below.
BACKGROUND
)2.
	
In May 1996, we authorized six applicants to construct, launch, and operate eleven C-band and/or Ku-band domestic fixed-satellites ("domsats") and assigned them to specific orbitlocations.4 Included in that order s the authorization and assignment of GE Americom's GE-3hybrid C-/Ku-band satellite to the 67° W.L. orbital location5 GE Americom filed a petition for
reconsideration of the 1996 Assignment Order requesting, among other things, a different orbit locationfor GE-3. GE Americom proposed an alternative orbit assignment plan that reassigned GE-3 to 129°W.L. and involved multiple reassignments of other satellites as well.6 AT&T Corp., EchoStar SatelliteCorporation, Hughes Communications Galaxy, Inc., and Loral Space & Communications, Ltd. filed
Assignment of Orbital Locations to Space Stations in the Domestic Fixed-Satellite Service, 11 F.C.C.Rcd. 13788 (1996) ("1996 Assignment Order").
See GE Americom Petitions for Reconsideration, File numbers 48-DSS-LA-94, 62-SAT-AMEND-95,63/64/65-SAT-PILA-95, 36-DSS-LA-94, 37-DSS-P/LA-94, 1 54-SAT-AMEND-95, 69/70/71-SAT-P/LA-95, 5-DSS-PILA-95, 67-SAT-AMEND-95, 68-SAT-PILA-95, 72/73-SAT-P/LA-95, 1 37-SAT-P-95, 74-SAT-P/LA-95 (filed December 23, 1996) ("Petition for Reconsideration").
The satellite identified here as GE-3 was authorized for service at the 67° W.L. orbital location in May1996. See 1996 Assignment Order. Subsequently, GE Americom renamed its GE-4 spacecraft(authorized for service at 87° W.L.) GE-3 to maintain its numbering sequence. The GE-3 spacecraft we
refer to in this order has not officially been assigned a new name by GE Amencom. This Order,however, will continue to refer to the satellite licensed at 67° W.L. as GE-3.
See 1996 Assignment Order. In November 1996, we issued the opinions for these satellite
authorizations. See AT&T Corp., 11 F.C.C. Rcd. 15038 (1996); EchoStar Satellite Corporation, 11F.C.C. Rcd. 20446 (1996); GE American Communications, Inc., 11 F.C.C. Red. 15030 (1996) ("1996GE Americom Opinion"); Hughes Communications Galaxy, Inc., 11 F.C.C. Rcd. 116425 (1996); LoralSpace & Communications, lid, 11 F.C.C. Red. 20441 (1996); and Orion Network Systems, Inc., 11F.C.C. Red. 20434 (1996) ("1996 Domsat Opinions"). For purposes of this opinion, the C-band
encompasses the 3700-4200/5925-6425 MHz frequency bands and the Ku-band encompasses the 11.7-12.2/14-14.5 GHz bands.
We assigned GE-3 to this location in the eastern portion of the orbital arc based on GE Americom's
representation that it would serve, in part, as replacement for Satcom Ku-2, currently located at 81°W.L.
See GE Americom Petition for Reconsideration at Exhibit A.
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Federal Communications Commission
oppositions. GE Americom later filed a request to extend the milestone requirements for GE-3 in light
of its pending petition for reconsideration No oppositions to this request were filed.
DISCUSSION
A.
	
Reassignment of GE-3
3. In adopting the 1996 Assignment Plan, as with prior domsat processing round
authorizations, we allowed satellite licensees to request reassignment.7 Specifically, the 1996
Assignment Order states that "we will entertain req1ests for changes in the orbital assignments made
today if they are consistent with the basic structure of our assignment plan and are agreed by all, or at
least most, of the satellite operators affected by the change.... Satellite operators may apply for
reassignment to all locations that remain available after toda/s order. . . . Any alternative orbital
arrangement, including requests for any unassigned orbital locations, may be presented to the
Commission for approval within 30 days. . .
4. GE Americom filed a timely request for reassignment of its GE-3 satellite.
Specifically, GE Americom requests that we reassign GE-3 to 129° W.L., which was assigned to
another licensee in the 1996 Assignment Order. To accommodate GE-3 at 129° W.L., GE Americom
proposes an alternative orbit assignment plan that would require every satellite operator licensed in the
processing round to relocate at least one of its newly assigned satellites. In light of the objections of
the affected licensees, we will not authorize a wholesale revision of our orbital assignment plan. Nor
will we authorize any smaller scale revisions simply to accommodate GE-3 at 129° W.L. without the
agreement of all affected licensees. Nevertheless, we recognize GE Americom's dissatisfaction with its
assignment to 67° W.L. As stated in the 1996 Assignment Order, we attempt to accommodate a
licensee's request for reassignment when doing so does not affect other licensees.
5. The 81° W.L. orbit location is unassigned and available immediately for a hybrid C -
/Ku-band satellite. We will reassign GE-3 from 67° W.L. to 81° W.L. This action will also permit the
Commission to resolve, in an expeditious manner, coordination issues that have arisen with respect to
the Simon Boilvar Andean satellite system, which is also assigned to 67° W.L. by the Andean
countries.9 Accordingly, and in light of GE Americom's desire for an alternative orbit assignment and
the availability of another hybrid orbit location from which it can serve the United States,
reassignment to the unassigned 81° W.L. orbit location will serve the public interest. We defer action
on the remaining issues raised in GE Americoms petition for reconsideration.
See 1996 Assignment Order at ¶ 11.
Id.
9 The SimOn BolIvcer Andean satellite system is owned by a consortium of 44 companies from the Andean
Community of Nations. It is represented by the countries of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and
Venezuela. See letter from Veronica Pastor, Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn, LLP, Counsel for
Simon Bollvar, to Tom Tycz, Chief; Satellite and Radiocommunication Division, International Bureau
(April 13, 1998).
13865
Federal Communications Commission
B.
	
Request for Milestone Extension
6. GE Americom also requests an extension of its consiruction, launch, and operation
milestones for GE-3 in light of its petition for reconsideration'° Specifically, it would like three years
following the resolution of its petition for reconsideration to construct and launch GE-3." It asserts
that it cannot reasonably proceed with system implementation wiuile issues concerning its request for
an alternative orbit location remain unresolved.
7. A petition for reconsideration does not justify delaying milestone requirements.'2
Otherwise, licensees might file petitions for reconsideration simply to suspend milestones requirements
and, thereby, "warehouse" orbital locations. Even if we accept GE Americom's assertion of
uncertainty regarding its ultimate orbit assignment, it would still be able to begin the construction
process by entering into a contract with a spacecraft manufacturer and order long lead-time parts and
seriices, among other things. Nevertheless, in the interest of fairness, we will allow GE Americom 60
days from the release of this Order to enter into a construction contract, if it has not done so already.
GE Americom's request for an additional three years to construct and launch GE-3 following the
resolution of its petition for reconsideration, however, is excessive, and it falls to justify the need for
this length of time. Thus, we extend GE Americom's milestone schedule as set forth in paragraph 10.
This timetable corresponds to the amount of time granted to satisfy milestones in the 1996 GE
Americom Opinion. We remind GE Americom that failure to meet these implementation milestones
will render its license for GE-3 null and void.
C.
	
Interference Issues
8.
	
We recognize in assigning GE-3 to the 81° W.L. orbit location, the satellite will be
two degrees away from Echostar Satellite Corporatioii's EchoStar 1 satellite located at 83° W.L. GE
Americom and EchoStar are currently involved in a coordination dispute involving GE-5 at 85° W.L.
and EchoStar 1 at 83° W.L. Nevertheless, we continue to believe that GE Americom and EchoStar
should be able to reach coordination agreements involving EchoStar 1 and the adjacent GE Americom
See GE Americom Communications, Inc., Request for Extension of Construction and Launch Milestones
for GE-3, File No. 40-SAT-MP/ML-97 (filed January 30, 1997).
GE Americom requests that we adopt the following revised construction and launch schedule, to
commence after the issues in its Petition for Reconsideration regarding the appropriate orbital
assignment for GE-3 is resolved: Construction Commenced: 90 days after reconsideration is
completed; Construction Completed: 30 months after construction commencement; Launch: 33 months
after construction commencement.
See, e.g., letter from James R Keegan, Chief, Domestic Facilities Division, Common Carrier Bureau, to
Henry Goldberg, Goldberg & Spector, regarding National Exchange Satellite, Inc.'s ("NEXSAT")
Spotnet I and Spotnet 2 Domestic Fixed -Satellites (June 7, 1990) (a request for orbit reassignment is
not alone an excuse for failing to meet construction milestones). See also National &change Satellite,
Inc., 3 F.C.C. Rcd. 6992 (1988) ("Authorization Order").
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II
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Federal Communications Commission
satellites.13 We encourage and prefer satellite operators to resolve coordination difficulties, since they
can best weigh the technical and economic tradeoffs involved in a coordination.'4 if the parties, aftergood faith efforts, cannot resolve their differences, the Commission will dictate a solution. Because it
appears that both the EchoStar and GE Americom satellites will not be operating within theCommissions two degree spacing parameters, a Commission-imposed resolution will likely involve
technical constraints on both parties.
ORDERING CLAUSES
9. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the GE American Communications, Inc. Petitionfor Reconsideration, Assignment' ofOrbital Locations to Space Stations in the Domestic Fixed-SatelliteService, 11 F.C.C. Red. 13788 (1996), IS GRANTED IN PART and Assignment ofOrbital Locations
to Space_Stations in the Domestic Fixed-Satellite Service, 11 F.C.C. Rcd. 13788 (1996), ISMODW lED to reassign GE American Communications, Inc.'s authorization for the GE-3 satellite fromthe 67° W.L. orbit location to the 81° W.L. orbit location.
10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that GE American Communications, Inc.'s, Request forExtension of Construction and Launch Milestones, FjJe No. 40-SAT-MP/ML-97, IS GRANTED to the
extent set forth below, and the schedule for implementation of the GE-3 satellite specified in paragraph20 in GE American Communications, Inc., 11 F.C.C. Rcd. 15030 (1996) IS MODIFIEL) as follo:
Construction Commenced
	
Construction Completed
	
Launch
GE-3
	
August 5, 1998
	
April 31, 2000
	
July 31, 2000
11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that GE American Communications, Inc., shall prepare,
within 90 days of the release of this order, any further information required to be submitted to theInternational Telecommunication Union. No protection from interference caused by radio stations
authorized by other Administrations is guaranteed unless coordination procedures are timely completed
or, with respect to individual administrations, by successfully completing coordination agreements.Any radio station authorization for which coordination has not been completed may be subject to
additional terms and conditions as required to effect coordination of the frequency assignments of
other Administrations.
12. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the assignment of any orbital location to GEAmerican Communications, Inc. is subject to change by summary order of the Commission on 30 days
notice and does not confer any permanent right to use the orbit and spectrum. Neither this
authorization, nor any right granted by this authorization, shall be transferred to any person except
upon application to the Commission and upon a finding by the Commission that the public interest,
convenience, and necessity will be served thereby.
See AT&T Corp., 5 F.C.C. Rcd. 5590, 5591 (1990) ("We expect domestic satellite operators to resolvepotential interference problems.").
See, e.g. GE American Communications, Inc., 3 F.C.C. Red. 6871 (1988).
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Federal Communications Commission
13.
	
GE American Communications, Inc., is afforded thirty days from the date of release of
this order to decline this authorization as conditioned. Failure to respond within this period will
constitute formaJ acceptance of the authorization.
14.
	
This Order is issued pursuant to Section 0.26 1 of the Commissions rules on
delegations of authority, 47 C.F.R § 0.26 1, and is effective upon release.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Regina M Keeney
Chief International Bureau
13868