FCC Grants EchoStar a Satellite Wish

[Gregg Lengling]

On Tuesday, the FCC granted EchoStar the authority to make routine minor modifications to its satellite constellation to help ensure DBS service and improve operations to subscribers.

According to a FCC report, EchoStar wants to operate its EchoStar 6 satellite at the 110 degrees W.L. orbital location on a permanent basis in order to provide redundancy for its EchoStar 8 satellite - this will allow for extra satellite support at that location due to an EchoStar 8 thruster anomaly.

And, as to EchoStar 5, the company says it doesn't need three satellites (5, 6 and at 110 degrees. The FCC filing states that the company would rather have EchoStar 5 at the 119-degree W.L. location to support satellites EchoStar 4 and 7. The company says that EchoStar 4 may be moved to a new orbital location in the future as well.

The FCC said that the company's request to have satellites EchoStar 5 and EchoStar 6 at 119 degrees W.L. and 110 degrees W.L., does not have any significant interference issues.