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                         Before the
             Federal Communications Commission
                   Washington, D.C. 20554
  
  In the Matter of                        )
                                )
  Application of                          )
  COMSAT General Corporation              )
  for Authority to Construct and Operate       )    File Nos. 78-DSE-P/L-98,
  Two Transmit/Receive Earth Stations          )    80-DSE-P/L-98 
  At Cape Canaveral and Jupiter, Florida, for  )
  Use in Conjunction with INTELSAT Satellites  )    Call Signs:  E980015, E980016
  in the Atlantic Ocean Region as an Integral  )
  Part of an International Private Digital Network  )
  Supporting the U.S. Range Safety        )
  Administration's Launch and Missile          )
  Tracking Operations                )
  
                  Order and Authorization
  
  Adopted:  August 3, 1999                Released:  August 3, 1999
  
  By the Chief, Satellite and Radiocommunication Division, International Bureau:
  
   1.  By this Order, we grant COMSAT General Corporation (COMSAT) authority to construct
  and operate two earth stations, one in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and one in Jupiter, Florida.  This
  will allow COMSAT to provide international fixed satellite service, to support the U.S. Range
  Safety Administration's missile launch and tracking operations.  
  
   2.  COMSAT requests authority to construct and operate an earth station in Cape Canaveral,
  using a 16.4-meter antenna, to transmit and receive signals in the 3700-4200 MHz and 5925-6425
  MHz frequency bands.  COMSAT also seeks authority to construct and operate an earth station in
  Jupiter, using a 13-meter antenna, to transmit and receive signals in the 3700-4200 MHz, 6302-
  6338 MHz, and 6342-6378 MHz frequency bands.  COMSAT submitted this application on
  October 27, 1997.  COMSAT states that the U.S. Range Safety Administration will use these earth
  station facilities for missile launch and tracking purposes.  COMSAT further explains that its
  transmissions will be analog T-1 using INTELSAT satellites in the Atlantic Ocean Region
  (AOR). 
  
   3.  On December 5, 1997, PanAmSat Corporation (PanAmSat) filed comments opposing
  Comsat's application.  PanAmSat maintains that Comsat fails to waive its immunity from suit, as
  required by DISCO II whenever COMSAT seeks authority to provide incidental domestic service
  using INTELSAT or Inmarsat space segments.  PanAmSat also criticizes COMSAT for failing to
  show that entry into the United States domestic market would promote competition and is
  otherwise in the public interest.
  
   4.  COMSAT replies that the requirements cited by PanAmSat are applicable only when
  COMSAT is planning to provide a "purely domestic service." COMSAT denies that its service
  will be "purely domestic," because it plans to transfer data between its earth stations and the
  United Kingdom Dependent Territory of Ascension Island and Antigua.  COMSAT also claims
  that it has no immunity from suit with respect to the earth stations at issue here.   
  
   5.  We have reviewed COMSAT's application and other supporting material, PanAmSat's
  comments, and COMSAT's opposition.  We find that the points between which service will be
  provided are not "purely domestic."  According to COMSAT, the earth stations will be used in
  conjunction with INTELSAT satellites in the Atlantic Ocean Region as an integral part of an
  international private digital network supporting the U.S. Range Safety Administration's launch and
  missile tracking operations.  Thus, we conclude that grant of COMSAT's application would
  further the public interest convenience, and necessity, within the meaning of Section 309 of the
  Communications Act, as amended.
  
   6.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 309(a) of the Communications
  Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  309(a), and Sections 0.51 and 0.261 of the Commission's Rules, 47
  C.F.R.  0.51, 0.261, COMSAT General Corporation IS GRANTED authority to construct and
  operate two transmit/receive earth stations at Cape Canaveral and Jupiter, Florida as specified in
  Application Nos. 78-DSE-P/L-98, and 80-DSE-P/L-98, as amended by its Letter of June 5, 1998.
  
   7.  This Order 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 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.
   1.106, 1.115, may be filed within 30 days of the date of the release of this Order.  (See 47
  C.F.R.  1.4(b)(2).)
  
                      FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
  
  
  
                      Thomas S. Tycz
                      Chief, Satellite and Radiocommunication Division
                      International Bureau