Losing Samtex 5, Row 44 Asks for Approval To Move In-flight Operations to AMC-1

With the Samtex 5 satellite moving to a different orbital location, Row 44 seeks FCC International Bureau approval to shift its earth stations aboard aircraft (ESAA) operations to the AMC-1 satellite. The company said in an IB filing posted Friday that instead of the 100 aeronautical mobile earth stations (AMES) it's authorized to use with AMC-1, it needs special temporary authority to boost that number to up to 300 for 60 days, starting by Nov. 2. The AMC-1 operations would be in the Ku-band, using 11.7-12.2 GHz for downlink and 14-14.5 GHz for uplink, Row 44 said. That filing is in conjunction with an application filed last month seeking permanent modification of its ESAA license to use AMC-1 as a point of communication.