This document applies to earth terminals intended for non-Government use in blanket-licensed Ka-band satellite networks within the United States of America. It also applies to geostationary space station transmissions used to provide blanket-licensed services to earth terminals within the U.S.A.

In such a network, a Network Control Facility (NCF) is responsible for monitoring and controlling the transmit functions of the earth terminals.

The earth terminals have the following characteristics:

• Earth terminals receive in the blanket-licensed bands within the Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) frequency range from 17.7 GHz to 20.2 GHz.

•Earth terminals transmit in the blanket-licensed bands within the FSS frequency range from 27.5 GHz to 30.0 GHz.

•Earth terminals transmit and receive through geostationary satellites with spacing down to 2 degrees away from any other geostationary satellite operating in the same frequency bands and covering the same area.

•Linear or circular polarization is used for transmission and reception.

•The received and transmitted signals are digital in nature.

•Earth terminal antenna aperture may be of any dimensions.

•Earth terminals are designed for unattended operations.

The earth terminal equipment considered comprises an outdoor unit, which is usually composed of the antenna subsystem and associated RF electronics, and the indoor unit, which is usually composed of receive logic, transmit logic, and modem, including cables between these units.

This document applies to the earth terminal, its ancillary equipment, and its various ports when operated within the operational environmental limits declared by the manufacturer and when installed as required by the manufacturer by declaration or in the user documentation.

All parts of the indoor unit related to reception, processing, and presentation of the received information, except for the control channel, are outside the scope of this document. The syntax of the control channel messages is outside the scope of this document.