Salt Creek Earth Station is a satellite ground station located approximately 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Arbuckle, California. It is licensed to Xaba Ranch, LLC, a real estate holding company.[1][2][3] The site was formerly licensed to AT&T, for whom it carried much of the United States' telecommunications to Asia and the Pacific Rim.[4][5][6][7] AT&T opened the facility in May 1990 with three 60-foot (18 m) wide dishes each aimed at different satellites over the Pacific Ocean.[8] According to James Bamford, the National Security Agency uses the facility to capture and monitor satellite telecommunications traveling in and out of the United States.[4][9]
References
edit- ^ ComSearch (January 16, 2012). "3650 MHz Feasibility Study Operation within Grandfathered Earth Station Protection Zones". CommScope. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ Radio Station Authorization. Federal Communications Commission. November 24, 2010.
- ^ "Xaba Ranch, LLC". Wysk. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ a b Bamford, James (March 15, 2012). "The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)". Wired. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ Kadowaki, Naoto; Youshimura, Naoko; Takahashi, Takashi; Yoshikawa, Makoto; Hsu, Eddie; Bergman, Larry; Bhasin, Kul; Gary, Pat (June 1999). "Trans-Pacific HDR Satellite Communications Experiment Phase-2: Experimental Network and Demonstration Plan" (PDF). Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Satellite Communications in the Global Information Infrastructure. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-07.
- ^ Wold, Robert (November 10, 2000). "As The World Turned Another Olympian Feat For Satellites". Via Satellite. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ Easterling, Todd (April 17, 2008). The U.S. WiMAX 3.65 GHz Opportunity: The History of the Band and How WISPs Can Register for FCC Approval (PDF). Tessco. p. 12. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ "Carrier Watch". Network World. Vol. 7, no. 20. May 14, 1990. p. 11.
- ^ Nelson, Kathy (January 17, 2014). "Kathy Nelson: NSA". Red Bluff Daily News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.