Salt Creek Station

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

1. ComSearch (January 16, 2012). "3650 MHz Feasibility Study Operation within Grandfathered Earth Station Protection Zones". CommScope. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
2. Radio Station Authorization. Federal Communications Commission. November 24, 2010.
3. "Xaba Ranch, LLC". Wysk. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
4. Bamford, James (March 15, 2012). "The NSA Is Building the Country's Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)". Wired. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
5. 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.
6. Wold, Robert (November 10, 2000). "As The World Turned Another Olympian Feat For Satellites". Via Satellite. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
7. 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.
8. "Carrier Watch". Network World. Vol. 7, no. 20. May 14, 1990. p. 11.
9. Nelson, Kathy (January 17, 2014). "Kathy Nelson: NSA". Red Bluff Daily News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.

38.938°N 122.149°W / 38.938; -122.149