Sec. 80.51  Ship earth station licensing.

    (a) In cases where a ship earth station is required to be 
commissioned before it is certified to use a privately owned satellite 
system, FCC Form 506 must be submitted to the Commission prior to 
transmission on any of the satellite frequency bands allocated for 
maritime satellite communications.
    (b) A ship earth station authorized to operate the INMARSAT space 
segment must display the Commission license in conjunction with the 
commissioning certificate issued by the INMARSAT Organization. Ship 
earth stations that were operating in the MARISAT system and are not 
commissioned by the INMARSAT Organization will continue to be used in 
the INMARSAT system without a commissioning certificate issued by the 
INMARSAT Organization. The continued use of such equipment, however, 
will not be permitted after September 1, 1991, unless a commissioning 
certificate is obtained from the INMARSAT Organization. Notwithstanding 
the requirements in this paragraph, ship earth stations can operate in 
the INMARSAT space segment without an INMARSAT issued commissioning 
certificate provided an appropriate written approval is obtained from 
the INMARSAT Organization in addition to the Commission's license.