§  25.113   Station construction, deployment approval, and operation of spare
satellites.

   (a) Construction permits are not required for earth stations.
   Construction of such stations may commence prior to grant of an earth
   station license at the applicant's own risk, subject to the
   requirements of § 1.1312 and part 17 of this chapter concerning
   environmental processing and construction, marking, and lighting of
   antenna structures.

   (b) Construction permits are not required for Ancillary Terrestrial
   Component (ATC) stations. A party with licenses issued under this part
   for launch and operation of 1.5/1.6 GHz or 1.6/2.4 GHz GHz
   Mobile-Satellite Service space stations and operation of associated ATC
   facilities may commence construction of ATC base stations at its own
   risk after commencing physical construction of the space stations,
   subject to the requirements of § 1.1312 and part 17 of this chapter.
   Such an MSS/ATC licensee may also conduct equipment tests for the
   purpose of making adjustments and measurements necessary to ensure
   compliance with the terms of its ATC license, applicable rules in this
   part, and technical design requirements. Prior to commencing such
   construction and pre-operational testing, an MSS/ATC licensee must
   notify the Commission of the commencement of physical satellite
   construction and the licensee's intention to construct and test ATC
   facilities. This notification must be filed electronically in the
   appropriate file in the International Bureau Filing System database.
   The notification must specify the frequencies the licensee proposes to
   use for pre-operational testing and the name, address, and telephone
   number of a representative for the reporting and mitigation of any
   interference resulting from such testing. MSS/ATC licensees engaging in
   pre-operational testing must comply with § § 5.83, 5.85(c), 5.111, and
   5.117 of this chapter regarding experimental operations. An MSS/ATC
   licensee may not offer ATC service to the public for compensation
   during pre-operational testing.

   (c)-(e) [Reserved]

   (f) Construction permits are not required for U.S.-licensed space
   stations, except for stations that the applicant proposes to operate to
   disseminate program content to be received by the public at large,
   rather than only by subscribers. Construction of a station for which a
   construction permit is not required may commence, at the applicant's
   own risk, prior to grant of a license.

   (g) Except as set forth in paragraphs (h) and (i) of this section,
   approval for orbital deployment and a station license (i.e., operating
   authority) must be applied for and granted before a space station may
   be deployed and operated in orbit. Approval for orbital deployment may
   be requested in an application for a space station license. However, an
   application for authority to deploy and operate an on-ground spare
   satellite will be considered pursuant to the following procedures:

   (1) Applications for deployment and operation of an on-ground spare
   NGSO-like satellite will be considered pursuant to the procedures set
   forth in § 25.157, except as provided in paragraph (g)(3) of this
   section.

   (2) Applications for deployment and operation of an on-ground spare
   GSO-like satellite will be considered pursuant to the procedures set
   forth in § 25.158, except as provided in paragraph (g)(3) of this
   section.

   (3) Neither paragraph (g)(1) nor (g)(2) of this section will apply in
   cases where the space station to be deployed is determined to be an
   emergency replacement for a previously authorized space station that
   has been lost as a result of a launch failure or a catastrophic
   in-orbit failure.

   (h) An operator of NGSO space stations under a blanket license granted
   by the Commission, except for those granted pursuant to the application
   process in § 25.122 or § 25.123, need not apply for license modification
   to operate technically identical in-orbit spare satellites in an
   authorized orbit. However, the licensee must notify the Commission
   within 30 days of bringing an in-orbit spare into service and certify
   that its activation has not exceeded the number of space stations
   authorized to provide service and that the licensee has determined by
   measurement that the activated spare is operating within the terms of
   the license.

   (i) An operator of NGSO space stations under a blanket license granted
   by the Commission, except for those granted pursuant to the application
   process in § 25.122 or § 25.123, need not apply for license modification
   to deploy and operate technically identical replacement satellites in
   an authorized orbit within the term of the system authorization.
   However, the licensee must notify the Commission of the intended launch
   at least 30 days in advance and certify that its operation of the
   additional space station(s) will not increase the number of space
   stations providing service above the maximum number specified in the
   license.

   [ 56 FR 24016 , May 28, 1991, as amended at  61 FR 4366 , Feb. 6, 1996;  61 FR 9951 , Mar. 12, 1996;  61 FR 55582 , Oct. 28, 1996;  62 FR 5927 , Feb.
   10, 1997;  62 FR 64172 , Dec. 4, 1997;  68 FR 51502 , Aug. 27, 2003;  69 FR 47794 , Aug. 6, 2004;  70 FR 32253 , June 2, 2005;  77 FR 3954 , Jan. 26,
   2012;  78 FR 8421 , Feb. 6, 2013;  79 FR 8314 , Feb. 12, 2014;  79 FR 27503 ,
   May 14, 2014;  81 FR 55326 , Aug. 18, 2016;  85 FR 43733 , July 20, 2020]