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E1D10

COMMISSION RULES · Amateur Space and Earth stations; telemetry and telecommand rules; identification of balloon transmissions; one-way communications

E1D10§ 97.211E1D →

Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator of the station?

  1. AAny amateur station approved by AMSAT
  2. BAny amateur station so designated by the space station licensee
  3. CAny amateur station so designated by the ITU
  4. DAll these choices are correct
Why Section 97.211 says that any amateur station designated by the space station licensee is eligible to be a telecommand station, within the privileges of the control operator's license class. A telecommand station is the ground station that sends control signals to the satellite, so the FCC leaves the choice of who may command a spacecraft to the entity that is licensed for and responsible for that spacecraft. The same structure appears in 97.209 for Earth stations, where the operator only needs to hold appropriate privileges.
Watch out AMSAT is a private organization that builds and coordinates satellites but has no FCC authority to designate stations, and the ITU allocates spectrum internationally rather than approving individual US amateur stations.
The satellite's licensee picks who gets the keys: telecommand authority comes from the space station licensee, not AMSAT or the ITU.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
47 CFR 97.211 Space telecommand station.

(a) Any amateur station designated by the licensee of a space station is eligible to transmit as a telecommand station for that space station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator.

(b) A telecommand station may transmit special codes intended to obscure the meaning of telecommand messages to the station in space operation.

(c) The following frequency bands and segments are authorized to telecommand stations:

(1) The 17 m, 15 m, 12 m and 10 m bands, 6 mm, 4 mm, 2 mm and 1 mm bands; and

(2) The 7.0-7.1 MHz, 14.00-14.25 MHz, 144-146 MHz, 435-438 MHz, 1260-1270 MHz and 2400-2450 MHz, 5.65-5.67 GHz, 10.45-10.50 GHz and 24.00-24.05 GHz segments.

(d) A telecommand station may transmit one-way communications.

eCFR text as of 1 Sep 2026 · read on ecfr.gov
← E1D09 All of E1D E1D11 →

The rest of E1D

  1. E1D01 What is the definition of telemetry?
  2. E1D02 Which of the following may transmit encrypted messages?
  3. E1D03 What is a space telecommand station?
  4. E1D04 Which of the following is required in the identification transmissions from a balloon-borne telemetry station?
  5. E1D05 What must be posted at the location of a station being operated by telecommand on or within 50 kilometers of …
  6. E1D06 What is the maximum permitted transmitter output power when operating a model craft by telecommand?
  7. E1D07 Which of the following HF amateur bands include allocations for space stations?
  8. E1D08 Which VHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?
  9. E1D09 Which UHF amateur bands have frequencies authorized for space stations?
  10. E1D10 Which amateur stations are eligible to be telecommand stations of space stations, subject to the privileges o…
  11. E1D11 Which amateur stations are eligible to operate as Earth stations?
  12. E1D12 Which of the following amateur stations may transmit one-way communications?
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