Data / Federal rules / 2025-16375
Expediting Initial Processing of Satellite and Earth Station Applications; Space Innovation
The Federal Communications Commission published this final rule in the Federal Register on August 27, 2025. It took effect on September 26, 2025.
SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It reads every rule and proposed rule in the Federal Register each morning, and this page is that reading. Name your industry once and new rules, comment deadlines and effective dates arrive in your sheet, CRM, Slack or agent as they are published.
What the agency says
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission or we) adopts a Second Report and Order with variety measures to expedite space and earth station approvals, including by eliminating the requirement to file certain license modification applications and eliminating outdated rules. In particular, the Second Report and Order provides regulatory certainty for, and eliminates burdens on, the nascent Ground-Station-as-a-Service industry, where a neutral host establishes connectivity to multiple satellite systems in space. As licensing activity before the Commission increases in complexity and number, concrete measures to expedite earth and space station applications will support U.S. leadership in the growing space economy. Accordingly, adoption of these concrete measures to expedite the processing of applications for authority to operate space and earth stations under part 25 of the Commission's rules would be vital to supporting U.S. leadership in the growing space economy.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-16375
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Federal Communications Commission
- Published
- August 27, 2025
- Takes effect
- September 26, 2025
- Dates
- These rules are effective September 26, 2025, except for the amendments to Sec. Sec. 25.110(e) (amendatory instruction 4), 25.117(i) (amendatory instruction 6), 25.118(a)(3), 25.118(b)(1), (2), and (3), and (e)(4), and (h) (amendatory instruction 8), and 25.137(h) (amendatory instruction 10), which are indefinitely delayed. The Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these rule sections.
- Docket
- IB Docket Nos. 22-411, 22-271; FCC 25-48; FR ID 309341
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 47 CFR 1; 47 CFR 25
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Satellites; Telecommunications
- Pages
- 12
Other documents from the Federal Communications Commission
| Document | Type | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Modernizing the Commission's National Environmental Policy Act Rules 2026-21347 | Proposed rule | Oct 19 |
| Upper C-Band (3.98-4.2 GHz); Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz Band 2026-21324 | Final rule | Oct 19 |
| Petition for Reconsideration of Action in Rulemaking Proceeding; Correction 2026-21312 | Proposed rule | Oct 19 |
| Television Broadcasting Services Des Moines, Iowa 2026-21260 | Proposed rule | Oct 19 |
| Petition for Reconsideration of Action in Rulemaking Proceeding 2026-20895 | Proposed rule | Oct 13 |
| Radio Broadcasting Services; Selmer, Tennessee 2026-20464 | Final rule | Oct 6 |
| Radio Broadcasting Services; Whitehall, Michigan 2026-20463 | Final rule | Oct 6 |
| Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics Adopt 2026 Mandatory Data Collection for Incarcerated People's Communications Services 2026-20362 | Final rule | Oct 5 |
Everything from the Federal Communications Commission · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on reporting and recordkeeping requirements · Rules on satellites · Published in August 2025
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.