On April 21st, 2026, the FCC granted AST Space Mobile permission to conduct emergency Telemetry, Tracking & Control (TT&C) operations outside the United States in the 430–440 MHz amateur radio band for all their planned 248 satellites. More than 2,500 comments were submitted by ARRL, AMSAT, other IARU societies and individual radio operators during the FCC review period. The license allows emergency operations when no other bands are available for up to 24 hours on the center frequencies of 430.5 MHz, 432.3 MHz, 434.1 MHz, 435.9 MHz, and 439.5 MHz (each with 50 kHz bandwidth), and was granted by the FCC pursuant to Article 4.4 of the ITU Radio Regulations.
The IARU is of the view Article 4.4 was not appropriate to use in this case in order to assign frequencies in derogation of the ITU Table of Frequency Allocations. We note UHF allocations exist specifically for satellite TT&C purposes and should have been selected instead of frequencies allocated to the amateur services.
The 430–440 MHz band is primarily reserved for the amateur and amateur satellite services in ITU Region 1 and several Region 2 countries. The IARU and its member societies will keep working towards a clearer understanding of how Article 4.4 should be applied to space operations. We also encourage members to report any interference caused by AST Space Mobile satellites to their national regulators.