§960.6. Application categorization. — Inbound Citations

(a) If the Secretary has categorized the system as Tier 3 under § 960.6, the license shall specify that the licensee shall comply with the conditions listed in § 960.8 and further shall comply with the following conditions until the Secretary notifies the licensee that the system belongs in a lower-numbered tier for which the following conditions are not required:

(1) Comply with limited-operations directives issued by the Secretary, in accordance with a determination made by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of State pursuant to the procedures in Section IV(D) of the MOU, that require licensees to temporarily limit data collection and/or dissemination during periods of increased concerns for national security and where necessary to meet international obligations or foreign policy interests; and:

(i) This includes:

(A) The ability to implement National Institute of Standards and Technology-approved encryption, in accordance with the manufacturer's security policy, wherein the key length is at least 256 bits, for communications to and from the on-orbit components of the system related to tracking, telemetry, and control and for transmissions throughout the system of the data specified in the limited-operations directive; and

(B) Implementing measures, consistent with industry best practice for entities of similar size and business operations, that prevent unauthorized access to the system and identify any unauthorized access in the event of a limited-operations directive;

(ii) Provide and continually update the Secretary with a point of contact and an alternate point of contact for limited-operations directives; and

(iii) During any such limited-operations directive, permit the Secretary to immediately access any component of the system for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the limited-operations directive, the Act, this part, and the license.

(2) Conduct resolved imaging of other artificial resident space objects (ARSO) orbiting the Earth only with the written consent of the registered owner of the ARSO to be imaged and with notification to the Secretary at least five days prior to imaging, or as may otherwise be provided in a temporary license condition developed under paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. For purposes of this paragraph (a)(2), “resolved imaging” means the imaging of another ARSO that results in data depicting the ARSO with a resolution of 3 x 3 pixels or greater.

(3) Comply with any temporary license conditions developed in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section until their specified expiration date, including any extensions of the expiration date.

(b) If the Secretary determines that the requested modification of a license would result in its re-categorization from Tier 1 to Tier 2 under § 960.6, the Secretary shall notify the licensee that approval would require issuance of the conditions in § 960.9, and provide the licensee an opportunity to withdraw or revise the request.

If the Secretary has categorized the system as Tier 2 under § 960.6, the license shall specify that the licensee shall comply with the conditions listed in § 960.8 and further shall comply with the following conditions until the Secretary notifies the licensee that the system belongs in a lower-numbered tier: