What are "landing rights" related to satellite communications?

Answer 1

In regard to satellites ‘landing rights’ = the legal permission to 'land' your signal in a country. For example to get 'landing rights' in the US you would have to apply for a permit with the FCC.

This is a major issue because the US has total world coverage and a complete monopoly on GPS technology, which many other countries are starting to rely on.

According to this article: http://www.viasatellite-digital.com/viasatellite/200611/?pg=14
The old landing rights system is being recreated. A UN treaty was passed to abolish the system by requiring that governments honor other governments satellite signal 'landing rights,' but the treaty doesn't necessarily apply to private industry satellites.

For that treaty read this article: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:v8TnhNhjdEcJ:www.mansat.org/Lecture%2520Notes/Introduction%2520to%2520International%2520Space%2520Law12.ppt+%22landing+rights%22+and+satellites&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=us&lr=lang_en

For more info look at this article: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:BBDpnC4u514J:www.afcea.org/events/pastevents/documents/Track5Session7-ImprovingEfficiencyofMilitaryUse.ppt+%22landing+rights%22+and+satellites&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=16&gl=us&lr=lang_en
and go to the "Host Nation Approval" section.

In this article: http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive03/thurayaarch_102103.html
Boeing wants to work with the company Thuraya which is based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and offers satellite phone services across the Arab world. The idea is that the company, Thuraya, has already secured the landing rights to offer the phone service.

For Pakistan: http://pemra.gov.pk/landingfaqs.html
to apply for landing rights.

In this article: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5026/is_200112/ai_n18240146
A Phoenix Satellite TV firm is denied landing rights in Taiwan because of the content of its shows.

The law firm of Hogan & Hartson discusses European Landing Rights on this site: http://www.hoganhartson.com/geoberst/
Look for article; 11.01.2006 "Landing Rights Resurfacing in Europe."