All FCC Part 97 rules and regulations apply to SAREX communications, so make sure that all aspects of your contact are within the regulations. The SAREX program is so visible that you will want to pay particular attention to making sure it all goes "by the book". While all rules in Part 97 apply, several provisions of the rules are of particular interest to school groups preparing for and carrying out a SAREX contact.
If you are planning to retransmit the entire event over a voice or ATV repeater, Paragraph 97.113(f) is of special interest. It states: "No amateur station, except an auxiliary, repeater, or space station may automatically retransmit the radio signals of other amateur stations". This means that while it would be OK for the shuttle crew to automatically retransmit the contact (their operation is defined as by the FCC as a space station), you cannot unless you follow the regulations governing auxiliary and repeater stations. It would be acceptable to directly patch the audio from the radio that directly links your group to the telebridge system to a repeater. You could also retransmit the audio across an auxiliary station link on frequencies from 220 MHz and higher to a 2 meter repeater.
The FCC rules for Auxiliary stations are found in Paragraph 97.201. These state that an auxiliary station, that is, one defined by the FCC as an amateur station transmitting communications point to point within a system of cooperating amateur stations (see paragraph 97.3), must be licensed and controlled by a technician or higher class licensee. Auxiliary stations are authorized on all permissible amateur frequencies from 220 MHz and higher, with the exception of 431-433 MHz and 435- 438 MHz. They may be automatically controlled and may transmit one-way communications. The FCC rules for repeaters are found in Paragraph 97.205. The rules specifically state that a repeater's input may be restricted to only certain users.
FCC Rules 97.7, 97.105, and 97.109 require a control operator to be present during the transmissions and that operation is limited to those privileges of the control operator. Regardless of whose station you use (i.e. whose callsign), both the control operator and the station licensee are legally responsible for the operation of the station. Since SAREX operates on the 2-meter band, the control operator must hold a Technician class (with or without code) license or higher. To simplify matters in station identification, the station licensee should also hold a technician or higher class license.
Unlicensed students talking to licensed crew members constitutes third-party traffic. paragraphs 97.115 and 97.109 spell out the requirements of third-party traffic and station control during third-party communications. The station must be manually controlled during transmission of third-party communications. The control operator must be present at the control point and continuously monitoring and supervising the student's participation. The means that the control operator must be present at the radios at all times during the SAREX contact. If the crewmember is licensed by a foreign government, then a third party agreement must exist between the crewmember's native country and the United States. In the past, for SAREX and MIREX contacts, waivers and temporary agreements are obtained from the governments involved. If this is necessary for your group, this will be handled by AMSAT and the ARRL. You will not have to worry about this regulation affecting you.
FCC Rule 97.313(a) states: "An amateur station must use the minimum power necessary to carry out the desired communications". For a 12 element crossed Yagi antenna (24 total elements), power levels of 45 to 150 watts have been determined to be more than adequate to complete successful SAREX contacts. The temptation is to use a full 1.5 kW to make sure that no one can interfere with your uplink. This is simply not necessary. Do not underpower your station or contact, but don't go overboard either.
In Part 97, a space station is defined by the FCC as an amateur station located more than 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The astronauts on board the ISS and the Shuttle certainly qualify for this type of station! When the rules for space operations were written, they were written to cover orbiting, unmanned satellites, like AO-10. It is doubtful that anyone in the FCC considered that there would be astronauts operating ham radio in spacecraft! The old rules used to specify that only an extra class operator could establish a space station. Most of the astronaut-hams do not hold extra class licenses, so after discussions with the SAREX Working Group and investigations of their own, the FCC lifted this restriction. Now anyone can establish a space station, subject to the privileges of the class of operator license held by the control operator. Since all of SAREX takes place on the 2-meter band, all astronaut hams must have a technician class (with or without code) license or higher.
Occasionally, a school group will get a request from one of the media covering the event to get to ask a question of the astronauts also. The answer to this is an unequivocal NO. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is that a scheduled SAREX pass is for the school children, not the news media. The news media has an established channel through which they can request interviews of the crew. They should be directed to contact NASA Public Affairs at the Johnson Space Center for all such requests. The second reason is that their doing so would violate the FCC Part 97 regulations prohibiting the use of amateur radio to facilitate a commercial activity or interest. The news media is in the business of gathering and disseminating information, making the news a commercial product. Use of amateur radio to gather news for commercial distribution puts the control operator in violation of Part 97, in addition to exposing the commercial station to violations under the FCC rules governing commercial communications.
It is also possible that a radio dealer or other supplier might agree to provide your group with needed equipment or services, provided you mention them on the air during the contact. This is also in violation of Part 97. About the most you can say is that you are using a Brand X model number Y radio, like is done on the ham bands all the time. There, you are describing your station, not plugging a vendor or manufacturer. What you can do is during your interviews before and after the contact, mention to the media that you are grateful to supplier Z for providing whatever it was they provided. The coverage of the event itself is not construed as using ham radio to facilitate a commercial product, i.e., the news. News is news, and this is certainly a newsworthy event. The problem comes with actually using amateur radio to conduct an interview with the crew. The press must be content with being passive observers of the event. If you are faced with a problem in this area, be polite, but firm. You can be certain that any infractions in this area will be noticed and likely pursued to some extent. It is strongly advised that the SAREX Lead, Technical Lead, Station Licensee, and Control Operator review the FCC Part 97 rules for applicability, prior to the design and operation of the radio system for the SAREX contact, either direct or telebridge.