.station
Is .station a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .station in its own right, as of 8 October 2026. Identity Digital named .station as a backup string for three of its applications: .robotics, .mind and .set. ICANN deactivated those backups, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. Starlight (Namecheap) named .station as a backup string for two of its applications: .mart and .den. ICANN deactivated those backups, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A generic word with several meanings; usable as a suffix for radio, charging, or transit names, but rarely a serious main address.
small radio, podcast, and streaming outlets, EV-charging and transit operators, and brands wanting a memorable "name.station" suffix domain
Nobody has applied for .station in its own right.
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .den application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .set application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .mart application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .mind application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
Named on the ICANN gTLD application list, 7 October 2026 as a replacement (backup) string of the applicant's .robotics application, shown as deactivated: another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a mundane generic facility noun with no owning industry or community, sold as a right-hand suffix to anyone who already calls their premises an "X Center", so value rides on breadth of casual use rather than a defined constituency.
Also a concrete place-of-work noun carrying several unrelated trade readings at once (recording, art, yoga, design), betting many small operators will put a physical location's identity on it rather than any one vertical adopting it wholesale.
The same generic-location bet one abstraction level up: a short common noun whose only job is to complete a two-word phrase, winning on registration volume and losing if registrants prefer a word that says what the location actually does.
What a .station domain is
.station is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Brand category. Nobody has applied for .station in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .station domain extension real yet?
.station is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .station domain?
You can’t yet. A .station name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .station was .center, delegated on 17 December 2013.
Is .station a real TLD?
Not yet. .station is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .station as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
“CEI2644T-T72490 · Canopus Exploration, Inc. · replacement string of .den · Deactivated HS2699T-T21952 · Heir Superiority, LLC · replacement string of .set · Deactivated HS2699T-T88195 · Heir Superiority, LLC · replacement string of .mind · Deactivated HS2699T-T96114 · Heir Superiority, LLC · replacement string of .robotics · Deactivated MEI2627T-T73873 · Menkalinan Exploration, Inc. · replacement string of .mart · Deactivated”ICANN
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited). The string is a common English noun whose meaning is split across broadcast (radio/TV/streaming stations), energy (charging stations), transit (train/bus stations), work (workstations), and generic brand-suffix use, so no single buyer group reads it as their natural home. Analogy, flagged as such: descriptor-word TLDs with similarly diffuse semantics (.center, .zone, .place, .space, .world) have tended to register at volume mainly when priced low or promoted by registrars, with weak brand signal and thin aftermarkets; .station is likely to follow that pattern rather than the category-standard pattern of a TLD tied to one identifiable industry. It is not in the 50-69 band because there is no evident core community for which ".station" is the obvious primary identity and would sustain organic demand without explaining the choice. It is not in the 10-29 band because the word is dignified, broadly understood, and lends itself to real hack-style and suffix brand names (a radio or podcast outlet, an EV-charging network, a creator hub) that a serious small project could plausibly adopt as its main address. On the record, three standard applications were filed for the string, by Namecheap-affiliated entities and an Identity Digital entity, each listed as a replacement string for another application; all three are recorded as deactivated and the contention count is zero. Those applicant facts are used here only as a neutral signal that established registrar/registry parties saw some commercial case for the string; they do not affect the score, since delegation and general availability are assumed. Main market uncertainty: whether any one vertical (broadcast/podcast, EV charging, or transit) would coalesce around ".station" as a naming convention, which would be the only path out of price-driven volume into genuine primary-identity demand.