A .ST domain passes through 5 stages during its lifetime. Understanding each stage helps registrars manage renewals, handle expired domains and communicate correctly with registrants.
| Stage |
General Availability — |
Registration Period Active |
Renew Grace Period 40 days |
Redemption Period 30 days |
Termination up to 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHOIS status |
available |
ok registered & delegated |
serverHold reserved, not delegated |
redemptionPeriod |
pendingDelete |
| Domain renewals |
Not applicable |
Allowed extends expire date |
Allowed no additional fee |
Restore only redemption fee + renewal fee |
Not possible |
| Website & |
Offline domain not registered |
Online fully delegated |
Offline serverHold applied |
Offline not delegated |
Offline pending deletion |
| Domain updates |
Not applicable |
Allowed |
Renewal only |
Restore only |
Locked |
General availability
The period during which a domain is available for registration. The domain is free to register on a first-come, first-served basis.
Registration period
When a domain is registered it enters the Registration Period stage. This stage is defined by the domain expiry date. The Registration Period can be extended by renewing the domain, which updates its expire date.
Renew grace period
This period begins when a domain reaches its expire date. The expired domain gains the status serverHold, which means it is still reserved but no longer delegated to the root zone — the domain is offline.
The domain is held in Renew Grace Period for 40 days. During this period the registrant retains domain ownership but cannot perform any updates except renewal, which carries no additional fee and restores full control of the domain.
Redemption period
The Redemption Period follows the Renew Grace Period — it begins 40 days after the domain expires. The domain is held in this stage for 30 days and gains the status redemptionPeriod.
During this period ST Registry may take control of the domain and sell it through third-party service providers such as auctions. The previous registrar or registrant may still restore the domain by submitting an application to ST Registry support:
New registrant acquisition: Redemption fee + registration price according to their billing plan.
Domains in the redemption period are handled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Termination / End of life
After the redemption period the domain enters the Termination Period and gains the status pendingDelete. This process takes up to 5 days and disallows any updates — domain restoration is not possible during this period.
The termination process performs the following operations:
- Removal of the domain and all related connections from the ST Registry repository
- Removal of records from the WHOIS database
- Release of the domain for general availability
This period finalises the domain life cycle, ending it 75 days after the domain expiry date.