Requirements for Obtaining Spectrum and of Orbital Approvals for Small Satellite Constellations

Abstract

Like their larger counterparts, small satellites require assured access to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic spectrum from their orbital positions to support their operations and to fulfill their missions. This mission requirement applies equally to the smallest nanosatellites or picosatellites launched by academic institutions for research to the relatively small commercial satellites that are increasingly being launched into non-geostationary orbit into very large - or “mega” - constellations to provide telecommunications services. While not perhaps the first item contemplated by a designer of small satellite missions, assured access to the invisible natural resource of RF spectrum from space can prove to be a critical and long lead item, and the wise prospective operator plans accordingly. Use of RF spectrum, even from space, is a heavily regulated, highly competitive, and increasingly congested necessary resource. Obtaining assured access to RF spectrum is often a high-risk, complex, and time-consuming task. This chapter will briefly describe the evolving legal and regulatory regimes that face small satellite operators in terms of RF spectrum and associated orbits and will highlight recently adopted treaty provisions by the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19). These actions range from streamlining the regulatory requirements to facilitate entry of a broader range of operators of the smallest satellites, such as those launched by academic and other nonprofit institutions, to adding an entirely new regulatory approach for managing the small satellites that comprise emerging large constellations in non-geostationary satellite orbit to provide commercial telecommunications services.