Navigating the Spectrum: An Overview of ITU's Regulatory Process for Small Satellites

Originating from 1865, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has evolved into a diverse community comprising 193 member states, more than 1000 public and private sector companies, universities, research institutes as well as international and regional telecommunication entities. World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) are convened every four years, providing a crucial platform for updating the ITU Radio Regulations, ensuring that it continues to meet the demands of the industry. The ITU regulations for frequency and orbit regestration of satellites, particularly on the occupancy of the geostationary satellite orbits (GSO) for the traditional telecommunications satellites, have been well-known among operators with large satellites. In the past decade, with the rapid rise in the number of CubeSat and other small satellite projects and launches, the ITU has seen a dramatic increase in the number of registrations from small satellites in non-geostationary-satellite orbits (non-GSO). To cater for these satellites, with decisions taken by the WRC, the ITU Radio Regulations, a treaty document, has evolved to meet the short project life cycle and short duration missions. Notably, the processing time required for advance publication information (API) has been reduced from 3 to 2 months, and the earliest time required for the notification after the publication of the API has been reduced from 6 to 4 months. All submitted satellite networks as well as comments received from other administrations are now promptly made available online enhancing transparency, and at the same time, this streamlined process improved the efficiency of coordination between administrations and operators. For satellites with short mission duration, a specific regulatory procedure exists where some frequency bands are allocated for space operation service without having to go through the extensive coordination process typically required for larger, commercial satellites. In addition, WRC-23 has issued a new Resolution 679 (WRC-23) considering that there is a need for non-GSO space stations to be able to relay data to the Earth, and that part of this need could be met by allowing such non-GSO space stations to communicate with inter-satellite service (ISS) space stations operating in the GSO and in the non-GSO in the frequency bands 18.1-18.6 GHz, 18.8-20.2 GHz and 27.5-30 GHz, or parts thereof. This enables small satellites to gain significant advantages by enhancing their connectivity to ground stations through the inter-satellite service, even when the satellite is not within direct line of sight from the earth station. The general process of recording a small satellite network in the ITU's Master International Frequency Register (MIFR) involves four steps: 1. Submission of the API; 2. Commenting and resolution of difficulties; 3. Notification for recording; 4. Bringing into use of the frequency assignments within the regulatory time limit. This presentation will concentrate on essential aspects related to the ITU Legal Framework, WRC, Frequency Allocation and Regulatory Procedures. Details of these and many other useful contents can be found in the recently developed ITU-R Handbook on Small Satellite (free download from the ITU website).