Synergies for outer space sustainability: Lessons from ITU experiences

By Véronique Glaude and Cessy Karina, Senior Radiocommunication Engineers, ITU Space Services Department

 From 4 to 10 October, countries around the world observed World Space Week.

This year’s theme, ‘space and sustainability’, focused on achieving sustainability in space and achieving sustainability from space. This includes how humanity uses space – and most pressingly, the essential orbital areas surrounding Earth – in more sustainable ways.  

The efficient and effective use of radio frequencies from and in the innumerable Earth orbits are the aspects of space sustainability under the responsibility of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), consistent with provisions of the ITU Constitution, Convention, and the Radio Regulations.

Sustainable use of the radio spectrum from Earth orbits

The concept of space sustainability is becoming increasingly key for all space stakeholders, from small satellite operators to more established private and public sector entities, including national space agencies.

Commercial satellite operators have been providing space-based connectivity to cruise ships, planes, and trains for many years.

New non-geostationary orbit (non-GSO) satellite constellations aim to bring improved (lower latency) broadband Internet access to the remotest corners of our planet.

Various satellite systems, including some using small satellites, allow researchers to explore the Earth, monitor climate change, and connect with the Internet of Things (IoT). As crewed space missions also continue evolving, plans for space tourism have expanded to include orbital hotels.

The ITU Radiocommunication Bureau received 4,182 valid satellite network filings from 80 Member States over the past year, according to its annual report, which included a significant rise in frequency-assignment filings for non-GSO satellite systems, often involving hundreds or thousands of satellites, mainly using frequency bands allocated to fixed and mobile satellite services.

ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao noted how “as space technologies evolve, concerns are being raised about space sustainability, with issues like the effect of large constellations of non-GSO satellites on ground-based astronomical observations, or the risks of space debris on the safe and effective operation of low-Earth orbits.” 

This surge in space activity, along with ever-increasing numbers of objects in orbit, has raised concerns about the increase the risk and need to mitigate the potential collision.  Addressing these and other topics related to management of space objects is a matter great importance that is addressed by the United Nations Office for Outer Space (UNOOSA).

Learn more about the work of UNOOSA, ITU’s sister UN organization, here.

Mapping the space ecosystem

When it comes to making space safer, more secure, and more sustainable, the ecosystem comprising different space stakeholders is evolving towards greater complexity. To understand this, we mapped the roles and interactions of the main stakeholders in the global space sustainability ecosystem and presented it to the 73rd International Astronautical Congress in Paris last month.

Within the space sustainability ecosystem map, ITU plays a crucial role:

ITU is the United Nations agency responsible for managing the radio frequency spectrum and associated satellite orbits, and its treaty-making World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).

The strength of the ITU mechanism lies in governance through a binding intergovernmental treaty, the Radio Regulations, updated at the quadrennial WRCs.

The Radio Regulations stipulate how radio frequency spectrum and associated satellite orbits, both limited natural resources shared globally, should be used and governed to avoid causing and receiving harmful interference – including to and from ‘space stations’ such as those on Earth-orbiting satellites.

This governance mechanism is further strengthened by involving all space stakeholders, including private sector entities from the satellite industry, in four-year study cycles and other fora under the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). ITU studies about radio spectrum usage in outer space – such as those conducted via ITU-R Study Groups – have a long tradition of including private sector participation.

Simultaneously as UN specialized agency and the international radiocommunication regulatory authority, ITU’s Radio Regulations articulate both the rights and obligations of governments with regard to the use of the radio spectrum. 

ITU’s Master International Frequency Register provides the frequency assignments recorded therein with international recognition that includes the right to operate without receiving harmful interference and stability that gives investors a sense of security for sustainable activity.

Governance frameworks like the WRCs can leverage synergies. Examples include the ongoing international cooperation on satellite broadband connectivity and the evolution of the protection of radio astronomy observations as the number of satellites in orbit increases.

Tools for sustainability of space radiocommunication services

The Satellite Interference Reporting and Resolution System (SIRRS), an online platform developed by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, helps space stakeholders report cases of harmful interference. Users can request ITU assistance and exchange information as needed among concerned parties.

Space transmission monitoring also helps mitigate harmful interference and other misuses of the spectrum, whether intentional or unintentional.

To this end, ITU has signed cooperation agreements with Germany, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, China, Viet Nam, Belarus, Brazil, and Oman and continues seeking similar agreements with other countries with international space monitoring facilities.

ITU is committed to supporting efforts within its mandate towards the implementation of the COPUOS Guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities and making the space environment more sustainable.

ITU’s forthcoming Small Satellite Handbook aims to inform governments and new space stakeholders about space radio services, including space debris mitigation. The handbook comes in response to ITU-R Resolution 68 on “improving the dissemination of knowledge concerning the applicable regulatory procedures for small satellites, including nanosatellites and picosatellites.”

New resolution adopted by PP-22

At the recent ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22) in Bucharest, Romania, ITU Member States approved a new resolution on the sustainability of the radio spectrum and associated satellite orbit resources used by space services.

The resolution underscores the urgent need to review technologies used in satellite networks in the geostationary satellite orbit (GSO), as well as the increased numbers of satellites within non-GSO satellite systems, with a view to addressing them in the Radio Regulations and in the processing of frequency assignments by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (BR).

As such, Member States instructed the Radiocommunication Assembly (RA) to urgently perform the necessary studies through ITU-R study groups to address the increasing use of radio spectrum and associated orbit resources in non-GSO orbits and the long-term sustainability of these resources.

The resolution also instructs the RA to have ITU-R study groups investigate equitable access to, and rational and compatible use of, GSO and non-GSO orbit and spectrum resources in line with Article 44 of the ITU Constitution.

Space sustainability at WRC-23 and beyond

Space technologies feature high on the agenda of the next World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23), set to take place between 20 November and 15 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

At WRC-23, delegates will decide whether to allocate additional radio spectrum for Earth stations in motion, as well as evaluate progress on spectrum use by non-GSO satellite constellations and on narrow-band transmissions for the satellite component of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Amid an ever-changing environment, ITU is working to address the spectrum needs of the new space systems while maintaining reliable and sustainable space services of existing systems.

In practice, this means maintaining sustainability of space services by amending the rules on how the radio spectrum is used from Earth-orbits to accommodate newly developed technologies like the deployment of satellite constellations.

Finally, it means reinforcing all space stakeholder initiatives at the UN, national, regional and industry levels, with focused cooperation leading to an integrated and evolving global approach to a space sustainable governance.

Based on a paper presented at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC-22) held in Paris from 18 to 22 September 2022. Read the full paper.

Learn more about the Radio Regulations and the efficient management of spectrum and satellite orbits on the World Radiocommunication Seminar website.

Image credit: Aliaksandr Marko via Adobe Stock