Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Keynote at the Space Sustainability Forum
Connected Earth, Sustainable Space
[As prepared for virtual delivery]
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues and friends,
Good morning, everyone.
It is a pleasure to join you for this year's Space Sustainability Forum.
My sincere thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to H.E. Haytham AlOhali, Governor of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, and to the entire CST team for bringing Connecting the World from the Skies, and the Space Sustainability Forum together.
While circumstances have required us to adjust the format of this year's Forum, our commitment remains unchanged.
We stand in solidarity with our friends and colleagues in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is a fitting host with a growing space sector spanning human spaceflight, satellite development, operations and research.
And by bringing these two events together, our hosts have placed a fundamental question at the heart of our discussions:
How do we expand the opportunities space offers while sustaining the resources that make those opportunities possible?
Ladies and gentlemen,
Over the past year, AI and space have both continued to reshape the global technology conversation.
From the recent Space Summit in Paris, to the UNGA (UN General Assembly), these issues have been firmly in the spotlight.
Last week, the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya expressed that ambition through its theme: “The World Needs More Space."
For us, as a global community, that means ensuring that greater access to space creates greater opportunity for everyone, while protecting the resources on which that opportunity depends.
During the same week, World Space Week captured the transformation happening above us in two words: “Rocket Revolution."
And this centenary year gives us a remarkable perspective on that revolution.
In 1926, Robert Goddard launched the world's first successful liquid-fuelled rocket.
It flew for two and a half seconds, rising just 12.5 metres.
Today, around 19,000 satellites are in space ꟷ roughly 16,000 of them active.
That's quite a century of change.
The significance of that change reaches far beyond orbit.
Satellites connect remote communities, support weather forecasting and Earth observation and keep communications running when terrestrial infrastructure fails.
These capabilities matter deeply to our mission at ITU.
Mobile broadband covers more than 96 per cent of the world's population.
Yet 2.2 billion people remain offline ꟷ held back by affordability, devices, skills and quality of connectivity.
Space can help us reach further.
Turning that reach into meaningful connectivity, however, takes more than launching satellites.
Many developing countries face regulatory, technical, institutional and financing constraints.
We need to ensure that more countries build the capacity to use space technologies and turn access into lasting benefits for their communities.
As those opportunities expand, so does our shared responsibility.
Larger constellations bring greater demand for finite spectrum resource and more complex coordination.
Space sustainability therefore has both a physical and a radio-frequency dimension: The environment in orbit and the radio-frequency environment every satellite depends on.
Avoiding collisions is essential.
So is preventing harmful interference, using spectrum and orbital resources efficiently and keeping them accessible for future generations.
Meeting these responsibilities requires predictable frameworks for governments, planning for the full lifecycle of satellite systems by operators, and greater transparency and information-sharing across the sector.
It also takes collaboration across the space community. I am especially pleased to welcome our colleagues from UNOOSA, who are contributing their expertise in space law and responsible governance throughout this Forum.
This is where ITU makes a practical contribution.
Since the first Space Radiocommunication Conference in 1963, ITU has coordinated radio-frequency spectrum and associated satellite orbits.
Today, more than 2,700 satellite systems notified to ITU are operational ꟷ while more than 4,000 additional filings are undergoing technical and regulatory examination.
Last December alone, ITU received filings covering more than 200,000 satellites across 14 proposed constellations.
Not all of these proposed satellites will reach orbit.
Nevertheless, the scale underscores why coordination—and the tools that support it—must keep pace.
This Forum is helping us do exactly that.
In 2024, we identified practical challenges.
A year later, we returned with the Space Sustainability Gateway, SpaceConnect and stronger channels for information-sharing.
This year, ARGUS helps administrations and operators track the deployment of large non-geostationary constellations and find the right contacts for coordination.
Together, these tools help turn our shared commitment to sustainability into practical cooperation.
They also support preparations for next year's WRC-27 where 80 per cent of the agenda items relate to space services, including: direct-to-device connectivity, space weather monitoring, Earth observation and lunar communications.
These discussions will help shape how space connects us, protects us, and deepens our understanding of our planet and beyond.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our rich forum programme brings these questions together from universal access and direct-to-device services to space law, responsible behaviour, and long-term sustainability.
We want more countries and communities to leverage space technologies for connectivity, resilience and development.
Achieving that ambition depends on managing spectrum and orbital resources responsibly, so they remain accessible and usable for the long term.
The rocket revolution is already here.
Let us work together to ensure that it connects more people, expands opportunity and sustains the space environment for generations to come.
