Next steps to keep crowded satellite lanes open

What happens in orbit no longer stays in orbit. Today, with thousands of satellites racing overhead, space activities shape life on Earth in countless ways.

But keeping orbits clear and space use viable can be complex.

The latest Space Connect webinar hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) highlighted some key takeaways from recent global space sustainability discussions.

“We define space sustainability pretty broadly,” said Krystal Azelton, Senior Director for Program Planning at the Secure World Foundation. “How do we make sure that we have a safe, secure, peaceful and usable space environment for the long-term benefit of humanity?”

Safety and security in orbit hinge on numerous factors, from mission planning and radio-frequency spectrum coordination to repair and retrieval when satellite systems fail. Ever-changing space weather is an important factor, too.

A concern for everyone

As space gets more crowded and commercialized, every nation or organization with satellite aspirations needs to work with others.

“It’s not an issue only for rich space-faring nations,” said Alexandre Vallet, Chief of the Space Services Department at ITU. “It’s really an issue for all nations and all actors to be involved in the space sustainability discussions.”

Growing numbers of countries rely on space services for navigation, weather forecasting, and communications. Nearly two thirds now operate their own satellites, and many others aim to do so.

“Space sustainability is not only about now, but about tomorrow and the future,” Vallet said. “We must ensure that those who will get access to space in the future are also involved.”

Maintaining the space ecosystem, he added, requires everyone’s input to help shape the rules.

The second ITU Space Sustainability Forum, held in Geneva in late 2025, attracted over 6,000 participants and viewers worldwide, reflecting growing interest in practices like enhanced data sharing in orbit.

Another recent meeting, the 7th Summit for Space Sustainability co-hosted by the Secure World Foundation in partnership with the French National Centre for Space Studies and the Government of France, also advanced concrete approaches for viable long-term activities in Earth’s orbital environment.

Coordination needed at every level

For ITU, with a long-standing mandate for radio spectrum management, sustainability in space centres on preventing harmful interference between satellite signals and other communications. Vallet underscored the need to keep radio signals clear, safeguard all spacecraft, and enable satellite operators to deliver services reliably to customers on the ground.

Spectrum harmonization alone calls for coordination at every level. Even within national governments, different departments may pursue divergent space and spectrum policy goals.

“Ensuring good national coordination between the various parts of government that deal with space is now becoming more challenging,” said Vallet, advising each country to articulate a whole-of-government approach to space.

Military usage adds another layer of complexity to space coordination, with defence-driven innovation advancing far faster than international regulatory agreements. Rapid expansion dual-use systems, often without corresponding regulatory clarity, poses new operational risks for all space users, Azelton noted.

“Most of the money is coming from defence right now, and yet those needs are not being very well coordinated with the larger civil and commercial community,” she said.

Oversight without overreach

The challenge of managing debris from old and broken satellites raises questions about how far regulations can go. Azelton suggests reframing international cooperation on space issues as a strategic necessity rather than a regulatory burden.

“Space sustainability is the fundamental element that brings together growth,” she said. “Balancing economic growth with environmental stewardship is the secret to the longevity of the space environment.”

Yet designing oversight mechanisms is hard in such a fast-growing sector.

“We can’t regulate what doesn’t exist, but we also can’t wait until we have a problem,” Azelton said.

Cultivating cooperation

Trust and transparency – cultivated through platforms like the Summit for Space Sustainability and ITU’s Space Sustainability Forum – are increasingly crucial for widely diverse operators to share data and keep working together in practice.

Along with ITU’s main space forum, monthly Space Connect webinars have stepped up the exchange among governments, regulators, space agencies and satellite companies on how to keep the space ecosystem viable.

Topics in 2025 ranged from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite authorizations and ground infrastructure to humanitarian assistance and emergency response applications. Building on the past year’s sessions, ITU and partners continue exploring the challenges and opportunities of rapid space development in 2026.

Replay Space Connect Episode 9: Highlights on Space Sustainability: ITU SSF-2025 and SWF 7th Summit for Space

Future episodes

Going forward, the monthly webinar sessions will look more closely at practical space applications.

ITU’s webinar series will keep exploring critical topics like space sustainability, advances in launch technologies, and new economic opportunities emerging from space-enabled services.

Don’t miss the first Space Connect Episode of 2026: E1 – Direct-to-Device policy: Shaping the future of seamless connectivity

Other upcoming topics include Earth observation, climate monitoring, and emergency response, as well as machine-to-machine (M2M) and cislunar (Earth-Moon) communications, digital infrastructure resilience, ICT policy innovation will be the subjects evoke in-depths discussion in the following Space Connect episodes.

Tell us your top three areas of interest for future Space Connect sessions

The sessions, hosted at ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, for participants worldwide, offer insights on how evolving satellite tech will shape future global connectivity and communications.

Learn more about the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) and its Space Services Department

Header image credit: Adobe Stock/AI generated