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There’s astatine slightest 1 abstraction contention already underway to get to the moon. There’s besides different one: to assertion vigor frequencies and orbital slots successful the constricted abstraction astir the earth. The main participants of this contention are companies launching ample fleets of satellites moving together, called megaconstellations. These megaconstellations are already revolutionising Internet entree astir the satellite — but they’re besides sparking a fierce and fraught contention for the invisible highways crossed which they nonstop and person information.
In physics, ‘spectrum’ refers to vigor levels. Satellite communications uses the connection with a akin meaning: the spectrum is the scope of vigor frequencies disposable for wireless information transmission. Radio frequencies are to outer abstraction activities arsenic oxygen is to beingness connected the earth’s surface: essential. Enabling information transmission betwixt satellites and crushed stations done electromagnetic spectrum bands allocated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) assigns the frequencies of electromagnetic radiation that antithetic satellites and crushed stations tin usage to speech to each other. The astir sought aft frequencies are Ku-band (12-18 GHz) and Ka-band (26-40 GHz) for high-speed outer net and L-band (1-2 GHz) for GPS. Each outer indispensable coordinate its spectrum usage to debar interfering with signals successful different channel. But spectrum unsocial is insufficient: satellites besides request to inhabit definite carnal orbital positions truthful that their broadcasts scope antennae connected the ground.
Megaconstellation boom
This scramble for spectrum and orbital slots has led to unprecedented outer deployment. SpaceX’s Starlink, launched successful 2019, present operates implicit 8,000 satellites with plans for up to 42,000. OneWeb has 648 satellites, Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans 3,200, and China’s GuoWang has aimed for 13,000.
The worth of the outer megaconstellation marketplace is frankincense projected to detonate from $4.27 cardinal successful 2024 to $27.31 cardinal by 2032, a 25.5% yearly maturation complaint driven by request for high-speed Internet successful distant regions and dropping motorboat costs. The contention besides transcends commercialized markets; to countries extracurricular the west, megaconstellations represent a strategical propulsion for technological sovereignty successful abstraction communications.
ITU governance
The ITU is simply a specialised bureau of the United Nations with 194 subordinate states. It serves arsenic the sole planetary coordinator for outer spectrum and orbital slots, operating nether the rule that these are “limited earthy resources that indispensable beryllium utilized rationally, efficiently and economically”.
The ITU’s first-come, first-served coordination strategy requires outer operators to record frequence applications and coordinate with perchance affected administrations earlier receiving planetary recognition. This creates a competitory vantage for well-capitalised entities from spacefaring nations due to the fact that they tin record applications aboriginal and support the ineligible and method expertise to navigate the lengthy coordination process. Late entrants hazard uncovering the astir invaluable spectrum-orbital combinations already claimed.
The World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 introduced immoderate reforms. Its Resolution 8 successful peculiar requires operators to notify deviations betwixt planned and existent orbital deployments, preventing companies from claiming 1 orbit portion deploying elsewhere. The Conference besides formalised expectations that if a institution proposes to motorboat a megaconstellation, it indispensable deploy 10% of it wrong 2 years, 50% wrong 5 years, and implicit deployment successful 7 years.
The ITU’s model was designed for the 1960s-1990s outer epoch and contiguous faces mounting pressure. Its 2025-2029 operational program identifies “spectrum and outer orbits” arsenic the apical priority, acknowledging that accepted coordination mechanisms designed for hundreds of satellites are struggling to negociate thousands of yearly deployments. The assemblage processes astir 80% of satellite-related docket items, a motion that outer constellations predominate planetary spectrum management.
Digital disagreement
It’s not imaginable to simply constitute disconnected megaconstellations due to the fact that they are 1 solution to bridging a connectivity disparity among the world’s countries. For instance, connected the Global Connectivity Index (a fig that combines the fig of net users, connected devices, natural-disaster vulnerability, and GDP), Switzerland leads with a people of 34.41 portion India sits astatine 8.59, a astir fourfold gap. Worldwide, 2.6 cardinal radical remained offline astatine the commencement of 2025, with the astir susceptible populations successful South Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Satellite operators cognize that satellites successful low-earth orbit (150-2,000 km supra oversea level) committedness little latency and higher bandwidth than accepted geostationary satellites (35,786 km supra oversea level). A latency of 20-40 ms, compared to 600+ ma for geostationary satellites, makes real-time applications similar telemedicine and online acquisition much feasible successful distant regions, particularly wherever ground-based infrastructure is retired of the question.
The thorn present is affordability. Starlink’s idiosyncratic terminal, which receives the satellites’ transmissions, costs astir $600 (₹53,168 connected November 17) with monthly subscription fees, which is unaffordable for agrarian populations without subsidies oregon tiered pricing models. The ITU’s ‘Connecting Humanity Action Blueprint’ has besides estimated that closing the integer disagreement by 2030 volition necessitate $2.6-2.8 trillion successful investments, underscoring the standard of the challenge.
For emerging spacefaring nations, this creates dual imperatives: securing spectrum entree done the ITU’s coordination strategy portion ensuring connectivity translates to genuine affordability.
India exemplifies this situation. The GSAT-N2 outer of the Indian Space Research Organisation has a throughput of 48 Gbps and covers distant regions, including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the Northeast, portion Bharti Enterprises’ 39% involvement successful OneWeb positions India wrong the planetary low-earth orbit ecosystem. However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority has recommended administrative spectrum allocation alternatively than auctions, recognising that spectrum for non-geostationary satellites tin beryllium shared erstwhile decently coordinated. This model is designed to accelerate deployment portion maintaining affordability.
Yet the cardinal hostility remains: without regulatory mandates for cosmopolitan work obligations oregon authorities subsidies, outer broadband risks becoming premium infrastructure serving municipality enterprises and affluent households alternatively than bridging urban-rural divides.
The way onward
Thus the urgency of betterment is clear. Current trajectories bespeak operators astir the satellite volition motorboat much than 50,000 satellites by 2030. The Earth orbit hosts astir 40,000 tracked objects, including implicit 27,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 cm.
The ITU adopted a solution called ITU-R 74 successful 2023 calling for the sustainable usage of spectrum and orbital resources, including measures to mitigate abstraction debris. Notably, it requires satellites to beryllium removed from orbit wrong 25 years of completing their missions to forestall defunct spacecraft from accumulating successful orbit. Current compliance rates stay low, however, with astatine champion 70% of outer operators really deorbiting their machines successful this timeframe. This compliance spread means debris continues to accumulate faster than it is removed, threatening the semipermanent sustainability of orbital space.
As megaconstellations participate orbit, the wide occurrence depends connected governance frameworks that equilibrium commercialized innovation with technological research, equitable access, and of people orbital sustainability. Without binding planetary standards and equitable allocation, the combat for spectrum could go a war, risking creating an orbital situation that is yet excessively congested for anyone to use. For emerging abstraction nations similar India, shaping these frameworks now, alternatively than accepting rules written by different governments, volition find whether abstraction becomes a shared assets oregon a domain of persistent inequality.
Shrawani Shagun is simply a researcher focusing connected biology sustainability and abstraction governance.
