The Inner Monologue

To the Director and Staff of the Radiocommunication Bureau,

For more than a century, the international telecommunications community has demonstrated that scarce global resources can be managed cooperatively for the benefit of all humanity. The radio spectrum, once considered inexhaustible, is now coordinated through international rules, technical standards, and administrative processes that allow billions of people and countless systems to coexist.

Today, the world faces a similar challenge in Earth orbit.

The number of satellites operating in orbit is increasing at a rate unimaginable even a decade ago. Thousands more are planned. Orbital locations, particularly those associated with valuable spectrum assignments and heavily utilized orbital regimes, are becoming increasingly congested. At the same time, the costs of maintaining the orbital environment, tracking objects, mitigating interference, preventing collisions, and addressing debris continue to grow.

The international community has created systems for assigning and coordinating access to these resources. What it has not yet created is a comprehensive mechanism for funding their long-term stewardship.

I therefore propose that the ITU begin examining the creation of an Orbital Stewardship Fee Framework applicable to satellite networks operating under international spectrum and orbital assignments.

The principle is simple: entities that derive significant economic value from access to scarce orbital and spectrum resources should contribute proportionally to the preservation, administration, and sustainability of those resources.

Such a framework would not be punitive. Rather, it would recognize a reality familiar to every spectrum manager: resources that are valuable, finite, and shared require ongoing investment to remain useful.

Revenue generated through such a system could support:

International spectrum and orbital coordination activities.

Enhanced registry and filing administration.

Space traffic management systems.

Orbital debris monitoring and remediation efforts.

Research into sustainable space operations.

Educational initiatives that develop the next generation of engineers, scientists, and regulators.

Programs that expand equitable access to space capabilities for developing nations.

A well-designed framework would also create incentives for responsible behavior. Operators that minimize collision risk, rapidly dispose of satellites at end-of-life, share tracking information, or contribute directly to debris mitigation efforts could receive reduced fees. Those that impose greater burdens on the orbital environment would bear proportionately greater responsibility for its maintenance.

Importantly, such a system would discourage warehousing of orbital and spectrum resources. Rights that are acquired but not productively utilized represent lost opportunities for other administrations, operators, and nations.

The history of telecommunications demonstrates that stewardship and innovation are not opposing goals. Indeed, the success of the radio spectrum regime rests upon the recognition that coordinated management enhances, rather than restricts, economic development and technological progress.

The same philosophy should guide the future of space.

The ITU is uniquely positioned to begin this discussion. No other international organization possesses the Bureau’s experience in balancing technical requirements, national interests, commercial incentives, and the equitable use of global resources. The Bureau’s role in maintaining the international framework for satellite spectrum and orbital coordination makes it a natural venue for examining sustainable approaches to orbital governance.

I do not suggest that implementation would be simple. Questions of authority, valuation, international participation, and revenue distribution would require careful study and broad consultation. Yet the complexity of a challenge should not be mistaken for a reason to ignore it.

The orbital environment is rapidly becoming one of humanity’s most important shared resources. Future generations will judge today’s institutions not only by how effectively they enabled access to space, but by how responsibly they preserved it.

The ITU helped humanity learn to share the spectrum. It now has an opportunity to help humanity become responsible stewards of the orbital environment upon which so much of modern civilization increasingly depends.

Respectfully submitted,

A concerned participant in the international spectrum and satellite community