The recent World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) in Dubai saw regulators and industry players from across the globe attempt to shape the future of telecom, satellite and space applications. After four weeks of intense discussions and debates, 43 new resolutions were approved, with 56 existing ones revised. With spectrum a finite resource, these decisions will be crucial to how space and satellite operations are carried out over the next few years.
Enhanced flexibility for satellite services
One of the major outcomes of the conference revolved around Agenda Items 1.15 and 1.16 on the use of mobile satellite terminals on ships and airplanes. Following WRC-23, these so-called Earth Stations in Motion have now received authorization to communicate with Ku-band geostationary (GSO) satellites and non-geostationary (NGSO) Ka-band satellites. This decision follows authorization by a previous WRC that allowed geostationary satellite operators to use the Ka-band to connect with mobile terminals. That approval enabled major industry players to provide broadband services to aircraft, ships and other vessels operating in remote areas. These capabilities have been extended for an even wider set of applications, including rebuilding communication infrastructure in regions where it may have been damaged or destroyed after a natural disaster.
Ensuring safer and more reliable communications was a theme across WRC-23, with regulatory actions designed to update the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. These actions included authorization to implement the latest e-navigation systems to optimize distress and emergency communications for vessels and sites found at sea. The use of Beidou was also provisionally recognized for this purpose, so long as it can be successfully coordinated with existing networks and interference eliminated.
Three additional identifications for high-altitude platforms as International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) base…
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