ITU publishes toolkit to guide NGSO satellite licensing
The ITU Development Sector has published a toolkit to help regulators establish licensing frameworks for non-geostationary satellite systems, covering spectrum, market access, terminals and satellite services.
The growing use of low-Earth orbit satellite constellations is creating new regulatory questions for national authorities. The ITU Development Sector has published a new toolkit to help policymakers address these questions when developing or updating licensing frameworks for non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) systems.
The toolkit focuses on decisions that regulators face when allowing satellite operators to enter national markets. These include access to spectrum, authorisation of earth stations and user terminals, and the conditions under which satellite connectivity and services can be provided. It also addresses direct-to-device connectivity.
Rather than proposing a single regulatory model, the publication sets out 32 issues and possible approaches that administrations can consider according to their legal mandates, institutional capacity, market conditions and connectivity objectives. It also provides a checklist for regulators working through the different elements of an NGSO licensing framework.
The framework covers the full licensing process, including legal and procedural requirements as well as issues such as consumer protection, universal service and disaster response. It also considers areas that may sit outside a national NGSO licence itself, including orbital sustainability, cross-border enforcement of user terminals, regional regulatory harmonisation and technical limits on interference.
A recurring issue is how regulators balance competing policy objectives. The toolkit identifies three tensions that appear across many of the decisions: allowing services to reach the market quickly while giving authorities enough time to assess new technologies; maintaining regulatory leverage while giving operators sufficient flexibility; and balancing government revenue with the affordability of satellite services.
The publication reflects the changing role of satellite connectivity. LEO constellations have expanded the potential use of satellite broadband beyond traditional geostationary systems, creating the possibility of providing connectivity across wider areas and to locations that are difficult to serve through terrestrial infrastructure.
For regulators, this creates a need to adapt licensing approaches to a different satellite market while considering national connectivity objectives. The ITU toolkit is intended as a practical reference for this process, rather than as a uniform licensing regime for all countries.
The toolkit was published in September 2026 as part of the ITU Development Sector’s work on digital policy and regulation.
