Frequency coordination & licensing

Regulatory tracks: Amateur-satellite vs Commercial / EESS#

Every radio transmitter on a spacecraft requires authorization from the national telecommunications administration of the launching/operating state under the ITU Radio Regulations[1]. Small-satellite missions follow one of two spectrum tracks[2]:

1. Amateur-satellite service ($144\text{-}146\text{MHz}$, $435\text{-}438\text{MHz}$, $2400\text{-}2450\text{MHz}$): Non-pecuniary educational and amateur missions submit a frequency coordination request to the IARU Satellite Advisor panel[3] alongside an Advance Publication Information (API) filing through their national administration. Open documentation of telemetry formats and an active educational/amateur mission component are required.
2. Space Operation / Earth Exploration-Satellite / Mobile-Satellite services: Commercial IoT constellations (such as Fossa Systems or Lacuna) and proprietary imaging missions cannot use the amateur-satellite allocation; they file under UHF ($400.15\text{-}401\text{MHz}$) or S-band ($2025\text{-}2110\text{MHz}$ uplink / $2200\text{-}2290\text{MHz}$ downlink) ITU allocations.

Band	Range (MHz)	Quarter-wave monopole (mm)	Allocation
VHF	145.8–146	514	Amateur-satellite sub-band
UHF	435–438	172	Amateur-satellite sub-band
S	2,200–2,290	33	Space research and operation downlink
X	8,025–8,400	9	Earth exploration-satellite (EESS) downlink

Amateur-satellite sub-bands require IARU coordination and non-commercial use; S and X band need ITU filings through a national administration.