Ortho-Spectrum Resources

Radio spectrum and orbital positions are scarce resources that must be planned and managed in order to avoid interference. The international nature of space services requires that this coordination take place under a legal framework international administered by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), the operators must channel their requests to initiate this international coordination procedure through the Member States. In Spain, the Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure is the body competent to process the ortho-spectrum resources before the ITU. The registration in the International Frequency Register once the coordination is completed grants international recognition and ensures protection against interference.

At the international level, the main reference in terms of regulation applicable to ortho-spectrum resources is the Radio Regulations of the ITU (especially Articles 5, 9 and 11) binding on Member States and, at the national level, the Law 11/2022, of June 28, General of Telecommunications and the Regulation on the use of the public radio domain, approved by Royal Decree 123/2017, of February 24 (Articles 40 and later).

It is important to note that nor the initiation of the international coordination procedure in the ITU (shipment of filing) nor the subsequent registration in the International Frequency Register is sufficient for the use of the resource. The reserves of ortho-spectrum resources are made in favor of the Kingdom of Spain, and it is necessary to obtain the rights of use on such resources by the interested parties through the request of the corresponding enabling title for the private use of the ortho-spectrum resource, as established in Article 41 of the Regulation. The operator must first request the Secretary of State to send the filing to the ITU to initiate the proceavancedigital.mineco.gob.es/espectro/servicios-espaciales/Paginas/segmento-terreno.aspxdimiento international coordination and, once the coordination is completed and the resource registered in the International Frequency Register, request the qualifying title for the use of the resource.

On the other hand, in addition to having the enabling title for the exclusive use of the ortho-spectrum resource, it must be available at the national level of the authorisations necessary for the use of frequencies to communicate with said satellite, both for ground stations and for user terminals. In the section of Segment Terrain All the information necessary to make the request for the corresponding enabling titles for the private use of the public radio domain is found.

Requests related to ortho-spectrum resources must be made electronically in the tab “Space Services” of the headquarters of the Ministry, being necessary for this to have a recognized electronic certificate.

The following document is a complete guide for operators of satellite networks and systems where it is indicated how to request the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures to send a filing to the ITU to initiate the coordination procedure for a new ortho-spectrum resource. The steps to follow are also indicated, once the new one has been sent filinguntil obtaining the qualifying certificates at national level necessary for the exploitation of these resources, including the coordination procedure with foreign networks in the ITU and with national networks through the Spanish Administration, and also indicating the updated information regarding the status of the project that the operators must periodically send to the Secretary of State.

Guide to the Request for Ortho-Spectrum Resources v2.7 [PDF] [880 KB]

It also includes the model letter to submit comments to the BR IFIC Circulars mentioned in the previous document.

Modelo de carta para presentar comentarios a las BR IFIC v5.0 [DOCX] [31.33 kB]

To point out that, in accordance with Article 42.2 of the Regulation, must be provided together with the request to initiate the processing of an ortho-spectre resource, the safeguard of constitution of the guarantee to ensure compliance with the commitment to meet any financial obligations arising from the ITU relating to the orbital spectrum reserve procedure. This warranty is set out in:

  • €75,000 for geostationary systems
  • €50,000 for non-geostationary systems
  • €15,000 for non-geostationary short-term systems, which are also experimental and non-profit

On the other hand, in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 278/1995, of February 24, which creates in Spain the Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Spacethey must communicate to the General Directorate of Industrial Strategy and SMEs of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism the parameters of the object launched into outer space referred to in article 6 of the aforementioned Royal Decree (more information in sgprogramasestrategicos@mintur.es).