Chikyū Earth Orbital Foundation
Chikyū Foundation
An educational 501(c)(3) Foundation
dedicated to space research, including mare liberum and cybersecurity in low Earth orbit (LEO)
LEO Background Information
From the Bipartisan Policy Center, this backgrounder on LEO satellites is a good starting spot.
The surge in low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites has brought them to the forefront of modern technology, with deployment numbers only set to climb higher. As these constellations grow -- and as more organizations develop their own -- the responsibility falls on policymakers to manage critical issues like orbital traffic, frequency allocation, and federal subsidies. However, because this sector is evolving so rapidly, many officials are still getting up to speed on the technical nuances. This video aims to bridge that gap by covering the fundamentals of LEO technology for leaders and the public alike.
News & Research
A simple shift could make low Earth orbit satellites high-capacity
Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites could soon offer millions of people worldwide access to high-speed communications, but the satellites’ potential has been stymied by a technological limitation — their antenna arrays can only manage one user at a time.
The one-to-one ratio means that companies must either launch constellations of many satellites, or large individual satellites with many arrays to provide wide coverage. Both options are expensive, technically complex, and could lead to overcrowded orbits.
For example, SpaceX went the “constellation” route. Its network, StarLink, currently consists of over 6,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, over half of which were launched in the past few years. SpaceX aims to launch tens of thousands more in the coming years.
The satellite spectrum battle that could shape the new space economy
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is pushing to loosen power limits on transmissions in low Earth orbit, a move that some fear could give upstart US operators more power
By Peggy Hollinger and Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu in London for the Financial Times, September 27, 2024
In early August, when corporate activity was in a summer lull, Elon Musk’s SpaceX quietly opened up a new front in a global battle over a scarce and precious resource: radio spectrum.
Its target was an obscure international regulation governing the way spectrum, the invisible highway of electromagnetic waves that enables all wireless technology, is shared by satellite operators in different orbits. And the chosen weapon was the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission.
On August 9, SpaceX petitioned the FCC to loosen globally agreed power limits on transmissions from operators like itself in low Earth orbit, the region of space up to 2,000km above the planet’s surface set to be a pivotal arena in the future of communication, transportation and defence.
The so-called equivalent power flux density rules were set more than 20 years ago to ensure signals from low Earth orbit did not interfere with those from systems in higher geostationary, or fixed, orbit.
SpaceX, which owns the world’s fastest-growing satellite broadband network, Starlink, told the regulator that these “antiquated power restrictions” were unfit for “the modern space age”. It went on to charge that the international process governing the rules had been hijacked by an alliance between the operators of older, geostationary systems and “America’s staunchest adversaries”.
At stake was “US global competitiveness in the new space economy” and the future of satellite communication, it said.
Our mission at the Chikyū Earth Orbital Foundation is to connect academic, commercial, and national security practitioners in the U.S., Japan, Australia, and the U.K. in support of keeping the tradition of "freedom of the seas" applicable to low Earth orbit (LEO) and middle Earth orbit (MEO) alive. We believe these countries' commitment to the safe use of space will be the foundation for maintaining this shared resource as a domain where all can operate.
We support educational and research programs to improve knowledge in the general public and among future policymakers of LEO, MEO, and related space issues. We also support sensible regulation of the space environment to empower human activity in space.
For more information on the Foundation, our history, and our work, see our About page.
For more information on grants supported by the Foundation, please see our Grants page.
For the latest news and updates, follow us on BlueSky.
