High-Level Event on the future of Space and Space issues in Geneva

​Good afternoon​ everyone, and welcome to ITU. 

We are very pleased to host this event on the future of space, and space issues in Geneva. In particular I would like to thank the Permanent Mission of France for organizing today’s event, and in particular Ambassador François Rivasseau, who was Special Envoy for Space and Head of the Security Policy and Space Policy at the European External Action Service prior to his appointment in Geneva.

As you may know, ITU maintains the only international treaty on the use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits – the Radio Regulations. This is a complex technical treaty which includes the regulatory procedures to be followed in coordinating the orbital slots. It ensures that satellites operate free from harmful interference. ITU has been maintaining this treaty for over 112 years, so long before space services joined it. 

That year was 1963, just six years after Sputnik’s flight. 400 delegates from 70 ITU Member States were in Geneva for an Extraordinary Administrative Radio Conference that would initiate an uninterrupted flow of global regulations and standards on the use of radio frequencies for space services and orbital resources. 

This October, over 3000 delegates from most of our 193 Member States will gather in Sharm-El-Sheik for ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) that will once again update this very important treaty, known as the Radio Regulations and there will be a number of important satellite issues on the agenda, as well as issues related to almost all other uses of the radio spectrum. My colleague Alexandre Vallet will speak more about this later in the programme.

WRC-19 comes at a time when the satellite industry is undergoing a profound transformation. This is more apparent in ITU’s evolving and widening membership, which includes not only the top names in the business but also an increasing number of new small innovative satellite players developing. 

Small satellites, satellites with all-electric propulsion and low-earth orbiting satellites, all have an important role in connecting the unconnected which are mostly in rural areas. 

So I very much hope the discussion today will identify how ITU can further its collaboration with the increasingly wide range of stakeholders in the space sector.

ITU is fortunate to have a wide category of membership, with over 800 private sector members, regional and other international bodies, over 160 university members and a new category of membership at a low fee for SMEs and startups. We also provide remote participation to many of our meetings to avoid cost of travel and accommodation.

Satellites are an important tool of the digital economy, they help save lives in emergencies and provide critical knowledge about our planet and how to better protect the environment. They will be vital in accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

As space technologies are becoming more and more pervasive, it is important for all of us to come together to leverage the power of technology for good, and so I take this opportunity to invite you all to join us for ITU’s next “AI for Good Global Summit,” which will take place here at ITU from 28 to 31 May.  

En cette Journée internationale de la Francophonie, permettez-moi enfin de vous dire combien il est important pour nous à l’UIT de vous voir tous réunis ici pour débattre en français et en anglais des enjeux liés à l’espace et à son futur.

Merci beaucoup, ​Thank you.