Nanosatellites

28 III-2bPolicies and Regulations in North America

Mike Miller¹, and Kirk Woellert²

¹Sterk Solutions Corporation, Philipsburg, USA

²ManTech International, Washington, D.C, USA

28.1 Introduction

The eventual scope of this chapter will provide guidance for all countries of North America. Such a treatment is beyond the scope of this inaugural edition, and the focus will be on the USA. Future editions of this chapter will be expanded to describe the regulatory environment and licensing regimes for Canada and Mexico. The regulatory discussion will be limited to nonfederal (i.e. commercial, experimental, and amateur) US satellite developers only. NonUS payload developers are expected to comply with the regulations of their country of residence and should refer to the appropriate chapters in this book.

The policies and regulations in the USA governing the operation of nanosatellites are largely the same as those governing operation of satellites in general. These derive from a combination of US obligations under international treaties, agreements, and practices that further US interests in space, and that are encouraging responsible use of the resources involved. The proliferation of nanosatellites to address a variety of opportunities makes this a dynamic topic, as regulations, and regulators, evolve in response to the greatly increasing number and range of functions of this class of satellite.

Nanosatellite technology has commonly been referred to as a disruptive phenomenon [1], ...