Strategic, economic and military aspects

The spectrum allocated to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is discussed at international level, as it must be available worldwide. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is responsible for organizing the discussions and, ultimately, for allocating the corresponding frequency bands. The band from 1,559 to 1,610 MHz has been reserved for GNSS. The American Global Positioning System (GPS) was the first to use this band, soon followed by the Russian Glonass system, then by Galileo and Beidou.

The multiplication of these constellations shows just how much of a strategic and political challenge they represent. From a European point of view, the decision to build a new constellation was only considered after having analyzed the various possible options, such as participating in the GPS or Glonass programs. However, the constraints imposed by the various...