International Telecommunication Union ITU

The International Telecommunication Union ITU is the United Nations’ specialised agency for information and communication technologies.

The ITU has 193 Member States and almost 800 sector and associate members. The union’s activities are guided by a conference every four years, during which the Member States decide on the organisation's policies, funding and structures.

The main tasks of the ITU are standardisation, the allocation of radio spectrum and the organisation of telephone network communication protocols. The ITU is responsible for the allocation and management of global radio spectrum and satellite orbits. The global use of radio spectrum and conditions of use are governed by an agreement between national administrations, the ITU Radio Regulations, which are updated every three to four years at the World Radiocommunication Conference, WRC). 

It is necessary to agree on the use of radio spectrum internationally, so that radio frequencies as a limited and scarce resource can be used as efficiently as possible and that different radio systems operating on radio frequencies can operate without radio interference. The radio frequencies used in space activities often reach into the territory of several countries, and in order to avoid radio interference, the use of radio frequencies in space activities must be agreed internationally.

Radio transmitters for satellite systems