## 3 Legal Challenges Posed by Mega-Constellations to Existing International Space Law Regime
### The Issue of Space Traffic Management  
#### 3.3.1 Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management  
The ITU orbital allocations divide spacecraft into two categories: geostationary (GSO) and non-geostationary (NGSO). The International Telecommunication Union currently coordinates GSO, and, because of the limited and distinctive nature of these positions within GSO, coordination has always been considered essential. Current statistics reveal that there are only 1800 orbital slots in GSO, which is well organized when compared to other orbits [56]. Because of the increased use of other orbits closer to Earth, like LEO, it has been suggested that they may soon need coordination, although this is not currently performed, especially since satellites in LEO do not have a fixed location. The ITU and WRC have engaged in efforts through discussions and proposals to develop frameworks for coordination amidst the growing number of constellations [57; 58]. During the World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-23), a proposal to review the equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits was approved in order to address the unfavorable limits placed on LEO users, especially in spectrum utilization [59; 60]. With this in mind, users at GSO are assigned an orbital slot that is as small as a three-dimensional box in which to work. Due to this, these slots differ from the multi-orbital planes of several satellites that constellations use, also referred to as orbital \"shells\", which essentially encircle the entire planet. The organized GSO region is very different from that of the low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), where regulations governing the use and governance of these regions are not very specific, the congestion and collision risks are constantly rising, and satellites owned by numerous users and for a variety of purposes are periodically transiting around the planet. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), two national frequency administrators that oversee government and commercial frequencies, respectively, license operators in accordance with how they understand their responsibilities under the space law. No problems with constellations have arisen during the license giving process. On the one hand, the argument that satellite constellations' use of LEO is legal because it is essentially the same as their use of GSO could be upheld, since the utilization of pre-coordinated subsections of space is granted to individual actors in each region by a national administrator or through a national administrator by an international regulatory body (ITU). This is essentially the same as using orbital slots in GSO; placing spacecraft into a low Earth orbit (LEO) or higher does not imply possession, ownership, or occupation. This is because states have been using GSO slots for many years without ever being accused of misusing GSO. Other space actors in the space domain recognize the users' rights to utilize GSO, and they have never claimed to be appropriating it. On the other hand, it could be argued that although allocation does not come with ownership rights to the outer space area, it grants lifetime exclusive rights to an operator based on its satellite life. Moreover, because the operators keep refining for the slot and replacing old satellites with new ones, they are typically keeping these orbital slots indefinitely. This is not a clear-cut occupation or appropriation, because spacecraft in a low Earth orbit (LEO) are actually moving through space and are not stationary, whereas GSO locations are relatively stable--for example, they are subject to space weather and other perturbations and require station keeping. Additionally, other users will be able to use these orbits thanks to space situational awareness (SSA) and space traffic management (STM), and aspects of one user's use will not prevent the use of others.