## 3 Legal Challenges Posed by Mega-Constellations to Existing International Space Law Regime
### Principle of Equitable Access
#### 4.1.2 Application of Equitable Access Principle to Mega-Constellations  
Firstly, since it prevents other parties from using space, the widespread occupation of specific orbits fundamentally negates the intent behind Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty. Consequently, even though a state may grant licenses to one of its corporations for the launch and operation of satellites to this degree, this does not imply that the activities of the corporation in space, an area outside its national borders, are entirely compliant with the requirements of international law. Therefore, national approvals do not provide any such assurances. Furthermore, based on a comparison between the proposed constellations in 1996 and the current proposed constellation estimates [90], it is clear that the numbers have risen dramatically and are still increasing. This leads to the question of how operators will be able to avoid interference with GSO satellites, especially in relation to launching smallsats and cubesats in large batches, increasing the possibility of unlicensed launches or transmissions [90], which, of course, risk interference, which violates equitable access. The World Administrative Radio Conference Delegates emphasized the right of every nation to access space due to the limited nature of spectra and geostationary Earth orbits (GEO) as natural resources [91]. However, concerns arose [87], leading to debates on the enforceability of this principle [88]. This led to the ever-present realization that the res communis of outer space is fictitious, thus pushing for the Bogota Declaration in 1976. This is because the developing countries feared that no space would be left for them in which to launch geostationary satellites in the future due to orbital congestion. To put this into perspective, in 2019, there were two thousand active satellites in orbit around the Earth [92] and thirty-four thousand objects larger than ten centimeters in size. This shows orbit monopoly and questions the equitable use of the outer space, since, among other discussed issues, mega-constellations raise the risk of orbital congestion, which could hamper space missions in the future. Secondly, this has further been reinforced by the issue of the encroachment of rights, where satellite constellations have been seen to have grave effects on the astronomy industry as these unprecedented launches have endangered ground-based astronomical instrumentation [93]. The metallic, reflective surfaces of satellites have been reported to reflect light rays, which prevents ground-based equipment like telescopes from determining the movement of celestial bodies or other cosmological behavior; together with the emitted radio signals from satellites, this all obstructs astronomical research [93]. Therefore, due to Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty, everyone is free to explore and thus reserve the right to conduct research on space. It is also clear that there are unlimited rights regarding the number of satellites launched into space. This creates an important dynamic because, ultimately, one of the parties will be hindered in the exercise of their rights, because there is currently no law or legislation that deals with the issue of the encroachment of rights. The obligation under Article 9 against harmful interference and the equitable access rights under Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty offer no recourse or solution in the event that these rights are violated, especially with the mega-constellation trend. The principle of equitable access, enshrined in the International Telecommunications Union Convention and the Outer Space Treaty, assumes that all states, whether space-faring or not, should have equal opportunities to access space and communicate via satellites without interference. This principle primarily pertains to the allocation of orbital slots and spectrum procedures for geosynchronous orbits, where broadcasting activities have been conducted since the 1960s.