Summary

  • Ofcom's 23 October decision adds new Ku- and Ka-band uplink routes for aircraft and maritime satellite terminals in UK airspace and territorial waters.
  • The spectrum decision is made; the notice to vary existing network licences is still open. Heathrow joins the proposed protected-aerodrome list, where a terminal operating inside the perimeter needs prior consent.

An aircraft antenna is a radio station that moves. So is a satellite terminal on a ship. The connection may look like a passenger service; the uplink is still a transmitter using a specific band, under specific interference rules, inside somebody’s jurisdiction.

Ofcom’s 23 October statement expands the frequencies available to Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs). It covers aircraft and vessels communicating with geostationary (GSO) and non-geostationary (NGSO) satellites in parts of the Ku and Ka bands. The ranges are not one blanket allocation. For example, 12.75–13.25 GHz is added for GSO ESIMs on aircraft and vessels. Aeronautical NGSO uplinks include 27.5–29.1 GHz and 29.5–30 GHz; the maritime NGSO ranges are narrower. The split follows the operating conditions attached to each satellite and platform combination.

That distinction is the engineering point. Aircraft, ships, GSO links and NGSO links do not all occupy one interchangeable lane. The ITU’s WRC-23 resolutions set technical conditions for coexistence with other services. Ofcom is writing those conditions into the UK authorisation framework, so a moving terminal’s permission has a frequency, a platform, an orbit class and an operating boundary.

The airport boundary is unusually literal. Ofcom’s accompanying General Notice proposes adding Heathrow to the protected-aerodrome schedule in existing Earth Station Network licences. Under that condition, an ESN station operating inside a listed airport’s perimeter fence needs prior consent from the CAA or the named Airport Authority. Ofcom proposes direct contact with the airport where possible, with the CAA as a fallback.

The policy statement is a decision. The licence paperwork is a second step. Ofcom’s notice proposes varying the existing ESN licences to carry the new frequency and coexistence conditions. Licensees can make representations by 17:00 on 14 December 2026; Ofcom expects to decide in January 2027. Its notice counts nine existing NGSO ESN licences and around 60 GSO licences. Those are network authorisations, not counts of aircraft or onboard terminals.

New applications can continue while the variation process runs. Licences issued in that window would be varied automatically after the final decision. That gives satellite services a route forward without pretending that a treaty allocation edits a national licence by magic.

Sources