CSSMA

The Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association (CSSMA) is a Washington, DC-based 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association established to represent the spectrum policy and regulatory interests of the commercial small satellite industry before the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), ITU (International Telecommunication Union), and NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), addressing the unique frequency coordination challenges that proliferating commercial smallsat constellations face under regulatory frameworks designed for an earlier era of single, large geostationary satellites.

CSSMA founding members included leading commercial smallsat operators and manufacturers — Planet Labs, Spire Global, HawkEye 360, Kepler Communications, KSAT, and Blue Canyon Technologies — representing the breadth of the smallsat ecosystem from Earth observation to IoT data collection to ground station operations. These companies faced common regulatory challenges: applying for spectrum licenses for hundreds of non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) platforms under ITU coordination procedures that require bilateral coordination with every existing satellite system whose spectrum could interfere, a process designed for single GEO satellites that breaks down when applied to 100+ satellite constellations.

CSSMA advocates for streamlined blanket licensing approaches that treat a constellation as a single entity for regulatory purposes, updated interference coordination frameworks appropriate to LEO and MEO NGSO dynamics, and predictable FCC processing timelines for spectrum applications that match commercial investment cycles. The association also engages on spectrum sharing between Earth observation sensor frequencies and growing communications uses, and on the governance of spectrum in emerging frequency bands (V-band, E-band, optical) being targeted for future constellation use.

By presenting a unified industry voice, CSSMA aims to ensure that regulatory policy evolution enables rather than constrains the commercial smallsat sector's growth, competing with incumbents' preference for maintaining regulatory complexity that raises barriers to new entrants.