LA PLATA, Maryland — International regulators rejected Britain’s appeal to extend a deadline to register two Ku- and Ka-band GEO orbital positions after the in-orbit failure of an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) carrying a satellite to register the slots, saying the UK should have known that using unproven technology was risky.
As a result, the failure of the OTV to deliver the satellite into GEO orbit cannot be called “force majeure,” the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations Board (RRB) said Nov. 19.
