During the second day of the 2025 NewSpace Africa Conference, John P. Janka, Chief Officer of Global Government Affairs at Viasat, delivered a stark warning Unchecked mega constellations pose a real and present danger to Africa’s space driven growth, innovation, and security ambitions.
His presentation, A Real and Present Danger to Growth, Innovation, Security & Resilience in Africa,highlighted how a single dominant satellite operator could monopolise orbits and spectrum, throttling competition and stifling Africa’s digital future.
A major concern is the accelerated deployment of non-geostationary orbit NGSO satellite systems.
Janka noted that one operator has proposed launching 34,000 satellites, utilising 51 GHz of spectrum, a significant portion of the available bandwidth below 100 GHz.
With over 20 GHz of additional spectrum under discussion for new applications at the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference WRC-27, the potential for spectrum congestion and competition is high.
The message was clear: Africa must not become a passive spectator in the global space race.
Janka’s presentation underscored the need for Africa to take an active role in shaping global satellite policies.
Without intervention, the continent risks becoming overly dependent on a small group of operators, which could limit its ability to control costs, ensure service reliability, and develop local space capabilities.
Source: https://spaceinafrica.com/2025/04/22/one-mega-constellation-could-hobble-africas-future-in-space-john-p-janka-warns-of-spectrum-overreach-at-the-2025-newspace-africa-conference/
