Commercial space activities conducted by U.S. companies are regulated by the federal government in four major areas: space launches, remote sensing, communications, and limitation of the transfer of technology for reasons of national security and industrial policy.

Communications are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC was established in the 1930s to regulate radio (and later television) and the use of spectrum, assuring that the signals from one station would not interfere with those from another station. When commercial communications satellites arrived in the mid-1960s, the FCC had had three decades of regulatory experience.

The office within the FCC that issues licenses for satellites is the Satellite and Radiocommunications Division of the International Bureau. Licensing assures that any proposed new satellite will not interfere with other satellites or with any other operating radio applications, on Earth or in space. All commercial launches, reentries, or...