Ruth Pritchard-Kelly

Ruth Pritchard-Kelly is an expert on satellite regulatory policy with over 30 years of experience. As the Principal at RPK Advisors, Pritchard-Kelly provides expert advice on best practices for global satellite regulatory policy, and she is concurrently the Senior Advisor for Regulatory and Space Policy at OneWeb. She has extensive experience advocating for improvements and updates to regulations around the world to allow innovation in satellite technology to provide better connectivity to the world and lectures frequently on the topics of satellite and space law, as well as responsible and sustainable space. Pritchard-Kelly has a Master’s Degree in space and telecommunications policy from George Washington University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland.

As Vice President of all regulatory policy and licensing for OneWeb’s LEO constellation from 2018-2021, she led a global team of legal and technical policy analysts who worked on transforming satellite policies internationally by: Successfully arguing for market access, landing rights, and to change domestic frequency allocations or regulations where necessary with regard to non-geostationary constellations and newer frequency bands (Ka, V) in every region of the world; and Licensing satellite services, ground operations, launch authority, and spectrum allocations in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and coordinating the technical and financial perspectives needed for those applications.

Ms. Pritchard-Kelly also provided strategic regulatory advice to senior management at OneWeb to best capture future business opportunities. She supported ITU filings and participate in the WRC process, including ITU-R and ITU-D working groups, as well as Council and Plenipotentiary issues pertinent to the satellite industry. Pritchard-Kelly routinely represented OneWeb in numerous associations (such as GVF, ESOA, SIA, USTTI) as well as participate in speaking opportunities and being a regular spokesperson for the company.

From 2010 until 2018, Pritchard-Kelly was the Director of Regulatory Affairs at SES Networks (formerly O3b Networks) and at American Mobile Satellite Corporation (an early U.S. mobile satellite licensee) in Washington, DC and The Hague, Netherlands. There, she managed the implementation of all non-US regulatory affairs for SES (O3b) Networks. She applied for and maintained licenses for satellite services, ground operations, launch authority, and spectrum allocations in multiple jurisdictions around the world, and coordinated the technical and financial perspectives needed for those applications. She was also a frequent participant in international and regional working groups such as APT, CEPT, CITEL, the Communications Alliance, and the CTO.