# Participant Registry
The iSHARE Trust Framework defines the Participant Registry (formerly known as the Satellite) as a certified role that functions as one of the Trust Anchors of a data space, enabling participants to verify whether other parties are recognised, compliant, and eligible to interact within that environment.
In practice, the Participant Registry provides a reliable and machine-readable source of information about participants. This includes their identity, roles, capabilities, and status within a data space. By making this information accessible, it allows organisations to establish trust in a consistent and automated way, building on agreed terms of use and any additional data space role-specific agreements.
The term trust anchor refers to the Participant Registry's role as an important point of trust: participants rely on it to verify whether another party is part of the data space and meets the criteria defined by the Governance Authority (Data Space Governance Body).
The Participant Registry is therefore not just a directory of organisations, but an important element for enabling secure, scalable, and interoperable data sharing.
### Participant Registry in the iSHARE Architecture
Within the iSHARE architecture, the Participant Registry helps establish trust between participants. While it does not directly participate in operational data exchange flows, it provides the prerequisite layer of trust, discoverability and interoperability that makes such interactions possible.
Each participant in a data space is explicitly linked to a Participant Registry responsible for its admission. This ensures that membership and compliance are governed in a structured and verifiable way. Data Space Governance Authority defines the criteria and processes for onboarding participants, which are then executed by the Participant Registry. The function of a Participant Registry can be performed by the Data Space Governance Authority. These two roles are interlinked and crucial to the scaling up of the data space.
The Participant Registry operates as part of a broader trust infrastructure, interacting with other roles such as [Authorisation Registries](https://framework.ishare.eu/main-aspects-of-the-ishare-trust-framework/framework-and-roles#authorisation-registry) and [Identity Providers](https://framework.ishare.eu/main-aspects-of-the-ishare-trust-framework/framework-and-roles#identity-provider). It enables participants to discover relevant information needed to make interactions, such as identifying which Authorisation Registry to use when this is not explicitly declared.
From a technical perspective, the Participant Registry exposes standardised interfaces (APIs) through which participant information, claims, and capabilities can be found. These interfaces allow systems to automatically retrieve and validate information about other parties.
The iSHARE Trust Framework further enables interoperability across data spaces by supporting a distributed model of Participant Registries. This means that multiple registries can coexist, each governed by its own data space, while still enabling the exchange and validation of information across these environments.
{% hint style="info" %}
Discover more from:
**•** Roles and Responsibilities [here](https://trustbok.ishare.eu/~/revisions/OaLCkc0KBQ7izbiIkrRW/apply-ishare/participant-registry/role-and-responsibilities)
**•** How It Works [here](https://trustbok.ishare.eu/~/revisions/z5o5UNy6S99ltLU8ivCZ/apply-ishare/participant-registry/how-it-works)
**•** Functional Capabilities [here](https://trustbok.ishare.eu/~/revisions/z5o5UNy6S99ltLU8ivCZ/apply-ishare/participant-registry/functional-capabilities)
**•** Deployment & Use Cases [here](https://trustbok.ishare.eu/~/revisions/z5o5UNy6S99ltLU8ivCZ/apply-ishare/participant-registry/deployment-and-use-cases)
{% endhint %}
### Resources and Guidance
Explore the following resources to integrate the Participant Registry within your data space:
**•** [**Participant Management**](/apply-ishare/quick-walkthroughs/participant-management.md)
Explains a detailed walkthrough on how organisations can manage their participants and update information in the participant registry through our User Interface.
**•** [**Getting Started Guide**](https://github.com/iSHAREScheme/iSHARESatellite/blob/main/docs/INSTALL.md#deploy)
A step-by-step introduction for organisations looking to onboard with a Participant Registry, including prerequisites.
**•** [**Deployment Guide**](https://www.ishare.eu/deployment-guide/)
Covers technical implementation details for deploying the Participant Registry within your data space, including key cloak setup, defining passwords, and best practices.
• [**Swagger Specification**](https://app.swaggerhub.com/apis/iSHARE/i-share_satellite/1.0)
Provides the Open API definitions for integration with the iSHARE Framework. Developers can use these specifications to interact with the Participant Registry and other components.
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