The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and NASA have recommended allocating radio frequencies in the 18 GHz band for space-to-space communications to keep the United States at the forefront of commercial space.
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Advancing Commercial Space Industry
According to a joint report published on Thursday, the proposed commercial allocation would be paired with an allocation for federal government operations. The 18 GHz band working group, comprising NASA, NTIA and the Department of Defense, completed technical studies and determined that new federal and non-federal intersatellite service, or ISS, allocations in the band will provide regulatory certainty to support the development of commercial services for the space agency’s future needs.
The document stated that commercial space services could meet NASA’s intersatellite data link requirements for future missions, noting that the agency will not develop additional Tracking and Data Relay Satellites for space-to-space links. NASA’s shift to commercial services, in line with a congressional directive, is expected to boost the commercial space industry.
Protecting Incumbent Operations
NTIA and NASA’s proposal builds on the 2023 World Radiocommunications Conference, during which co-primary allocations for the ISS in the 18 GHz band were added to the International Table of Frequency Allocations to support increasing missions in space.
The report directed the Federal Communications Commission to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for the 18 GHz allocations and service rules and implement the WRC-23 outcome by adopting new, co-primary allocations for the intersatellite service in the 18 GHz band in the United States Table of Frequency Allocations. It also asked the FCC to add a new international footnote to the U.S. frequency allocations table to ensure proper regulatory protection for incumbent systems using the band.
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