NTIA, NASA Recommend 18 GHz Band Allocation to Bolster Commercial Space Activities

The space industry would get new tools under recommendations from NTIA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), further advancing America’s leadership in commercial space. A joint report by NTIA and NASA calls for providing the industry with access to radio frequencies for use in space-to-space communications.

The report recommends expanded spectrum access through a new commercial allocation in the 18 GHz band (18.1-18.6 GHz), which would be paired with an allocation for Federal Government operations. The new, co-primary allocations in this band would provide regulatory certainty for the development of commercial services to meet NASA’s future needs. This aligns with Congress’s direction to NASA to utilize commercial space services whenever possible and to encourage the growth of the commercial space industry. 

The joint report, approved by NTIA’s Interagency Spectrum Advisory Council (ISAC), builds upon actions at the 2023 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-23), where the 18 GHz band was allocated for space-to-space links globally.

Several federal agencies – including NASA, the Department of Defense (DOD), and NTIA – have completed technical studies paving the way for the 18 GHz allocation. The federal agencies focused on a particular use case: commercial replacement for NASA’s space-to-space links. Because NASA will not be building more Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), it needs a way to meet intersatellite data link requirements for future missions.    

The 18 GHz Band Report makes the following specific recommendations:

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 18 GHz allocations and service rules – and then should move forward quickly to adopt a responsive Report and Order to finalize them.
• The FCC should 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 Allocations, for both Federal and non-Federal use, and should add a new U.S. footnote to ensure protection of existing systems.
• FCC adoption of a new U.S. footnote to the Table will ensure that the use of space-to-space links in this band for Federal systems is limited to communications with a non-Federal network or system for space relay purposes.
• The NTIA Manual should be revised to reflect the power limits needed to protect incumbent operations when the recommended allocation changes are made.

For its part, the FCC has issued a public notice on the allocation of the 18 GHz band for space-to-space use and received support for moving forward with this allocation. NTIA looks forward to working with the FCC and the federal agencies to implement this allocation as soon as possible to bring this band into use for space-to-space links.