By Ron Faith
In the Wild West of the 1800’s in the United States, there was a land grab that required prospectors to be proactive, aware, and ready to defend their land. While the actual area in space is much more vast, one resource that is not unlimited is spectrum. As more and more spacecraft reach space and begin to communicate with the ground, satellite operators should be thinking about how to license, protect, and monitor their spectrum. Governments have been performing spectrum monitoring for many years, and now it’s becoming more and more important to the commercial sector.
Knowing what kind of spectrum you need and how to license it is the first part of proper spectrum management. Today spectrum is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States and coordinated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) worldwide. Making sure you are properly licensed and coordinated with these agencies on the ground and in space is important to insure no interruptions in service, launch approval, and ground station compatibility. Spectrum is regulated in such a way as to avoid radio frequency (RF) interference between spacecraft, which could make the signal sent all but unusable. You can think about spectrum like a pie that gets divided up in slices. As more spacecraft go up, that pie gets divided into thinner and thinner slices. And it’s not just satellite operators who need spectrum. The wireless carriers are the “800 pound gorillas” when it comes to spectrum, as evidenced by the recent government decision to take back C-band spectrum from satellite operators for auction and use for 5G.
Another key part of the proper management of spectrum is space domain awareness, or knowing where your spacecraft is in space in relation to other spacecraft. This is both for potential collision awareness and avoidance, and also to monitor for potential RF interference from other spacecraft. Spectrum monitoring and alerting are becoming especially important as congestion in space increases. Spacecraft are revenue producing assets from the data services they generate. If they are not able to properly downlink their data due to interference in space or on the ground, that can mean lost revenue to the satellite operator. The interference can be unintentional, or because of something more nefarious. Additionally, if you have questions about which spacecraft in orbit today are using which spectrum, being able to identify and monitor the existing environment can aid in mission planning and provide intelligence on those spacecraft.
RBC Signals understands the importance of spectrum and has designed a suite of products and services to help the satellite operator license, understand, monitor, and respond to spectrum use. In today’s space industry of increasing congestion, activity and interference, it’s important to stay proactive and informed on the space environment. Having a partner who understands these challenges can mean the difference between being able to quickly adapt and respond or being caught off guard.