18 GHz Band Report

As directed by the 2023 National Spectrum Strategy (NSS), the frequency band 18.1-18.6 GHz (the “18 GHz band”) was identified for study for expanded federal and non-federal satellite operations, consistent with the United States position at the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU’s) 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23). WRC-23 concluded on December 23, 2023, adding co-primary space-to-space allocations for the intersatellite service (ISS) in this band.

The federal agencies – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) – have completed their study on allocating this band domestically. The study supports allocations to the ISS going forward, with limits on federal use and protections for incumbent services. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice on allocating the 18 GHz band to space-to-space use and received support for moving forward.

Based on the federal study and the FCC’s public notice process, this report makes the following recommendations:

1. The FCC should issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to propose the allocations and service rules for the new use of the 18 GHz band for the ISS and then move quickly to adopt a report and order.
2. The FCC should implement the WRC-23 outcome by adding new, co-primary allocations for the ISS in the 18.1-18.6 GHz band in the United States Table of Frequency Allocations (“Table of Allocations”) for both federal and non-federal use and add a new U.S. footnote to ensure protection of existing systems.
3. The FCC also should adopt a new U.S. footnote to the Table of Allocations to 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.
4. The NTIA Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio-Frequency Spectrum Management should be revised to reflect equivalent power flux density/power flux density (ePFD/PFD) limits needed to protect incumbent operations at the time these recommended allocation changes are made.