Assuring the Future -- How We Gained Access to Additional Radio Spectrum for Flight Testing

摘要

In the mid-1980s, spectrum used by the Department of Defense (DoD) test community began to be reallocated for the rapidly growing consumer electronics market. By the mid-1990s, the DoD had lost access to 30 percent of the spectrum used to carry data during testing of aerospace vehicles. At the same time, advances in computer technology and onboard sensor electronics resulted in an exponentially increasing demand for additional spectrum to provide useful test results in real time during test events. The DoD joined with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the aircraft manufacturers' industry group, the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council (AFTRCC), to address this shared problem. Operating as the ad hoc Range Spectrum Requirements Working Group (RSRWG), the three partners developed a plan that ultimately led them to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an international treaty organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. This challenge required the three partners to use nontraditional approaches to address this issue. This article discusses the working relationships and approaches used to ensure that we successfully addressed the issues of spectrum encroachment.