Background
The radio spectrum is a finite and increasingly congested resource utilised by actors across a variety of spheres — from mobile communications to remote sensing. Though often viewed as a niche topic outside of the dedicated industries, spectrum is vital for a variety of day-to-day services in space and on Earth: from Wi-Fi availability to the emergency services’ work. As the number of providers and end-users continues growing exponentially, equitable distribution of spectrum has thus become a key question for industrial and governmental actors alike. Fair and thoughtful spectrum allocation pursued through the World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) and national regulatory action must ensure continuous high-quality access and performance of essential systems.
With a plethora of actors vying for this precious resource, however, uninterrupted access to some services to their dedicated spectrum bands is increasingly challenged. Of particular concern is one agenda item of the upcoming WRC-27 that will assess whether portions of the X-Band that are allocated for remote sensing purposes could be opened to International Mobile Telecommunications future 6G mobile and fixed service. With the U.S. National Spectrum Strategy directing its telecom administration to assess whether the 7/8 GHz band could be used for purposes other than remote sensing, a precedent for such reallocation could come even sooner than expected.
These frequency bands are currently used by almost every single one of the roughly 1,200 Earth observation spacecraft whose data is vital for key domains from security and defence to climate change monitoring, and who have no viable frequency alternative. The potential interference from sharing the frequencies could put uninterrupted EO data sharing at risk if spectrum coordination is not pursued through a level-playing field.
This joint ESPI/EARSC event aims to promote a discussion about the feasibility and alternatives to such reallocation, as well as a broader conversation about the future of the radio spectrum and its accessibility for actors across domains.
