The Economic Importance of Adequate Aeronautical Telemetry Spectrum

The flight test community faces a crisis in that insufficient spectrum is available to support telemetering requirements. The amount of spectrum available for aeronautical telemetry (ATM) is inadequate today, and demand is growing exponentially. Vital to flight testing of aeronautical vehicles for both commercial and military application, ATM is used to transmit real-time data during flight tests. The availability of such data is integral to the productivity and safety of live flight test programs. This paper estimates the economic impact of inadequate telemetry spectrum access. The analysis is derived from probable future scenarios at a test range complex over a twenty year period. While based on a US test range complex, spectrum encroachment is an international issue as a result of increased commercial interest. Economic considerations are important to the proposal currently before the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as Agenda Item 1.5 of the 2007 World Radio Conference (WRC), which calls for the allocation of additional spectrum for wideband ATM in the 3-30 Gigahertz (GHz) band. This study was requested by Mr. Derrick Hinton, who represents the Director, Test Resource Management Center (TRMC).