{"id":328346,"date":"2026-03-04T11:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/328346\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:45:14","slug":"spectrum-showdown-spacenews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/328346\/","title":{"rendered":"Spectrum showdown – SpaceNews"},"content":{"rendered":"

As satellite communications constellations grow in size and number, they are also competing for a scarce and increasingly valuable resource: spectrum, the bands of radio frequencies that are crucial for communications and broadband service \u2014 and for tracking weather.<\/p>\n

The pace is intensifying as companies race to expand global communications networks, raising alarms at some agencies that the same frequencies powering space-based broadband could interfere with instruments critical to forecasting hurricanes, tracking storms and detecting atmospheric moisture.<\/p>\n

Jordan Gerth, chief of the Architecture Planning and System Innovation branch at NOAA\u2019s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service Office of Systems Architecture and Engineering, said the most effective way scientists can help quantify interference is by carrying out observing system experiments. He was speaking at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) annual meeting, held in Houston in January, where spectrum was a frequent topic. \u201cThat is critical, because it helps NOAA go into discussions with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the regulators, understanding fully the consequences of interference in that band.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Houston, speakers warned that broadband communications constellations threaten to prevent microwave sounders on weather satellites from observing the natural emissions from atmospheric water vapor and precipitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemote sensing of the Earth is paramount to analyzing and forecasting the weather,\u201d Gerth said. \u201cContamination of the natural atmosphere background with unnatural signals from communication satellites hinders the forecast ability of the Earth system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spectrum issues have frequently pitted scientists and meteorologists against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission\u2019s quest to free up spectrum for terrestrial and satellite communications. In 2019, for example, NASA and Commerce Department leaders unsuccessfully opposed an FCC plan to auction spectrum in the 24 GHz band for 5G testing because of its proximity to the 23.6\u201324.0 GHz band where space-based microwave sounders detect water vapor.<\/p>\n

Radio frequency interference<\/p>\n

Concern about radio frequency interference (RFI) prompted NASA to equip its Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite launched in 2015 with RFI detection and mitigation algorithms. Since then, more than 6,000 additional satellites have entered orbit.<\/p>\n

When the SMAP satellite\u2019s L-band radiometer encounters high levels of interfercence it throws out the contaminated data. Monthly SMAP observations show increasing levels of RFI, particularly over heavily populated regions.<\/p>\n

Meteorologists worried about the interference are focusing on an FCC proposal to increase use of the Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS) bands. The UMFUS proposal, published in October, would provide access to six spectrum bands to meet growing demand for broadband communications. Weather experts are concerned primarily with two: the upper 37 GHz band and the 50 GHz band.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>NASA\u2019s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite detects radio frequency interference that can interfere with its soil moisture readings and throws out the corrupted data. Monthly maps show rising levels of RFI particularly over heavily populated areas. Credit: Paolo De Matthaeis\/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center<\/p>\n

For the National Weather Association, AMS, American Geophysical Union and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the primary concern is continued reliability of information from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder on the Joint Polar Satellite System, NOAA\u2019s current generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites. The sounder, which measures natural thermal emissions at 50.3 GHz \u201cis crucial for many weather forecasts and specific weather-dependent industries such as aviation and agriculture,\u201d the organizations said Jan. 20 in a joint comment on the FCC proposal.<\/p>\n

The organizations also noted that U.S. military satellites, including the first Weather System Follow-on Microwave satellite launched in 2024 and a second scheduled to launch in 2028, rely on microwave radiometer readings at 37.3 GHz to monitor ocean surface winds and gauge the intensity of tropical cyclones, key ingredients of hurricane forecasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassive measurements of the atmosphere are especially vulnerable to harmful interference as even faint out-of-band emissions can, in aggregate, contaminate the natural transmission of the atmosphere to the space-based microwave sensor,\u201d the science organizations wrote.<\/p>\n

Surging demand<\/p>\n

The FCC, meanwhile, is faced with heightened demand for spectrum prompted by the expansion of non-geostationary orbit satellite constellations such as SpaceX Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb and high throughput geostationary satellites like ViaSat-3.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to rise to the occasion and increase the capacity for space innovation,\u201d Jay Schwarz, FCC Space Bureau chief, said in February. \u201cIt all starts with spectrum, the lifeblood of this activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demand for spectrum has never been higher. License applications have tripled in the last decade as the complexity and size of the proposed missions has ballooned. To keep up, the FCC intends to set aside a larger pool of spectrum for satellite communications in addition to simplifying the licensing process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that when you\u2019re coming to get a license, you have speed and predictability far beyond what\u2019s been the case in the last few years,\u201d Schwarz said.<\/p>\n

Light licensing<\/p>\n

The FCC proposal to streamline the approval process, called light licensing, poses risks for weather satellite operators at a time when organizations around the world are building constellations of tens or hundreds of thousands of communications satellites.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the communications constellations risk raising the overall level of noise and interfering with weather satellite observations, said Beau Backus, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory senior electro-magnetic spectrum manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FCC is trying to come up with a better way of being able to license satellites in a much faster approach,\u201d Backus said in Houston. \u201cThe danger is that you lose some of the protections when you start doing it this way. You\u2019re going to have a greater number of systems in orbit than we ever even thought about 20 years ago, and that aggregate can become a problem over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOAA strategy<\/p>\n

In spite of their concerns, weather researchers acknowledge that additional spectrum is inevitably going to be allocated to expanding communications constellations. To better understand the impact and prevent significant disruption of weather monitoring, NOAA has drafted a multi-step plan that calls for study, protection, innovation, coordination and education.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of studying to do to understand the value of the spectrum allocations to NOAA missions,\u201d Gerth said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to value telecommunications and other systems that support a business line. It\u2019s harder to value spectrum allocations that have a secondary impact on the economy, such as the improvement to weather forecasts and the lives and property that saves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder is flying on NOAA polar-orbiting weather satellites including the first Joint Polar Satellite System launched in 2017 and 2022. Two more JPSS-missions are scheduled to launch in 2027 and 2032. With spectrum in high demand, researchers are worried about the crucial weather forecasting system\u2018s long-term reliability for generating data like the above. Credit: NOAA\/Center for Satellite Applications and Research<\/p>\n

Still, NOAA will work to protect the spectrum its current sensors use, while making sure weather satellite operators comply with existing regulations. \u201cThat\u2019s one way to reduce the number of conflicts we have,\u201d Gerth said.<\/p>\n

NOAA\u2019s strategy also calls for technological innovation and coordination with other federal agencies. New sensors tend to be more resilient to interference than instruments currently in orbit that were developed 10 or 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoordination is going to be tricky, but it is necessary,\u201d Gerth said. Representatives of NOAA, which is part of the Commerce Department, must recognize the agency has a mandate to promote economic growth. \u201cWith 5G and 6G dominance comes economic growth for the United States,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Finally, education remains essential, Gerth said, as meteorologists vie with communications service providers for limited spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we find that there\u2019s a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of radiometers,\u201d Gerth said.<\/p>\n

Since satellites circle the globe, NOAA and its international counterparts are publicizing their concerns and striving for consistent spectrum allocations at the 2027 World Radio Conference in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense to sense in one band in one country and then as we go to the other side of the world use a different band,\u201d Gerth said.<\/p>\n

This article was first published in the March 2026 issue of SpaceNews Magazine.<\/p>\n

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