A Canadian proposal to protect emissions into the GPS bands by mobile satellite services (MSS) operating in adjacent bands came as a surprise to the U.S. delegation last week at the World Radio Conference 2000 (WRC-2000), according to a NASA official. The move could impact GPS space-to-space communications, an area the U.S. seeks to obtain an allocation for as reported in our sister publication GLOBAL POSITIONING & NAVIGATION NEWS.

The proposal appeared as a footnote which, if approved, would be added to the GPS space-to-space spectrum allocation, “effectively protecting out-of-band emitters,” said John Rush, NASA space communications and navigation architect. The proposal would not change the GPS space-to-space spectrum allocation, but could pose a threat to the in- space use of GPS signals. MSS supporters in 1997 had advocated sharing the GPS space-to-ground spectrum, but now are perceived to have backed off in the face of ITU technical studies.