The Economic Importance of Adequate
Aeronautical Telemetry Spectrum
February 2007
Darrell E. Ernst, The MITRE Corporation
Carolyn A. Kahn, The MITRE Corporation
David L. Portigal, The MITRE Corporation
ABSTRACT
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).
Additional Search Keywords
Aeronautical Telemetry, ATM, Economic, Bandwidth, Bandwidth Demand
Model, Economic Model, Range, Spectrum, Telemetering, Telemetry, Test, Wideband
Telemetry, World Radio Conference, WRC
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