Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

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THE HISTORY OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
The U.S. Committee for Study Groups IV and VIII of the International Radio
Consultative Committee (CCIR) of the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU), with which the FCC participates through subgroups;
The Space Science Board (SSB), of which the FCC’s Chief Engineer is a
member of the International Relations Committee concerned with international
basic space research activities, working internationally through the Committee
on Space Research (COSPAR);
The International Radio Scientific Union (URSI), which has FCC participation
and, in turn, is a member of the International Council of Scientific Unions
(ICSU); and
The National Bureau of Standards Central Radio Propagation Laboratory,
with which the FCC maintains liaison through membership on the
Interdepartment Council on Radio Propagation and Standards.
INTERNATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
The International Administrative Radio Conference, held at Geneva in 1959 under
the auspices of the ITU, adopted an international table of frequency allocations which, for
the first time, provided bands of frequencies for space and earth-space services. These
bands, however, are for research purposes only and are useful principally for tracking,
control and telemetry functions. Although no bands were allocated internationally for
space satellite relay communication, a special ITU Administrative Radio Conference was
scheduled tentatively for late 1963 to deal specifically with space problems on the basis of
developments as of that time. At the request of the Department of State, preparatory work
toward formulating the United States position at that conference has been initiated jointly
by the FCC and the IRAC.
[3] Domestically, steps have been taken by the FCC to implement the 1959 Geneva Radio
Regulations nationally pending ratification of that treaty by the President upon the advice
and consent of the Senate.
FCC PROCEEDINGS
As a result of developments in space communication during 1960, the Commission
reopened its proceeding in the general inquiry relative to the allocation of frequencies
above 890 Megacycles (Docket 11866) to determine, in the light of evidence then available,
whether the frequency requirements for communication via space satellites would
require modification of the Commission’s decision to permit some additional classes of
users to establish communications systems on frequencies between 1,000 and 10,000 Mc.
After a careful analysis of all the evidence then on hand, the Commission concluded that
its earlier decision need not be modified at that time.
However, in view of rapid developments in space communication, the Commission
instituted an inquiry (Docket 13522) as to space frequency needs on a longer-range basis.
This information will assist the Commission in its preparatory work leading to a United
States position for [a] future international conference on space needs and usage. The
inquiry was augmented to consider conditions for sharing space bands with other radio
services and whether protected areas might be established and held in reserve for future
earth terminals for civil communication systems using space relays.