LightSquared of Reston, Va., announced that it is adjusting its planned nationwide broadband wireless network so that the network does not interfere with the Global Positioning System signal. “This is a solution which ensures that tens of millions of GPS users won’t be affected by LightSquared’s launch,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, company chairman and CEO. Early test results of the network indicated that one of LightSquared’s 10 MHz blocks of frequencies poses interference to many GPS receivers, a development about which Air Force officials have been concerned. As a result, the company said it would launch its network using another 10 MHz block lower on the spectrum band that it says does not create a similar interference risk. It will also reduce the maximum authorized power of its base-station transmitters by more than 50 percent. The company said it is “committed to protecting GPS services.”
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
