Test Flight Group: SpaceX's Opposition to Launch Clarification Is Overblown

SpaceX is being "absurd" when it says the test flight industry is trying to add complexity to the space launch and licensing coordination process, the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council said in comments posted Friday (docket 13-115). Responding to SpaceX's opposition to AFTRCC's reconsideration petition about use of the upper S band for space launches (see 2506170053), the group said any framework for the band, as well as the 2025-2110 and 2200-2290 MHz bands, needs to clarify the secondary status of commercial space launch operations. AFTRCC said its petition seeks "limited clarification ... not a major revisitation as one reading [SpaceX's] Opposition might conclude."