The Space Development Agency (SDA) told reporters at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference that it is still waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration to approve any domestic testing of routing Link 16 communications through space, a step the agency says is essential for its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
SDA first linked ground‑based Link 16 radios through the architecture nearly three years ago, but the FAA has raised concerns that the Link 16 frequency—similar to the GPS band—could interfere with civil aviation, noting that the agency has never transmitted Link 16 from space before.
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While limited testing can proceed in a constrained environment at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, most of the required trials are being carried out abroad in locations such as Australia, Norway and Canada, as well as over open ocean, where SDA believes there will be no operational impact on its satellite transport layer.
