A systems approach to the commercialization of space communications technology - The NASA/JPL Mobile Satellite ProgramThis paper discusss the systems approach taken by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the commercialization of land-mobile satellite services (LMSS) in the United States. As the lead center for NASA's Mobile Satellite Program, JPL was involved in identifying and addressing many of the key barriers to commercialization of mobile satellite communications, including technical, economic, regulatory and institutional risks, or uncertainties. The systems engineering approach described here was used to mitigate these risks. The result was the development and implementation of the JPL Mobile Satellite Experiment Project. This Project included not only technology development, but also studies to support NASA in the definition of the regulatory, market, and investment environments within which LMSS would evolve and eventually operate, as well as initiatives to mitigate their associated commercialization risks. The end result of these government-led endeavors was the acceleration of the introduction of commercial mobile satellite services, both nationally and internationally.
Document ID
19920035875
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Weber, William J., III (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Gray, Valerie W. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Jackson, Byron (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Steele, Laura C. (JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)