NASA has chosen three companies to develop concepts for commercial Ka-band space relay services designed to work with spacecraft already in orbit. The goal is to keep communications running for existing missions without requiring changes to their onboard systems. The selections were announced Wednesday.
The awardees are Astranis Space Technologies Corp., Global Enterprise Solutions Inc. and Viasat Inc. Their maximum potential contract values, including all future options, are $264.3 million, $340.4 million and $460.9 million, respectively.
Contract structure and timeline
The awards were made under Appendix E of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-3 (NextSTEP-3) Broad Agency Announcement. They are firm-fixed-price contracts. NASA can add funding, up to each award’s limit, to move a company from initial concept development and risk reduction to an in-orbit flight demonstration.
The initial period of performance runs from Nov. 4 through May 3, 2027. Additional priced options could extend the work through 2029.
NASA says it intends to acquire complete, end-to-end solutions covering space, ground, launch, operations and integration elements. The agency would be one of many customers in the commercial marketplace rather than the sole owner of the system.
Replacing the TDRS fleet
The work is managed through the Communications Services Project of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. It supports the agency’s decision to gradually retire the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) fleet and rely on commercial services for future missions.
Industry partners in the SCaN program are already developing commercial capabilities for that transition. According to NASA, however, some in-orbit missions cannot feasibly modify their flight hardware or move to commercial services that are not compatible with it. Ka-band relay service that works with their current systems is intended to fill that gap.
The effort falls under NASA’s Network Extension for User Continuity and Sustainability Ka-band service acquisition. The awards cover concept development and potential demonstration work, and NASA has not announced an operational service as part of this selection.
Source: www.nasa.gov
