NASA has chosen a number of corporations to increase the company’s Near Space Network’s business direct-to-Earth capabilities companies, which is a mission-critical communication functionality that permits spacecraft to transmit knowledge on to floor stations on Earth.
The work will probably be awarded beneath new Near Space Network companies contracts which are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. Project timelines span from February 2025 to September 2029, with an extra five-year possibility interval that might prolong a contract by Sept. 30, 2034. The cumulative most worth of all Near Space Network Services contracts is $4.82 billion.
Some corporations acquired a number of job orders for subcategories recognized of their contracts. Awards are as follows:
- Intuitive Machines of Houston will obtain two job order awards on its contract for Subcategory 1.2 GEO to Cislunar Direct to Earth (DTE) Services and Subcategory 1.3 xCislunar DTE Services to help NASA’s Lunar Exploration Ground Segment, offering extra capability to alleviate demand on the Deep Space Network and to satisfy the mission necessities for distinctive, extremely elliptical orbits. The firm additionally beforehand acquired a job order award for Subcategory 2.2 GEO to Cislunar Relay Services.
- Kongsberg Satellite Services of Tromsø, Norway, will obtain two job order awards on its contract for Subcategory 1.1 Earth Proximity DTE and Subcategory 1.2 to help science missions in low Earth orbit and NASA’s Lunar Exploration Ground Segment, offering extra capability to alleviate demand on the Deep Space Network.
- SSC Space U.S. Inc. of Horsham, Pennsylvania, will obtain two job order awards on its contract for Subcategories 1.1 and 1.3 to help science missions in low Earth orbit and to satisfy the mission necessities for distinctive, extremely elliptical orbits.
- Viasat, Inc. of Duluth, Georgia, will probably be awarded a job order on its contract for Subcategory 1.1 to help science missions in low Earth orbit.
The Near Space Network’s direct-to-Earth functionality helps a lot of NASA’s missions starting from local weather research on Earth to analysis on celestial objects. It additionally will play a job in NASA’s Artemis marketing campaign, which requires long-term exploration of the Moon.
NASA’s objective is to offer customers with communication and navigation companies which are safe, dependable, and inexpensive, so that every one NASA customers obtain the companies required by their mission inside their latency, accuracy, and availability necessities.
These awards reveal NASA’s ongoing dedication to fostering robust partnerships with the business area sector, which performs an important function in delivering the communications infrastructure essential to the company’s science and exploration missions.
As a part of the company’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, groups at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will perform the work of the Near Space Network. The Near Space Network supplies missions out to 1.2 million miles (2 million kilometers) with communications and navigation companies, enabling spacecraft to alternate essential knowledge with mission operators on Earth. Using area relays in geosynchronous orbit and a world system of presidency and business direct-to-Earth antennas on Earth, the community brings down terabytes of knowledge every day.
Learn extra about NASA’s Near Space Network:
https://www.nasa.gov/near-space-network
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Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Jeremy Eggers
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
757-824-2958
jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov
