Edinburgh / McLean, Virginia, 23 August 2022. – The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office selected space data provider SpaceLink, to participate in the Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node (Space-BACN) program designed to connect the proliferated space domain, SpaceLink said.
The company is in the process of building a relay satellite constellation in medium Earth orbit using optical intersatellite links. The optical links allow for faster communications between the spacecraft and ground stations as well. Under the Space-BACN contract SpaceLink will assist DARPA in studying and developing protocols for commercial communications constellations interacting with Department of Defense systems.
In order to deliver its contractual obligations, SpaceLink is partnering with Parsons Corporation. The partnership will combine Parsons’ existing enterprise scheduling and tasking software with SpaceLink’s optical relay network. This will enable dynamically modifiable space-to-space optical communications terminals on-orbit to communicate across various optical standards.
SpaceLink also recently entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Technical Center.
