CesiumAstro Awarded NASA Contract 

London, 19 October 2023.- CesiumAstro, an engineer and manufacturer of communication modules, payloads, and satellites, announced on the 18th of October it has been awarded a contract by NASA. Under the contract CesiumAstro will perform a wideband satellite communications capability study to further the agency’s long-term goal of a smooth transition to fully commercialised communications services for near-Earth users. 

CesiumAstro will complete the design of a low-Earth orbit (LEO), space-qualified Ka wideband active phased array terminal enabling communication with both commercial and government networks. The company will identify the barriers, challenges, and solutions associated with integration of wideband active phased array terminals into NASA’s Near Space Network (NSN). 

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program manages the agency’s two main networks: the Deep Space Network for distance missions and the NSN for missions operating closer to Earth. They 

NASA intends to create a reliable, robust, and cost-effective set of commercial services for space communications and navigation where space mission users can ‘roam’ between an array of space-based and ground-based networks. 

“CesiumAstro is honoured to provide a commercially available product to advance reliable, secure, and continual space communications for long-term operations,” said Shey Sabripour, founder and CEO of CesiumAstro. “We’re proud to leverage CesiumAstro’s existing expertise in active phased array space communications and explore innovative wideband solutions that can help guide NASA toward the successful commercialization of the Near Space Network.”

The completion of this study may add to the evolution of NASA’s NSN and the agency’s vision for a resilient and robust space and ground communications and navigation infrastructure.