Viasat has been selected by NASA under the Near Space Network (NSN) Services contract to enhance direct-to-Earth (DTE) communications for NASA missions.
This five-year, multi-award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, valued at up to $4.82 billion with a five-year extension option, positions Viasat among four commercial companies tasked with providing ground and space relay services for NASA missions from low Earth orbit (LEO) to two million kilometers from Earth. Initially, Viasat will deliver global ground segment support services, with opportunities for future contributions.
Viasat’s Real-Time Earth (RTE) Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) network will play a key role, offering a resilient, high-throughput satellite-to-ground communication solution. The network, spanning six continents, integrates capabilities from partners such as ATLAS Space Operations and the Alaska Satellite Facility.
This collaboration ensures NASA benefits from modern, geographically diverse satellite ground services with advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud-based optimization. Viasat’s infrastructure enables multi-gigabit per second downlinks, expanding NASA’s capacity to downlink critical mission data and improving operational efficiency.
As NASA shifts from its legacy Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) to commercial solutions, Viasat’s Ka-band and future L-band relay services, demonstrated under the NASA Communications Services Project, will further align with the agency’s goals. The NSN Services contract reflects NASA’s commitment to leveraging commercial innovations to enhance communication, navigation, and mission data delivery for current and future space missions.
