SpaceX and Amazon are popular… At least with NASA. The US space agency on Thursday awarded contracts to Amazon’s satellite company Project Kuiper and SpaceX’s satellite internet operator Starlink as part of a $287.5 million program to provide its future satellite communications. The tender launched by NASA awarded six players in the satellite market, including – in addition to Amazon and SpaceX – Inmarsat, Viasat, Telecast and SES.
In detail, NASA awarded $67 million to Amazon’s Project Kuiper to provide a “commercial low-Earth orbit optical relay network for high- and low-speed SATCOM services to spacecraft in low-Earth orbit for space missions. routine, contingency operations and launch communications of an operation”.
SpaceX has secured $69.5 million to deploy a commercial Low Earth Orbit Relay Optical Network to provide high capacity SATCOM services to Low Earth Orbit spacecraft for routine missions, mission operations and spacecraft. emergency situations, launch and ascent and start-up communications .
Amazon and SpaceX as nacelle heads
Companies have until 2025 to demonstrate that their technology can deliver new high-speed and high-capacity two-way communications. NASA wants to sign more long-term deals with companies for near-Earth SATCOM operations by 2030 as it phases out its own systems.
As NASA explains, it envisions NASA communications services being used by other government agencies and commercial space companies to meet their own mission requirements. It also seeks to develop data transmissions, which are mainly from space to Earth, towards higher capacity two-way communications.
As a reminder, SpaceX has launched about 2,000 Starlink broadband satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO), while Amazon has yet to launch any of its own constellation of satellites. However, the e-commerce giant announced earlier this month that Project Kuiper had secured 83 launches from Arianespace, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA), with enough capacity to carry the majority of its 3,236 satellites.
Source: ZDNet.com