NASA Selects Astranis to Succeed Its Relay Satellites: Contract Worth Up to $264.3 Million for Ka-Band Relay as the TDRS Fleet Retires
Satellite company Astranis announced on November 6 that NASA has selected it for the initial phase of the Network Extension for User Continuity and Sustainability (NEXUS) initiative, to develop a commercial Ka-band relay capability supporting legacy relay users so existing missions can continue to operate as the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) fleet in geosynchronous orbit is retired. The contract has a maximum potential value of $264.3 million and supports NASA's adoption of a commercial services model instead of a government-owned system.
NEXUS supports NASA's decision to gradually retire its TDRS fleet and adopt commercial services for future missions. Legacy TDRS users cannot practically alter their communications hardware or switch to incompatible commercial services, and require backward-compatible Ka-band relay support to stay connected. Under the firm-fixed-price contract, NASA is funding initial concept development and risk reduction: the initial phase runs from November 4, 2026 through May 3, 2027, with follow-on phases extending the work through 2029.
The NEXUS acquisition is structured as a complete service, including space and ground systems, launch and deployment, an on-orbit demonstration and a future operational service phase. NASA's objective is to acquire backward-compatible Ka-band relay services capable of supporting existing missions for at least 15 years. The initiative is facilitated through the Communications Services Project within NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, through which Astranis is also partnered with NASA under a nonreimbursable Space Act Agreement.
John Gedmark, CEO and cofounder of Astranis, said keeping NASA's most important missions connected takes infrastructure that is resilient, proven and built to last, and that NEXUS puts the company's production capacity to work for NASA using the same dual-use spacecraft platforms designed to serve its commercial customers.
Astranis designs, builds and operates its satellites from its headquarters in Northern California. Its satellites are on orbit serving customers around the world, with a commercial contract backlog of more than $1 billion, more than $1.2 billion raised, and a team of about 500 engineers and entrepreneurs.
Source: Astranis
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：NASA 跟踪与数据中继卫星 TDRS-C 概念图（资料图）。图片：NASA，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Artist's concept of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite TDRS-C (file photo). Image: NASA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
