Peter Graham
NASA has issued a request for information on potential switch designs for a communication payload network as part of the agency’s Laser Optical Near-Earth Satellite System project.
In a FedBizOpps notice posted Friday, the agency encourages both large and small businesses to submit capability statements describing their abilities to address the LOCNESS switch requirement.
The project aims to establish a geo-synchronous optical communications relay node, which NASA expects to commission sometime in 2025 and supplement the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite fleet.
The relay node will be designed to communicate with users from the Earth’s surface; low-Earth, medium-Earth and geostationary orbits; cislunar; and Earth-sun L1/L2 distances.
Interested parties have until Dec. 7 to submit input.
