Planet Labs has conducted a ground demonstration that validated technologies enabling connectivity between low Earth orbit satellites and in-space communication satellites operated by the government solutions business of Telesat and the space and defense business of SES. Planet said Friday the demonstration was part of a subcontract it had received in 2022 from Telesat Government Solutions and SES Space & Defense for NASA's Communications Services Project, which seeks to evaluate the feasibility of using commercial satellite communications to support future NASA missions.

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Chiricahua-Logical Joint Venture will provide operational and institutional support for NASA-affiliated sites under a potential $20 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. NASA said Tuesday the Kennedy Operational and Institutional Support contract will encompass several services, including internal controls for property, logistics, American Sign Language interpreting, institutional training and development as well as export control support.

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NASA has selected seven vendors that will compete for task orders under the expanded Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program procurement effort. The vendors were chosen based on the technical acceptability of their proposals and the reasonableness of their proposed contract prices relative to their commercial pricing, Kevin Murphy, the chief science data officer at NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement issued Sept. 18.

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The Exploration and Space Communications Project Division within NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center seeks industry input regarding its intent to decouple into separate vehicles the two requirements covered by the Space Exploration Network Service and Evolution indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The SENSE IDIQ currently provides for the operation, maintenance and sustainment of the Near Space Network and other government projects and assets, and the implementation of Space Exploration, Communications and Navigation capabilities, according to a request for information posted Tuesday on SAM.gov.

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Southwest Research Institute has been awarded a potential six-year, $54.9 million contract to build and operate the QuickSounder spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA announced Monday that it granted the firm-fixed-price delivery order to SRI for the vehicle's development, integration, shipment, launch and mission operations and eventual decommissioning.

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NASA launched the first deep space spacecraft built by Maxar Technologies' space systems business from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Friday, Oct. 13. Maxar Space Systems created the spacecraft chassis based on the Maxar 1300 series bus.

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Leidos has booked a $14.1 million follow-on contract with NASA for the building of laser air monitoring systems to be used in future Artemis missions. The 19-month extension increases the total contract value to $37.8 million, which covers fabrication and delivery of four main LAMS units and one spare for the Artemis III, IV and V programs, the company said Tuesday.

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NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has issued a request for proposals for the Geostationary Extended Observations Spacecraft Implementation program, which aims to launch multiple satellites for the GeoXO series, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration system that will provide Earth observation capabilities to help address various environmental issues and challenges. Goddard plans to award a […] More

NASA announced on Sept. 29 that it had selected SpaceX to launch the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites mission. The pair of small satellites will study space weather and how the sun’s energy affects Earth’s magnetosphere, the space agency said. The TRACERS launch task order was awarded to SpaceX under the Venture-Class Acquisition of […] More

NASA has awarded Advanced Technologies and Eagle Aviation Technologies spots on the Reliance Consolidated Models VI contract. RECOM VI, which features indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-award-fee task orders and cost-plus-award-fee core requirements, calls on the two companies to help with the design or fabrication of aerospace model systems and developmental test hardware, NASA said Wednesday.

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Northrop Grumman has delivered ten booster motor segments that will be built into NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket. The components, which will make up the twin solid rocket boosters of SLS, arrived by rail at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, NASA announced.

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NASA has begun seeking proposals from industry sources with the capability to design and develop a spacecraft that could support the agency's safe deorbit operations for the International Space Station. Proposals for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle procurement effort are due Nov. 17.  More