The United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command has awarded contracts to CACI, General Atomics and Viasat to develop the Enterprise Space Terminal Phase 2 prototypes.
The SSC said Thursday the three companies will develop space laser communication terminal prototypes in Phase 2 of the $100 million EST program.
Enabling Future On-Orbit Communications
The contract, under the Space Enterprise Consortium Other Transaction Authority, or SpEC OTA, aims to develop a resilient space architecture by facilitating on-orbit crosslink compatibility among future space systems of the Department of Defense.
The selection of the three companies follows the completion of the program’s first phase, where four contractors presented their Preliminary Design Review, or PDR. With three of the four vendors selected for the project, the SSC intends to build the industrial base for long-range laser communications terminals. This approach also aims to maintain competition to ensure cost control and encourage innovation. The chosen companies demonstrated the best value based on cost, schedule and performance factors.
Enterprise Space Terminal Program
The EST program is an initiative meant to develop prototypes of a standardized, low-size, weight, power and cost, or SWaP-C, long-range space laser communication terminal. The ESTs will be crucial components of the MILNET space data network, a space mesh network for resiliency and information path diversity. Through the program, the DOD and commercial developers will establish and operate an enterprise waveform for communicating in the Beyond Low Earth Orbit, or bLEO, regimes.
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Fry, MILNET program manager said, “The ESTs will implement a common waveform so all satellites carrying these terminals can talk to each other. This is important as the network of satellites carrying EST compatible terminals will provide diverse communication paths for data that is critical to our national security and our way of life.”