NASA Awards Viasat 460 Million in Relay Contracts

NASA just handed out over one billion dollars in satellite relay contracts to three private companies. Viasat grabbed the biggest piece with four hundred sixty million dollars. Global Enterprise Solutions secured three hundred forty million dollars. Astranis Space Technologies pulled in two hundred sixty-four million dollars. The deals were announced on Wednesday. They run through May of twenty-twenty-seven with options going up to twenty-twenty-nine. And here is the real catch behind the spending. NASA needs these new Ka-band services to replace its aging tracking fleet. Older spacecraft cannot easily change their onboard hardware. These commercial relays let existing missions keep flying without costly upgrades. NASA plans to buy these services as just one of many regular customers in the open market.