DARPA Awards Space-BACN Phase 2 Contract to Telesat Government Solutions

Telesat’s government solutions business has announced a 20-month follow-on Phase 2 contract to support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node program.

Space-BACN is aimed at developing a lightweight, reconfigurable inter-satellite optical communications terminal to link constellations with different connectivity protocols, Telesat said Wednesday. The program is meant to advance Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the Department of Defense’s ongoing effort to unify all military communications and sensor technology.

According to Telesat Government Solutions President Philip Harlow, the award will contribute to “seamless space relay data flows” between public and private-sector networks such as his company’s Lightspeed.

Telesat Government Solutions is expected to continue planning cross-constellation communications to ensure operation in “challenging and dynamic scenarios.” The company added that Phase 2 will focus on scalability, increasing connectivity nodes and efficiency.

Telesat previously obtained a Phase 1 contract to work on Space-BACN Technical Area 3.

The company is also working on DARPA’s Blackjack Track B program, an effort to demonstrate the viability of a proliferated low-Earth orbit constellation.