SpaceLink hires Axiom to support ISS communications demonstration

[leontas]

SpaceLink announced plans Feb. 17 to work with Axiom Space to conduct the first demonstration of its space data relay service on the International Space Station. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, manager of the ISS National Laboratory, awarded McLean, Virginia-based SpaceLink a contract to demonstrate data transmission from the Space Station through optical terminals at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. Once that contract was finalized, SpaceLink awarded Axiom a subcontract to support mission integration, launch and operations. Axiom also will serve as SpaceLink’s liaison with NASA, ensuring SpaceLink hardware meets stringent ISS safety requirements. SpaceLink CEO Dave Bettinger called the demonstration, scheduled for 2024, “an excellent validation to show data rates to the ISS that I believe are potentially one or two orders of magnitude higher than what they’ve seen.” OHB System AG is manufacturing four satellites, which it plans to send to medium Earth orbit in 2024, to relay data for government and commercial customers. The planned service is similar to what NASA provides today through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite constellation in geostationary orbit. “We see it as a an important milestone for us to show NASA and the world that we are going to be able to provide the services in space that commercial, government and international entities will be using in the future,” Bettinger told.




https://spaceworldsnews.blogspot.com/2022/02/spacelink-hires-axiom-to-support-iss.html