- Why does NASA want to transition to commercial services for mission communications?
- Purchasing commercially provisioned communications services allows NASA to focus on solving technical challenges for future mission exploration beyond Earth, rather than trying to deploy and sustain government-unique infrastructure.
- This transition to commercial services for mission communications is commensurate with U.S. National Space Policy (NSP) guidelines, which mandate that NASA should purchase and use commercial space capabilities and services that align with U.S. government requirements.
- How does the current market already serve NASA mission communications and where can that market potentially expand?
- NASA currently satisfies approximately 36% of mission direct-to-ground service minutes through commercial ground network providers, Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC).
- NASA’s strategic plan to transition to commercial space communications services is commensurate with the state of the market. The global space economy in 2019 generated $366B in revenue, with $123 billion dollars associated with satellite services and $130.3B associated with the satellite ground segment market.
- Ground network providers have been serving space missions for decades, primarily focused on telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) and science data return for smallsats and space missions. There is potential to expand direct-to-Earth (DTE) services to support existing and future space missions.
- NASA is looking to commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) providers to extend the capabilities and services they have traditionally offered to terrestrial, maritime, and aeronautical users, to space users, including launch vehicles and human space flight.
- The potential user community for these commercial services is also growing. New companies flying satellites in low earth orbit for commercial purposes offer a variety of products and services including imagery, radio occultation (RO) data, radio frequency mapping data, and derivative analytics — representing a $2.3 billion dollar market, making NASA one of many buyers rather than a unique customer.
- NASA’s plans to increase mission communications are consistent with concurrently similar efforts across the government. Two examples which are currently in-progress are outlined below:
- The US Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center awarded a $2 million six-month study contract to SpaceX to assess the feasibility and long-term viability of a ‘weather data-as-a-service’ business model. The Electro Optical/Infrared Weather System (EO/IR EWS) consortium in June awarded $309 million in contracts to Raytheon Technologies, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, and Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates to develop weather satellite prototypes and payloads.
- Since 2016, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has collected and assessed RO data obtained from commercial satellites with sensors that use Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to make measurements of temperature and water vapor throughout the lower parts of the atmosphere for operational use. Extensive test results for reliability and accuracy proved that the commercial sector is capable of providing the quality of data needed to help support NOAA’s operational weather forecasting needs. NOAA is proceeding with plans to acquire commercial RO data for operational use: the FY21 Request for Proposals valued at $15 million includes an additional $8 million “to investigate new commercial technologies beyond radio occultation.”
- What is the plan for making the transition?
- The transition will be conducted in multiple stages. For DTE, the objective is to scale up more rapidly, building on the current commercial partnerships and lessons, and drawing on a growing vendor base to reach 100% commercial DTE services for near-space users in 2023. Concurrently, NASA will collaborate with commercial SATCOM industry partners to ensure space-based services can meet mission needs, address technical challenges, and develop an acquisition strategy for operational services.
- For the expansion of DTE services, the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) team is addressing migration in a staged approach, beginning with missions for which a transition to fully commercial services is most accessible and straightforward.
- The Glenn Research Center’s (GRC) Communications Services Project (CSP) is working with commercial industry through planned funded space act agreements to demonstrate SATCOM capabilities that may meet NASA needs.
- What’s the available budget for the CSP SATCOM demonstration awardees?
- Please refer to NASA’s FY22 President’s Budget.
- Please refer to NASA’s FY22 President’s Budget.
- Will these commercial SATCOM services support existing missions serviced by NASA’s Space Network’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) or future missions?
- We do not expect commercial services to be backward compatible with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), and missions on orbit cannot make adjustments to use potentially proprietary waveforms, different frequencies, etc. This is why the goal is to have all new missions after 2030 which require relay service to use commercial SATCOM.
- NASA will continue to maintain TDRS through the 2030s to support existing missions until they flyout, but has no plans to launch/operate new TDRS beyond the current fleet.
- How are you addressing interoperability?
- NASA plans to develop and advocate for multi-network interoperability in which NASA users may “roam” among civil, commercial, and partner networks. This effort builds on the already active standards efforts across NASA, and the interoperability and cross-support achieved through work with civil space agencies globally. Fully-realized interoperability requires the following elements:
- Reforms in the spectrum regulatory regime.
- Advocacy for user accommodations and the extension of commercial capabilities to space users without dictating the technical means of problem-solving, as well as taking on a participatory learning role from both commercial providers and users. NASA participation in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is intended to help facilitate progress toward standardized, robust and versatile communications.
- Development of key technologies – specifically wideband multilingual user terminals that operate across wide ranges of spectrum (“wideband”) and implement multiple radio standards facilitating communication with different systems which may implement proprietary protocols and waveforms (“multilingual”).
- NASA plans to develop and advocate for multi-network interoperability in which NASA users may “roam” among civil, commercial, and partner networks. This effort builds on the already active standards efforts across NASA, and the interoperability and cross-support achieved through work with civil space agencies globally. Fully-realized interoperability requires the following elements:
- What is NASA’s perspective on international service providers and/or network assets?
- NASA will comply with any federal or Congressional directives in terms of procurement. Some international providers may qualify for the SATCOM demonstration and FSAA awards. More information on eligibility can be found in the Announcement for Proposals, Announcement No. NNC21AFP01R, Communications Services Project section 4.2 (“Eligible Participants”).
- NASA will comply with any federal or Congressional directives in terms of procurement. Some international providers may qualify for the SATCOM demonstration and FSAA awards. More information on eligibility can be found in the Announcement for Proposals, Announcement No. NNC21AFP01R, Communications Services Project section 4.2 (“Eligible Participants”).
- What happens if commercial providers cannot address all of NASA’s capability needs?
- The effort to commercialize communications services for NASA missions is not a single event transition, but rather a process of continual assessment in which opportunity costs are periodically weighed. Decision points are built into the strategic plan to evaluate if new services are ready for operations, identify capabilities that are going unmet and therefore driving needs for alternate solutions, or to identify new capabilities and services that have emerged in the market, and make investment decisions in accordance with those findings.
- The effort to commercialize communications services for NASA missions is not a single event transition, but rather a process of continual assessment in which opportunity costs are periodically weighed. Decision points are built into the strategic plan to evaluate if new services are ready for operations, identify capabilities that are going unmet and therefore driving needs for alternate solutions, or to identify new capabilities and services that have emerged in the market, and make investment decisions in accordance with those findings.
- Does NASA have a preference for the technology/implementation of a commercial service, e.g. radiofrequency (RF) vs. optical?
- NASA does not have an express preference for the technology or implementation of a particular commercial service. The proposed solutions, however, should be readily available, in alignment with NASA user needs, add meet expectations for safety, mission assurance, and security. As new technologies emerge, NASA will seek to infuse the capabilities that meet mission requirements or enable new mission paradigms.
- NASA does not have an express preference for the technology or implementation of a particular commercial service. The proposed solutions, however, should be readily available, in alignment with NASA user needs, add meet expectations for safety, mission assurance, and security. As new technologies emerge, NASA will seek to infuse the capabilities that meet mission requirements or enable new mission paradigms.
- Will NASA be making available current or historical data for commercial partners to develop future solutions? If data is already available, how can it be accessed?
- Historical data has been provided with the Announcement for Proposals, Announcement No. NNC21AFP01R, Communications Services Project.
- NASA SCaN, consistent with its vision and plan for commercial services for low Earth orbit users, seeks to provide industry with a complete data set describing the existing missions and their use of the current government-owned contractor operated space relay (the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites or TDRS) and DTE ground sites and antennas (both government and commercial), information on use cases, and projections for future missions. Information includes:
- Use cases: Describe mission use cases or categorization; provides context for types of missions.
- Network utilization data – Provides representative data for a sample year showing service times for both ground-based and space-based communications services for NASA missions.
- Network User data – Provides pertinent information from current operational mission set documentation to include network support characteristics.
- What are NASA’s goals for cislunar and deep space?
- NASA released a Request for Information (RFI) “Lunar Communications and Navigation Relay Services” in October 2020, soliciting information from potential lunar relay communication providers. The implementation of the relay(s), including the size, type, and number of relay satellites, as well as the characteristics of the satellites orbits or locations, are all subject to further analyses and input from interested potential commercial providers.
- NASA is also considering opportunities for commercial vendors to contribute to the Lunar Exploration Ground System (LEGS) activity.
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FAQ: SCaN Commercial Communications Services Division and Commercial Services Strategy
