Contract worth up to $264 million to advance space relay capabilities in support of NASA’s retirement of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite fleet.

Astranis announced it has been selected by NASA for the initial phase of its Network Extension for User Continuity and Sustainability (NEXUS) initiative, developing a commercial Ka-band relay capability to support legacy relay users, so existing missions can continue to operate as the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) fleet in geosynchronous orbit is retired. Astranis’ contract has a maximum potential value of $264.3 million and supports NASA’s adoption of a commercial services model instead of a government-owned system.

The NEXUS initiative supports NASA’s decision to gradually retire its TDRS fleet and adopt commercial services for future missions. Legacy TDRS users cannot practically alter their communications hardware or switch to incompatible commercial services, and require backward-compatible Ka-band relay support to stay connected.

“Keeping NASA’s most important missions connected takes infrastructure that is resilient, proven, and built to last,” said John Gedmark, CEO and cofounder of Astranis. “NEXUS puts our production capacity to work for NASA, using the same dual-use spacecraft platforms designed to serve our commercial customers.”

Under the firm-fixed-price contract, NASA is funding initial concept development and risk reduction. The period of performance for the initial phase runs Nov 4, 2026 through May 3, 2027, with follow-on phases extending the work through 2029. The NEXUS acquisition is structured as a complete service, including space and ground systems, launch and deployment, on-orbit demonstration, and a future operational service phase. NASA’s objective for NEXUS is to acquire backward-compatible Ka-band relay services capable of supporting existing missions for at least 15 years.

NEXUS is facilitated through the Communications Services Project within NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) division, through which Astranis is partnered with NASA on a Nonreimbursable Space Act Agreement.