News dated
Two NASA-funded communications demonstrators launched into low Earth orbit on 20 October aboard SpaceX’s Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission from Cape Canaveral. In the following weeks, Viasat and SES Space and Defense are to test commercial links for exchanging data between satellites and Earth. [1]
The trials cover both high-capacity traffic, such as imagery and scientific data, and lower-data-rate communications for commands and tracking. The aim is to assess commercial alternatives for future NASA missions near Earth. The successful launch is the completed milestone: this announcement does not yet demonstrate the performance, reliability or results of the communications trials. [1]
The bright side
Reaching orbit makes it possible to test the links under real conditions before relying on them for future missions. [1]
One idea, in simple words
Two NASA-funded demonstrators launched on 20 October and reached an orbit close to Earth. A demonstrator is used to test a technology. These will investigate commercial ways of exchanging information between satellites and Earth. Viasat and SES Space and Defense will carry out the tests in the following weeks. Messages are not all the same size: a detailed photograph needs a lot of data, while a command may need very little. Think, for example, of the difference between sending a picture and a short sentence. The trials will help explore these different needs. The launch succeeded. That does not mean every connection has already been tested or that the new systems are ready for every mission. [1]
A little discovery to keep
What did you discover?
Straight from the source.
- Two NASA Commercial Satellite Communication Demonstrations Launch NASA · 20 Oct 2026
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