Efficient and Secure Communications for Spacecraft Beyond LEO

Communications and navigation among distributed spacecraft and between spacecraft and the Earth become quite challenging beyond Low Earth Orbit distances. Additionally, new classes of missions may require assets that are able to regularly coordinate among themselves with minimal ground intervention in order to achieve complex mission objectives. Antara’s proposed effort will apply an Evolutionary Strategy to R&D and evolve the functional and performance capabilities of Antara’s current technology to enable scalable, efficient, and cyber-secure collaborative communications for widely distributed SmallSat that will operate far into the near-Earth region of space and beyond into deep space. Antara’s cross-cutting communication software will be compatible with existing and planned NASA architecture (e.g., Scan and LunaNet), the Internal Communication System Interoperability Standards (ICSIS), applicable CCSDS books and will support the lunar communications architecture, as described in IOAG’s evolving “The Future Lunar Communications Architecture.” The proposed technology will enable coordination among multiple lunar surface and orbiting users and provide data relay from lunar surface to surface as well as data relay to earth with high integrity, provenance and confidentiality. The innovation is directly relevant to NASA TA 4.5.4, 5.3.1, 5.3.3, and 11.4.8 and will support and advance the lunar communications architecture and the Moon to Mars Campaign. The resulting flight demonstration ready software will be compatible with existing NASA space communications infrastructure, frequency spectrum allocations, and applicable standards. Antara’s overall deliverables and artifacts will achieve sufficient maturity and include appropriate documentation to allow it to be instantiated, configured, and tested with potential NASA missions and be considered as a payload for flight demonstration.

Antara’s innovation will provide secure, efficient and scalable communications for distributed platforms, including SmallSat scale platforms, to successfully conduct near Earth, Lunar and deep-space distributed spacecraft missions. The innovation will natively interface with current and emerging communications architectures to advance and implement cross-cutting enabling technologies for beyond LEO communications in order to support multiple potential NASA exploration mission on the cis-lunar region and beyond.

Commercial and Defense Oriented Space Missions: Provide scalable, cross-domain, secure and resilient communications infrastructure for collaborative missions in space Space Situational Awareness: Autonomous asset tracking and reporting Public Service and Safety Sector: Provide interoperable secure communications and real-time information sharing among first responders during disasters

This is a mature technology (TRL 8) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.