WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency (SDA) has chosen AST SpaceMobile USA for a novel demonstration that will use commercial satellites to communicate directly with US military radios, the agency announced today.
The award, worth $30 million, is the first to be granted under SDA’s Hybrid Acquisition for proliferated Low-earth Orbit (HALO) program’s Europa Track 2 program, designed to validate the use of commercial platforms for tactical satellite communication capability, according to SDA.
AST SpaceMobile USA, based in Midlands, Texas, will use its BlueBird constellation of cellular broadband satellites to provide communications with military radios “as a service,” the company said in a press release today.
There are currently six BlueBirds on orbit and a seventh is being readied for launch late this month.
“Unlike traditional proprietary military satellite communications, AST SpaceMobile’s space-based architecture utilizes a software-defined “bent-pipe” structure to enable high-bandwidth data transport directly from low Earth orbit,” the company release explained.
SDA initiated the HALO program in October 2024, choosing a pool of 19 vendors to compete for awards under two tracks. Europa Track 1 will involve development of two satellites to be launched some 12-18 months after an award. Europa Track 2 was designed to demonstrate existing “commercial solutions” via six months of tests.
“SDA expects to announce additional awards under HALO in the near future,” an agency spokesperson told Breaking Defense today.
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