NASA tests first wideband terminal to link government and commercial space networks
WASHINGTON - Payload commissioning is underway for NASA’s PExT (Polylingual Experimental Terminal), a first-of-its-kind space communications demonstration designed to allow spacecraft to communicate with government and commercial networks, Molly Kearns writes for NASA. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
11 September 2025 - After a 23 July launch, York Space Systems in Denver established first contact with its Bard host satellite and completed four weeks of bus commissioning, verifying command uplink, data downlink, flight computers, and navigation controls. Bard commissioning is complete, and the PExT payload will be commissioned through September.
PExT is a technology demonstration of wideband terminals that use software-defined radios to switch dynamically between frequencies and transmit data in space. Developed by NASA’s SCaN program and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the payload went from concept to launch on budget in roughly two and a half years. Wideband terminals could enable future missions to interoperate with multiple networks, a capability NASA has prioritized after announcing in November 2024 that near-Earth relay services will be procured from commercial providers rather than relying solely on TDRS.
Related: EchoStar to sell satcom spectrum licenses to SpaceX
Related: Viasat unveils HaloNet capability portfolio for near-Earth communications
Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
