WESTMINSTER, Colo., 11 September, 2024—Advanced Space, a leading space tech solutions company, was awarded a contract from General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) in support of Phase 1 of the Enterprise Space Terminal (EST) for the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF), Space Systems Command (SSC). The EST program will increase the mission effectiveness of future Department of Defense (DoD) platforms by providing a mesh laser communication network for resilient, high-capacity communications paths for spacecraft in beyond Low Earth Orbit (bLEO) regimes at crosslink ranges up to 80,000 km. Over the seven-month contract period of performance, GA-EMS will engineer and develop an Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) design leading to a Phase 1 preliminary design review.

“This is critical technology to enable future resilient space systems and we are proud that GA-EMS has trusted us to support this critical project,” said Advanced Space’s President Bradley Cheetham.

“As part of the GA-EMS team, Advanced Space will leverage our experience developing precision navigation solutions with the CAPSTONE™ spacecraft and machine learning for the SINTRA, SigmaZero, and Neural Networks for Enhanced Planning (NNEP) programs to develop the Enterprise Space Terminal’s space navigation and time transfer capabilities,” continued Cheetham. “The goal of our work will be to develop precision autonomous ephemerides and orbital propagation algorithms that support rapid pointing, tracking, and link acquisition for the OCT, thereby optimizing its availability when communicating with other spacecraft.”

Advanced Space’s navigation solutions technology will close the link for free-space optical communications, which are needed to build a network that provides efficient, quick acquisition. Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking (PAT) are required to maximize link time. This development work also supports the company’s efforts to develop an integrated suite of capabilities that result in a satellite autopilot, which would enable satellites to operate autonomously in situations where immediate action is required and human intervention is not immediately available.

Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS noted, “We look forward to delivering a robust OCT design that will provide future warfighters with a network of resilient communication capabilities across the multi-domain battlespace.”