BAE Gains DARPA Satellite Communications Deal Worth Up To $14.6 Million

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) chose BAE Systems to lead development of a new satellite communications system.

BAE will lead a team of 10 companies in the next development phases of the Novel Satellite Communications (NSC) program, the company announced.

The Phase 3 contract is valued at $10.3 million, with options for an additional $4.3 million.

“The Novel Satellite Communications program is exploiting new phenomenology to defend satellite communications links against electronic attack,” said Dr. Michael Zatman, the DARPA program manager for NSC. “The protection that the NSC technologies afford our communications satellites will ensure that our war fighters have the situational awareness they need.”

NSC will protect uplink signals to satellites against hostile jamming using advanced signal processing techniques to enable uninterrupted communications.

Work will be performed in Nashua and Merrimack, N.H.; Wayne, N.J.; Arlington and Fairfax, Va.; Germantown, Md;. San Diego, Los Angeles, and Redondo Beach, Calif.; Lexington, Mass.; and West Lafayette, Ind., by early 2008.

BAE Systems led the initial effort, sponsored by DARPA, to provide testing and proof of concept of new NSC algorithms and communication techniques. The company also was one of three contractor teams leading the recently completed Phase 2 efforts to progress toward increasingly realistic satellite scenarios and future field demonstrations.

Phase 3 will mature the NSC algorithm suite, design a real-time demonstration system, and develop initial technology transition plans. The full system demonstration with existing satellites will be conducted during Phase 4.