The Space Development Agency has awarded a prototype agreement valued at $30 million to AST SpaceMobile under the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, Europa Track 2 program to demonstrate commercial tactical satellite communications capabilities.
Under the firm-fixed price, other transaction agreement, AST SpaceMobile will use its commercial space vehicles for the demonstration, which is expected to be completed by December 2027, the agency said Monday.
AST SpaceMobile operates the BlueBird satellite constellation. The company currently has six BlueBird satellites in orbit, with a seventh one being prepared for launch in the coming days, Breaking Defense reported.
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What Is BlueBird Constellation?
AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites are capable of delivering uninterrupted, high-speed cellular broadband connectivity directly to standard smartphones worldwide.
The company said its architecture employs a software-defined bent-pipe structure that facilitates high-bandwidth data transmission directly from low Earth orbit for commercial and government users.
“Selection for SDA’s Europa Track 2 program validates AST SpaceMobile’s ability to rapidly operationalize commercial space capabilities for national security,” Chris Ivory, CEO of AST SpaceMobile USA, stated. “By leveraging our existing low Earth orbit dual-use satellite technology, we support the Government’s defense efforts, delivering immediate connectivity with our BlueBird satellites and scaling quickly to advanced tactical use cases.”
What Is HALO Europa?
The Europa program is part of SDA’s Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System and aims to test technologies and methodologies that could later be integrated into the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
HALO uses an other transaction authority model structured similarly to an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Members of the HALO pool are eligible to compete for future prototype demonstration orders.
SDA issued a request for proposals for the HALO program in July. The agency said it could expand the HALO pool of performers for future agency programs, including additional architecture tranches. The agency expects to announce more awards under the program in the coming months.
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