General Atomics Awarded US Space Force Contract for Enterprise Space Terminal Program

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has secured Phase 1 of the Enterprise Space Terminal (EST) program from the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command. The EST program aims to enhance the Department of Defense's platforms by establishing a mesh laser communication network for spacecraft beyond Low Earth Orbit, covering crosslink ranges up to 80,000 km.

Throughout the seven-month contract, GA-EMS will engineer and develop an Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) design leading to a preliminary design review. Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, emphasized the importance of high throughput intra- and inter-constellation communications for future missions, highlighting the company's expertise in OCT solutions.

As the prime contractor, GA-EMS will leverage its OCT design expertise and mission experience to meet the EST program's requirements. Tasks include designing the payload support system, electrical hardware, laser terminal, optical subsystems, thermal control, command and data handling, and cybersecurity. GA-EMS collaborates with L3Harris for the communications module design and Advanced Space for space navigation and time transfer capabilities.

This phase allows GA-EMS to capitalize on advanced technologies and lessons learned during OCT development, aiming to create a scalable mesh network enterprise of OCTs capable of intersatellite communication crosslinks, facilitating rapid data transfer between spacecraft and ground stations.