NASA broke ground at the site of a new facility within the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland that will serve to accommodate research and development efforts for radio frequency communications.
The 54K-square foot Aerospace Communications Facility will enable NASA and its industry partners to build optimized communication capacities that may support potential missions to Mars and the Moon, the agency said Wednesday.
NASA will also employ the facility to explore potential communications technologies for autonomous and urban air mobility vehicles.
“The ACF positions us to further advance communication technology needed to meet the nation’s space exploration and aviation goals, as well as enable commercial and defense communications,” said Joel Kearns, director of facilities, test and manufacturing at Glenn Research Center.
Glenn Research Center tapped the Austin Company to construct ACF under a $33.8M contract. The center envisions to secure a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation for the facility.