Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems has received a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to build spacecraft for a flight experiment that could take place in 2024 to study ionization processes in very low Earth orbit.
Under the three-year contract, Tyvak will aim to produce a space vehicle equipped with sensor payloads to support AFRL’s Precise mission, the laboratory said Wednesday.
“The Precise spacecraft will use sensitive satellite instruments and radio waves to examine changes in the ionosphere resulting from different compositions of ion source gasses,” Rachel Hock-Mysliwiec, an AFRL program manager.
“This understanding could be used in the future to mitigate natural ionospheric impacts to warfighter systems such as satellite communications and GPS.”
AFRL awarded the contract via U.S. Space Systems Command’s Space Enterprise Consortium Other Transaction Agreement, which laboratory contracting officer Sheri Della Silva said serves as a framework to award prototype projects to industry.
“Having this new agreement will permit us to move at an expedited pace, allowing our scientists and engineers to concentrate on matters inside the lab, rather than spending time working on contracting matters,” Della Silva added.
GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will host a forum on Jan. 19 to offer the GovCon community an insight into the Department of Defense’s acquisition and modernization efforts in the space domain. Visit the GCW Events page to sign up for the “Space Acquisition Forum.”
