Viasat Inc. said it received a contract to build a low Earth orbit satellite for the U.S. military’s Link 16 radio system. The Space Enterprise Consortium of the U.S. Air Force made the $10 million award.
Viasat (Nasdaq: VSAT) is developing both the platform and the payload, said Ken Peterman, president of the company’s government systems business. The contract includes options for additional capabilities, including cross links between satellites in a future constellation.
Such a constellation would transform Link 16 from a line of sight network to a beyond line of sight network.
Viasat, based in Carlsbad, offers satellite hardware, software and services to military, government, commercial and consumer markets. It made the announcement May 22.
