- Viasat, Inc. has been awarded a 10-year, $900 million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Space Force for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) Satellite-Based Services.
- The contract aims to bolster national security by diversifying satellite orbits and providing a comprehensive, managed end-to-end SATCOM solution.
September 6, 2023, 08:00 ET, CARLSBAD, Calif., In a significant move that underscores the growing importance of space-based capabilities for national security, Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, announced today that its subsidiary, Inmarsat Government, has been awarded a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) Satellite-Based Services (SBS) contract by the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC).
A Strategic Move for National Security
The 10-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, capped at $900 million, comes as the United States and its mission partners increasingly rely on space-based capabilities for national security. The pLEO constellations are part of a Department of Defense (DoD) strategy aimed at providing additional resilience for satellite communications (SATCOM), remote sensing, and other capabilities by diversifying orbits.
Comprehensive Satellite Solutions
Under the contract, Viasat plans to leverage small satellite technology, reduced costs, and increased launch service competition to provide persistent, global coverage with reduced transmission latency. The company will offer a suite of fully-managed pLEO satellite-based services and capabilities, including space relay services, supplemented by GEO and non-geostationary (NGSO) satellites. These services will support all domains—space, air, land, maritime, and cyber.
“Viasat has a proud history of providing integrated SATCOM solutions and service offerings across multiple bands and orbits to support government customers’ unique needs,” said Susan Miller, President, Viasat Government. “We eagerly look forward to using both our technologies and deep problem-solving expertise to deliver resilient, robust, and secure SATCOM capabilities to service members around the world.”
The Future of Satellite Communications
Viasat aims to achieve this with a reliable, resilient low latency global pLEO offering that flexibly supports the needs of various federal organizations and international coalition partners. Its new, hyper-intelligent software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is designed to provide priority routing across mixed networks, enabling an automated primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency (PACE) solution.
As a leading satellite network integrator, Viasat has a history of working with trusted satellite owners/operators to provide the bandwidth government customers require at a cost-effective price point.
