WASHINGTON — Braxton Technologies, a company recently acquired by Parsons Corp., received a $139.4 million contract to continue development and prototyping of the U.S. Space Force’s next-generation ground system for satellite operations. 

The contract announced July 21 is for a project known as enterprise ground services, or EGS. 

EGS is a suite of satellite command-and-control services that uses open standards and a common platform to operate a diversity of satellites. The Space Force said it wants to have all its satellite programs integrated into EGS by 2028.

The Air Force first selected Colorado-based Braxton in 2017 to develop a ground enterprise concept under a small business innovation research (SBIR) contract and awarded the company $19.8 million and $75 million a follow-on contracts in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

A spokesman for the Space and Missile Systems Center told SpaceNews the recent award “addresses remaining requirements with Braxton Technologies for years three through five as part of the existing five-year Phase 3 SBIR contract.” The contract includes $36.5 million for year three, $50.2 million for year four and $52.7 million for year five.  

“We are excited to build on our early success and operational acceptance to continue to prototype solutions and processes that allow us to integrate missions with speed and improve resiliency to fight and to win a war that extends into space,” said Joshua Sullivan, materiel leader for EGS. 

Rich Aves, executive vice president of Parsons’ space and geospatial business unit, said in a statement: “With the exponential growth in the number of satellite missions, we are proud to support the United States Space Force in their goal to deliver EGS to all satellite operations by 2028.”

He said work under this contract will include EGS automation, cyber-hardening options and a common user experience for space operators. 

Parsons in November completed the acquisition of Braxton in a deal valued at $300 million.

Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...