Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., has been awarded a five-year, $140 million contract by General Dynamics C4 Systems of Scottsdale, Ariz., to modernize the ground segment of NASA’s satellite communications network.
Harris is part of the General Dynamics-led team that won the NASA Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment Contract announced June 15. That contract, potentially worth $642.2 million, runs through mid-2017 and calls for General Dynamics and its teammates to modernize the worldwide network of ground stations NASA uses to communicate with near-Earth robotic and human spaceflight missions.
Harris said in a June 24 press release announcing its role that it will lead the effort to replace all equipment and software in the space-to-ground link of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Harris also is responsible for large portions of the network’s User Services Gateway Element, Operational Test Services, and Maintenance and Training Facility.
Harris was the primary developer of the original TDRSS ground system at White Sands, N.M., in the early 1980s and provided the large deployable antennas on the original TDRSS satellites.
