Just like your cellphone stays connected by roaming between networks, NASA's Polylingual Experimental Terminal, or PExT, technology demonstration is proving space missions can do the same by switching seamlessly between government and commercial communications networks.
NASA missions rely on critical data to navigate, monitor spacecraft health, and transmit scientific information back to Earth, and this game-changing technology could provide multiple benefits to government and commercial missions by enabling more reliable communications with fewer data interruptions.
"This mission has reshaped what's possible for NASA and the U.S. satellite communications industry," said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for the agency's SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "PExT demonstrated that interoperability between government and commercial networks is possible near-Earth, and we're not stopping there. The success of our commercial space partnerships is clear, and we'll continue to carry that momentum forward as we expand these capabilities to the Moon and Mars."
