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By NASA
2 Min Read NASA Seeks Commercial Feedback on Space Communication Solutions
An illustration of a commercial space relay ecosystem. Credits: NASA / Morgan Johnson NASA is seeking information from U.S. and international companies about Earth proximity relay communication and navigation capabilities as the agency aims to use private industry satellite communications services for emerging agency science missions.
“As part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, the agency is working with private industry to solve challenges for future exploration,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s SCaN Program. “Through this effort, NASA missions will have a greater ability to command spacecraft, resolve issues in flight, and bring home more data and scientific discoveries collected across the solar system.”
In November 2024, NASA announced the TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, the agency’s network of satellites relaying communications from the International Space Station, ground controls on Earth, and spacecraft, will support only existing missions.
NASA, as one of many customers, will obtain commercial satellite services rather than owning and operating a replacement for the existing satellite system. As NASA transitions to commercial relay services, the agency will leverage commercial capabilities to ensure support for future missions and stimulate private investment into the Earth proximity region. Commercial service offerings could become available to NASA missions as early as 2028 and will continue to be demonstrated and validated through 2031.
NASA’s SCaN issued a Request for Information on May 30. Responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 11.
NASA’s SCaN Program serves as the management office for the agency’s space communications and navigation. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather, support lunar exploration, and uncover the solar system and beyond.
Learn more about NASA’s SCaN Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/scan
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Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorJimi RussellContactMolly KearnsLocationGlenn Research Center Related Terms
Commercial Space General Glenn Research Center The Future of Commercial Space Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Communicating with Missions
Communications Services Project
Commercial Space News
Near Space Network
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:40 Proba-3 artificially created what is normally a rare natural phenomenon: a total solar eclipse.
In a world first, ESA’s Proba-3 satellites flew in perfect formation, blocking the Sun’s bright disc to reveal its fiery corona. This enigmatic outer layer burns millions of degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface and drives the solar storms that can disrupt life on Earth.
With its first artificial eclipse, Proba-3 has captured detailed images of this mysterious region, offering scientists new insights into our star’s behaviour.
Read the full story here.
Access the related broadcast qality footage.
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By Space Force
Gen. Mike Guetlein, Vice Chief of Space Operations, visits Kirtland Air Force Base, signaling the base’s growing importance in space innovation, research and national defense.
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By European Space Agency
After an extraordinary six-week voyage from northern Norway, the iconic Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl has docked in Nice, France, concluding ESA’s 2025 Advanced Ocean Training course. Braving everything from wild storms to calm near-freezing seas, students aboard mastered techniques for collecting ocean measurements and harnessed satellite data to unlock insights into our blue planet.
Led by experts, this real-world expedition offered more than education – it sparked curiosity and a deeper commitment to understanding and protecting our oceans.
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By NASA
4 Min Read Future Engineers Shine at NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Robotics Competition
And the winner is… the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Utah Student Robotics Club won the grand prize Artemis Award on May 22 for NASA’s 2025 Lunabotics Challenge held at The Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
“Win was our motto for the whole year,” said Brycen Chaney, University of Utah, president of student robotics. “We had a mission objective to take our team and competition a step further, but win was right up front of our minds.”
Lunabotics is an annual challenge where students design and build an autonomous and remote-controlled robot to navigate the lunar surface in support of the Artemis campaign. The students from the University of Utah used their robot to excavate simulated regolith, the loose, fragmented material on the Moon’s surface, as well as built a berm. The students, who competed against 37 other teams, won grand prize for the first time during the Lunabotics Challenge.
“During the 16th annual Lunabotics University Challenge the teams continued to raise the bar on excavating, transporting, and depositing lunar regolith simulant with clever remotely controlled robots,” said Robert Mueller, senior technologist at NASA Kennedy for Advanced Products Development in the agency’s Exploration Research and Technology Programs Directorate, and lead judge and co-founder of the original Lunabotics robotic mining challenge. “New designs were revealed, and each team had a unique design and operations approach.”
Students from University of Illinois Chicago receive first place for the Robotic Construction Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Challenge.NASA/Isaac Watson Other teams were recognized for their achievements: The University of Illinois Chicago placed first for the Robotic Construction Award. “It’s a total team effort that made this work,” said Elijah Wilkinson, senior and team captain at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Our team has worked long and hard on this. We have people who designed the robot, people who programmed the robot, people who wrote papers, people who wired the robot; teamwork is really what made it happen.”
The University of Utah won second and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa came in third place, respectively. The award recognizes the teams that score the highest points during the berm-building operations in the Artemis Arena. Teams are evaluated based on their robot’s ability to construct berms using excavated regolith simulant, demonstrating effective lunar surface construction techniques.
To view the robots in action from the Robot Construction Award winners, please click on the following links: University of Illinois Chicago, University of Utah, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Students from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana received the Caterpillar Autonomy Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Challenge.
NASA/Isaac Watson Students from Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana received the Caterpillar Autonomy Award for their work. The University of Alabama placed second, followed by the University of Akron in Ohio. This award honors teams that successfully complete competition activities autonomously. It emphasizes the development and implementation of autonomous control systems in lunar robotics, reflecting real-world applications in remote and automated operations.
An Artemis I flag flown during the Nov. 16, 2022, mission was presented to the University of Illinois Chicago, as well as the University of Virginia in Charlottesville as part of the Innovation Award. The recognition is given to teams for their original ideas, creating efficiency, effective results, and solving a problem.
Dr. Eric Meloche from the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Jennifer Erickson, professor from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden each received an Artemis Educator Award, a recognition for educators, faculty, or mentors for their time and effort inspiring students.
The University of Utah received the Effective Use of Communications Power Award and the University of Virginia the agency’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science Award.
Students from the Colorado School of Mines pose for a photo after receiving a Systems Engineering Award during the 2025 Lunabotics Competition.
NASA/Isaac Watson Students from the Colorado School of Mines placed first receiving a Systems Engineering Award. University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, came in second and third places.
This is truly a win-win situation. The students get this amazing experience of designing, building, and testing their robots and then competing here at NASA in a lunar-like scenario while NASA gets the opportunity to study all of these different robot designs as they operate in simulated lunar soil. Lunabotics gives everyone involved new technical knowledge along with some pretty great experience.”
Kurt Leucht
Commentator, Lunabotics Competition and Software Development team lead
Below is a list of other awards given to students:
Systems Engineering Paper Award Nova Award: Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia; University of Virginia; College of DuPage Best Use of Systems Engineering Tools: The University of Utah Best Use of Reviews as Control Gates: The University of Alabama Systems Engineering Paper Award Leaps and Bounds Award: The University of Miami in Florida Best presentation award by a first year team: University of Buffalo in New York Presentations and demonstrations awards: University of Utah, Colorado School of Mines, University of Miami About the Author
Elyna Niles-Carnes
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Last Updated Jun 03, 2025 Related Terms
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