Viasat’s Maxwell Satellite Reaches Orbit for NASA Communications Tests

Viasat’s Maxwell demonstration spacecraft reached low Earth orbit after a Tuesday launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, putting a five-month test of commercial communications links for future NASA missions on course. Maxwell lifted off at 7:04 a.m. ET (11:04 UTC) Oct. 20 aboard SpaceX’s Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission. Two NASA-funded commercial communications demonstrations reached low Earth orbit on the mission. Viasat plans to test relay and direct-to-ground communications through March 2027. Relay tests will use Ka-band and L-band links to route data among Maxwell, Viasat satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground stations. Direct-to-ground tests will use S-, X- and Ka-band links.

Source: TokenPost