[09-14-07 – Satellite Today]  AeroAstro has won two contracts to provide communications equipment to NASA and another unnamed U.S. government agency, the company announced Sept. 12.

AeroAstro, a business unit for Radyne Corp., received a Phase II contract to continue development for a reconfigurable digital extra-vehicular activity radio in support of NASA’s Exploration Initiative. The radio will be low-power, low-volume and lightweight, as well as digital software-defined and capable of operating in a wide variety of bands, with data transceiver capabilities for voice, telemetry and high-resolution video. The radio is intended for use in manned extra-vehicular activities in deep space, on lunar and planetary surfaces and in the links and networks involved in end-to-end data flow.

AeroAstro was also awarded a $1.2 million contract by a U.S. government agency for advanced communications technologies.