Tesat SCOT80 optical communication terminals. Photo: Tesat

Lockheed Martin has selected Tesat optical communication terminals (OCT) for a demonstration on a future GPS III spacecraft. Tesat announced the agreement on Tuesday for its SCOT80 OCTs. 

Tesat Managing Director Justin Luczyk said in a news release that the company will be part of an effort to deliver an optical communication terminal for a GPS satellite in Medium Earth orbit (MEO). Tesat passed a critical design review and is on track to deliver hardware this year. 

Lockheed Martin is under contract to build 10 Next Generation GPS III satellites for the U.S. Space Force, six of which have already launched. Lockheed is also building up to 22 GPS III Follow On satellites with more advanced capabilities. 

This is not Lockheed’s first deal for Tesat OCTs, the company also selected these terminals for its Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites for the Space Development Agency (SDA). The SCOT80 is an 80 mm aperture OCT capable of supporting data rates of up to 100 Gbps. It is compatible with Space Development Agency’s (SDA’s) OCT Standard 3.1.