Fifty years after pioneering space communications and tracking services, NASA is preparing to tap the growing commercial satellite industry-currently worth nearly $60 billion per year-to not only replace agency-owned and -operated space and ground systems but also expand and enhance its offerings. "Scientists are like teenagers-they can never get enough bandwidth," says Greg Heckler, NASA's acting director for commercial services within the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. "We're always looking to increase data rates from our missions."
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