The PExT mission completed the BARD mission objectives in 2025.
The BARD mission launched in July 2025 and completed all primary objectives before the PExT extension was approved.
The BARD mission validated PExT’s wideband, software-defined radio capabilities.
York Space Systems executed more than 100 mission demonstrations under NASA’s BARD mission in 2025.
York Space Systems’ mission demonstrations under NASA’s BARD mission included in-plane and cross-vendor optical links, space-to-ground optical connectivity, K-band links, orbit maneuvering, and a Link 16 connection from space to ground.
York Space Systems’ 2025 missions included BARD, a collaboration with NASA and Johns Hopkins APL, the Dragoon mission for SDA, and the experimental national security mission Tyndal.
PExT was hosted on the York Space Bard spacecraft, which SpaceX launched in July alongside the NASA Tracers mission.
The BARD satellite validated orbit maneuvering capabilities.
York Space Systems launched and commissioned the BARD satellite for NASA, demonstrating new wideband and laser communications between spacecraft.
Signal strength during the BARD mission matched predictions and planned operations ran without error.
The BARD mission will demonstrate the APL-designed and built PExT payload, enabling real-time interoperability between government and commercial satellite relay networks.
York Space Systems completed the initial commissioning of the Polylingual Experimental Terminal (PExT) payload aboard the BARD mission.
The results from the BARD mission confirm the spacecraft's health and validate its planning and execution.
Temperatures and power levels stayed within safe limits during the BARD mission.
BARD was launched in July of 2025 as a commercial mission from York in collaboration with NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
The initial commissioning of PExT marks a significant step in validating the BARD mission's concept of operations (ConOps) and advancing space communications capabilities for NASA.
The BARD spacecraft was launched in July 2025 as a commercial mission by York in partnership with NASA's SCaN Program and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.