# NASA Awards Lunar 5G Contract to Modulate Space

NASA awarded Modulate Space Corporation an approximately $38 million firm-fixed-price contract for NASA Glenn Research Center to develop and demonstrate a standards-based lunar-surface communications system combining 5G and Wi-Fi 6. The work includes a network-in-a-box lab demonstration running October 1, 2026, through January 31, 2028, followed by an integrated lunar-surface network flight demonstration scheduled for November 30–December 31, 2028. This is a completed award, not an open solicitation.

- The award establishes a funded development effort for lunar communications hardware, firmware, software, integration, and testing; the signals identify no new bid opportunity or procurement contact for this contract.
- Contractors with relevant capabilities can assess potential downstream or follow-on work supporting lunar communications deployment and technology evolution, while recognizing that no follow-on solicitation is specified.
- Companies developing standards-based 5G and Wi-Fi 6 systems may find the demonstration milestones useful context for evaluating capabilities relevant to future NASA lunar-surface communications needs.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Digital Infrastructure
**Published:** September 30, 2026

### Government Entities
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC)
- NASA Headquarters

### Vendors
- Modulate Space Corporation (awardee)

### Sources
- [NASA Awards Contract for Lunar 5G Communications Development | Mirage News](https://www.miragenews.com/nasa-awards-contract-for-lunar-5g-1753016) - Mirage News
- [NASA Awards Contract to Develop 5G Communications for Moon via #NASA https://t.co/YPY2h1mYXU](https://x.com/sp6y/status/2105403470236750108) - twitter-agency
- [NASA Awards Contract to Develop 5G Communications for Moon - NASA https://t.co/MGawrzxV4D 

NASA has awarded Modulate Space Corporation a contract to develop key elements of a 5G communications system for use on the lunar surface with built-in Wi-Fi 6, for NASA’s Glenn Research C](https://x.com/matiere/status/2105400086356517335) - twitter-agency