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BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Armed Services Committee member, issued the following statement on the Space Development Agency (SDA) awarding General Atomics a $6 million grant to conduct a space-to-air optical communication experiment:
“Space touches everything. It is important to everything we do, and it is the next warfighting domain, and our adversaries are working overtime to threaten America’s space presence while our military leaders take steps to counteract them. Kudos to the North Dakotans who are on the frontlines of this fight. The partnership announced today between General Atomics and the Space Development Agency will create more opportunities for North Dakota to contribute to America’s space efforts. I am happy to see Dr. Tournear’s time in our state reflecting what places like Grand Forks has to offer, and I look forward to that relationship continuing to grow.”
According to General Atomics, this contract is in conjunction with an upcoming experiment where General Atomics and SDA are partnering to launch the Laser Interconnect and Networking Communication System (LINCS) system and conduct a series of experiments demonstrating space-based optical communication starting later this summer.
The grant was announced by SDA Director Dr. Derek Tournear during his time in Grand Forks today. Senator Cramer hosted Director Tournear’s first visit to the city in October 2020, when they toured Grand Sky, the Grand Forks Air Force Base, and the University of North Dakota. Learn more here.