Satellite services provider Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) soared 32.8% yesterday after the company disclosed that it would participate in a multi-billion dollar initiative being carried out by NASA.

Viasat to Provide Ground Segment Support Services to NASA

Yesterday Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) reported that it would be one of four companies equipping the space agency with "commercial ground and space (communications) services." The five-year deal, which can be extended by another five years, will be worth a total of $4.8 billion.

A close up of a satellite in space, showing the advanced technology of communications systems.

At the beginning of the contract, Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) will provide NASA with "global ground support services," but it may offer other services at some point, the company explained.

Details about VSAT's Network

NASA's spacecraft will use VSAT's Real-Time Earth (RTE) Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) network to communicate with ground personnel when they are orbiting Earth at relatively short distances from the planet.

And according to the company, its network "is capable of multi-gigabit per second downlinks over a hybrid network-of-networks with a footprint across six continents." As a result, the agency will have significantly more "opportunities to downlink information and support the timely delivery of mission critical data," Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) reported. Finally, the network utilizes AI and "cloud-based optimization."

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