As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 and its historic landing on the Moon, NASA is preparing to once again send humans deep into space, beyond the confines of low-Earth orbit. NASA’s current plan, the Artemis program, is to get to the Moon by 2024, which will enable us to get to Mars roughly a decade after creating a sustainable presence on the lunar surface. These ambitious lunar and Mars plans will require new communications strategies, and more importantly, new technologies. This presentation will focus on the new technologies that SCaN is working on, including wideband modem, Quantum, Optical, etc.) that will be required in preparation for sending humans to the Moon and beyond.  

Badri A. Younes is the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN).  He is responsible for NASA’s space communications and navigation infrastructure and services, as well as data standards and spectrum.  Mr. Younes manages the SCAN Program at NASA Headquarters and oversees all NASA telecommunications and navigation projects and networks, including NASA’s Space Network (SN), Near-earth Network (NEN), and Deep Space Network (DSN).  Mr. Younes is also responsible for the development of enabling technology and capabilities critical to meeting the Agency’s vision for an integrated SCaN architecture aligned with NASA’s future space exploration needs.