Parsons Corporation (NYSE:PSN) has secured a $30 million contract expansion and a strategic novation to the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA), marking a major transition for the Department of Defense’s "Blackjack" satellite program.
The deal, announced Monday, effectively transfers the operational leadership of the program from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the SDA, while nearly tripling the value of Parsons' original 2021 involvement.
The contract positions the Chantilly, Virginia-based technology provider as the primary integrator for the Blackjack flight demonstration, a mission designed to prove the military utility of proliferated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations.
Under the new terms, Parsons will consolidate support for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) spacecraft and manage the entirety of Blackjack’s mission operations from its specialized Parsons Space Operations Center.
A central component of the expanded scope is the deployment of Parsons’ proprietary OrbitXChange platform.
This commercial solution, combined with the company’s "Ground Operations Center as-a-Service," provides an automated, cybersecure bridge between government satellite constellations and a global network of commercial ground stations.