The Air Force is seeking businesses interested in hosting government payloads on their satellites.
The service issued a sources sought synopsis Sept. 17 on Federal Business Opportunities seeking bidders for a potential multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract for hosted payload services to “integrate, launch and support” on-orbit operations of government-furnished payloads on commercial spacecraft. The potential contract would be known as Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) contract, according to the synopsis.
Hosting government payloads on commercial satellites would help the Air Force meet a goal of making space access more affordable by leveraging commercial best practices for affordable mission assurance processes and utilizing already established commercial ventures, according to the synopsis.
The Air Force expects to release a draft request for proposals (RFP) in late November, host an industry day in mid-December and release its final RFP in January. Air Force Space Command did not respond when asked about a timeframe for a contract award.
Air Force Space Command Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Executive Director Doug Loverro yesterday said the synopsis, about “one year’s worth of work,” is a big step in the service developing regular hosted payload relationships.
“This is the first step in really moving towards (a) normal, accessible and repeatable, and I think that is the key point in this one, repeatable hosted payload arrangement for us,” Loverro told an audience at the Hosted Payload Summit in downtown Washington.
Orbital Sciences [ORB], Intelsat General, Lockheed Martin [LMT], Northrop Grumman [NOC], Thales Alenia Space and EADS North America all said they are interested in Air Force’s HoPS opportunity. Arianespace said it was not. A Boeing [BA] spokeswoman declined comment.
Loverro told Defense Daily after his presentation the ID/IQ is like a vehicle for a “more easily executed and faster business deal.” He said the Air Force signs preliminary contracts with interested companies that deliver an interface standard and a fixed-price arrangement.
“If you had a hosted payload of this size and this power, here’s how much it would cost (and) here’s how soon before the launch we’d have to know about this,” Loverro said regarding industry’s part of the contract.
Loverro said the ID/IQ is about helping the Air Force narrow down its options. He cited an example of three companies on contract with potential hosted solutions in the government-approved timeframe. After asking if they’d be willing to host a payload, the ID/IQ would allow the Air Force to make quick decisions.
“Let’s ask those three people: ‘OK, we got this payload. How much to host it, when could you launch it, what kind of placement can you give us in space,” Loverro said. “Then we select the best proposal from those three or four, however many people to host.”
Hosted payloads are where entities, typically governments, rent space or bandwidth on commercial satellites to save money compared to the cost of procuring their own satellites or their own launches.
Intelsat General is a division of Intelsat S.A. EADS North America is a division of European Aeronautic Space and Defense Company.