The Space Development Agency (SDA) last Thursday released a request for proposals (RFP) for the ground infrastructure for its fire control efforts, with bids due in early August and an award in December.
The Advanced Fire Control Ground Infrastructure (AFCGI) will integrate space and ground efforts to demonstrate fire control as part of SDA’s larger Advanced Fire Control (AFC) effort. The AFCGI was previously called Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Futures Ground Integration.
SDA said the AFGCI acquisition will be “central” to the Fire-control On Orbit-support to the warfighter (FOO Fighter) program, which will be a prototype satellite constellation to provide fire control in support of the detection, warning, and precision tracking of advanced missile threats. Boeing’s [BA] Millennium Space Systems unit in April won a potential $414 million contract from SDA pro provide eight satellites for the FOO Fighter demonstration, which is expected to launch in late 2026 (Defense Daily, April 30).
“The AFCGI acquisition will provide a common, enduring ground infrastructure and resources to minimize cost and complexity for multiple AFC prototype efforts,” SDA said. The AFC program will allow the agency to acquire “operationally relevant prototypes…to demonstrate proof of scalability, show military utility, and provide a pathfinder for future proliferation of AFC capabilities,” it said.
In addition to providing ground segment infrastructure, the AFCGI contractor will complete and manage the government-owned Demonstration Operations Center, a government-procured cloud environment that will host space vehicle mission operations center software and related capabilities, and provide program management, systems engineering, and operations and maintenance of the ground infrastructure.
Later this year, SDA expects to post an RFP for AFC mission integration that will be “focused on mission partner interfaces, sensor orchestration, and data fusion.”