Air Force Advances Commercially Hosted Payload Mission Through Upcoming Multiple-Vendor Contract
The U.S. Air Force expects to release an RFP next month inviting commercial satellite operators to vie for a contract to team up with the government on commercially hosted payload missions. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract addresses the government’s effort to take advantage of the commercial sector’s faster launch timelines and streamline the acquisition process, said Col. Scott Beidleman, development planning director at the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Los Angeles Air Force Base. Intelsat plans to submit a proposal and XTAR will monitor the progress of the contract, executives at those companies said in interviews.
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As an IDIQ contract, the Hosted Payloads Solutions (HOPS) contract allows the Air Force to develop a “stable of pre-qualified vendors” with certain capabilities “to provide hosting opportunities for payloads that we'd bring to this contract,” Beidleman said. The contract is being offered by the SMC Hosted Payload Office, he said. Under the IDIQ contract, the office expects the process of acquiring commercially hosted payloads to be more streamlined, he said: “Instead of having to go and repeat this process individually and compete across the entire market every time we do one of these, this sets up a standardized, repeatable process that helps us shave some time and effort."
The HOPS contract will be awarded to 14 vendors, including nine companies operating in low earth orbit and five operators in geostationary orbit, Beidleman said. The office plans to complete awarding the contract by the end of the year, he said.
The contract reflects the government’s discussion of saving money through commercially hosted payloads, said Don Brown, Intelsat vice president-hosted payloads. The idea is to look at how government can leverage commercial efficiency in spacecraft acquisition and launch vehicle acquisition, he said: “What’s great about the approach of the office is they want to put together a vehicle that can be used by a variety of departments in the Air Force and by other government agencies."
The contract also can help the government and the commercial sector work through the budget constraints, satellite executives said. “It’s an example of changing approaches to space acquisition [and saving] the government money,” Brown said. Hosted payloads can help the Department of Defense meet capability, affordability and resiliency objectives, said Andrew Ruszkowski, XTAR global sales and marketing vice president. XTAR already hosts a payload and operates its own payload, he said. Hosted payloads can “provide cost savings, steady and frequent launch options and diverse platforms which all enable faster deployment of capabilities,” he said. They're suited to provide “much needed resiliency and disaggregation in space,” he added: This expands the choices of orbital locations and launches “while enabling the government to gain wider reach and lower risk within the space architecture."
SMC also expects the contract to help the government develop a more frequent schedule of taking up capability on hosted payloads, Beidleman said. “The tough part is aligning commercial timelines with government DOD acquisition timelines,” he said. “We're a bit slower than the commercial side of the house. … We believe the contract is a great mechanism to help us do that.”
For the commercial industry, the contract “is a sign that the government is walking the walk of saving money through hosted payloads, as well as talking the talk,” Brown said. “This experience will enable us to work more closely with government users to fulfill their requirements using this cost-effective and time-saving method,” Ruszkowski said.