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U.S. Space Force Forecasts Commercial SATCOM Contracts

Contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars will be awarded in the coming months.

A U.S. Space Force office has revealed a hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial satellite contracts to be awarded in the coming months. Credit; Panuwatccn/Shutterstock

During the AFCEA TechNet Cyber conference, the U.S. Space Force revealed a total of 25 commercial satellite communications (COMSATCOM) contracts to be awarded in the coming months.

Mike Nichols, chief of the COMSATCOM Solutions program, a business unit of the Commercial Satellite Communications Office, U.S. Space Force, highlighted several of the opportunities. Some programs released requests for proposal in November, but industry still has time to respond.

They include the U.S. Air Force Central Command Commercial Satellite Bandwidth contract, which is expected to be awarded in May and is valued between $100 million and $250 million for the lifecycle of the program. It includes 466 MHz Ku band capacity supporting airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the U.S. Air Force Central Command area of responsibility.

The November requests for proposal also include two separate opportunities, each valued at a potential $100 million for commercial satellite bandwidth to the U.S. Central Command. One is in the 288 MHz KU Band, the other in the 108 MHz Ku band.

Additionally, the Space Force office already has released a request for proposal for the follow on to the Commercial Satellite Broadband Program Satellite Service Contract. It is described as an enterprise level, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract supplying bandwidth, teleport and terrestrial services. It is expected to be awarded in June and is valued at more than $500 million.

Also, the PM-Tactical COMSATCOM as a Service contract will provide turnkey management services to include COMSATCOM subscription services, leased terminals and backhaul. The anticipated award date for the potential $100 million contract is this month.

In December, the office expects to release a request for proposal for the Military Sealift Command Next-Generation Wideband Follow-on. It will provide commercial managed service to support current and future ships and land-based capabilities with global connectivity to commercial teleports and terrestrial backhaul that will provide Internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol services.The contract is expected to be awarded in September and is potentially worth more than $500 million.

The Global Hawk United States Indo-Pacific Command and Air Combat Command Support Contract will provide 52 MHz nonpreemptable contiguous, commercial Ku band capacity for use during Global Hawk operations and training. It could be worth $100 million, and the request for proposal is expected in March, the contract award in July.