Washington: The US Space Force is planning to partner with commercial companies operating in geostationary orbit for a variety of satellite services, including communications and positioning, navigation and timing.
Col Richard Kniseley, senior materiel leader in Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office, said he hopes to establish a pool of vendors for the effort, dubbed Manoeuverable GEO, as soon as next year.
“This is going to allow us to onboard innovation, but also, even from a dual-use aspect, exploit capabilities that are already out there,” he told reporters at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference.
While the buys won’t be limited to satellite communications, the Commercial SATCOM Office will manage the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract — which allows the service to establish a group of eligible vendors to compete for various task orders. Any Defence Department agency will be able to use the procurement mechanism to buy satellite services, Kniseley added.
“As people come in with their requirements, we’re able to formulate the best path forward,” he said.
The effort is modelled off a similar program the Space Force started last year called Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services. The service initially selected around 15 providers to compete for the contract — worth up to $900 million over a five-year period. The pool has since grown, Kniseley said.
Demand for satellite services from low Earth orbit, which reside about 1,200 miles above Earth, has grown in recent years from both the defence and commercial sectors, but the need for such capabilities from higher altitudes like geostationary orbit is on the rise.
While many commercial companies have focused development efforts on satellites in low Earth orbit, Kniseley said he’s met with several firms who are building solutions for GEO.
The Space Force in particular is interested in satellites that can move in geostationary orbit, providing services from different positions or observing activities in orbit. The service in May awarded Starfish Space a $37.5 million contract to demonstrate the ability to manoeuvre and service spacecraft in orbit.
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