The Defense Information Systems Agency seeks more vendors for LEO satellite services. Up to $900 million worth of orders will be awarded over the next five years. Proposals are due May 31, 2024, according to SpaceNews.
The Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services contract, first announced in July, is run by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on behalf of the Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office, a central marketplace for satellite services operated by the Space Systems Command.
Twenty companies will compete for orders under the PLEO satellite services contracts. Initially only 16 vendors were selected to compete for task folders under the contract: ARINC, Artel, Capella Federal, BlackSky, SES, Hughes, Viasat, KGS, Intelsat General, OneWeb, PAR Government, RiteNet Corporation, Satcom Direct Government, SpaceX, Trace Systems and UltiSat. Since then, four more — AT&T, Honeywell Aerospace, Iridium and Lynk Global — have been added to the roster.
The PLEO contract “supports the Department of Defense’s requirement to provide worldwide, low-latency PLEO services,” said DISA. The contracting method allows the Department of Defense, other federal agencies and international allies “to procure fully managed satellite-based services and capabilities for all domains (space, air, land, maritime and cyber) with a consistent, quality-backed, low-latency offering.”
A $70 million task order was awarded to SpaceX in September for Starlink communications services, reports SpaceNews.
More task orders will be awarded for a range of services, said the Space Systems Command, including high-speed broadband, synthetic aperture radar imaging, space domain awareness; and alternative positioning, navigation and timing. The contract is a “multiple partner/multiple award” that encourages vendors to team up. “This approach promises to deliver capabilities to the warfighter faster and at lower cost compared to traditional ‘one contract per mission’ partner/task order,” the command said.
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