Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS)

The Department of the Air Force Space Command Space and Missile Systems Center awarded a Master IDIQ for Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) to host Government payloads on commercial spacecraft, but the vehicle is no longer available for new task orders—ordering closed on July 10, 2019, nearly seven years ago.

The vehicle is not worth pursuing for new work. HoPS issued 28 task orders over its five-year ordering window, with ordering momentum declining sharply after 2014: 17 orders placed in the establishment year, 7 in 2015, 2 in 2016, and only 1 each in 2018 and 2019. All task orders funded Space and Missile Systems Center programs, concentrating entirely on payload hosting missions for atmospheric and space-based monitoring applications including Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) and the ARGOS mission. Combined task-order potential value stands at $124.7 million, with $117.3 million obligated (94% utilization).

The prime contractor base comprised 15 firms, but Lanteris Space LLC captured dominant share, holding 4 of the 28 orders and $79.5 million in combined potential value—about 64% of the vehicle's total potential value. General Atomics held a single mega-order valued at $42.4 million (the ARGOS mission delivery order awarded November 7, 2018, with ultimate completion June 2028). The Boeing Company and Orbital Sciences LLC each held 3 orders valued at roughly $950 thousand and $863 thousand combined, respectively. The remaining 10 primes split the balance. All 28 task orders used firm-fixed-price pricing with no set-aside designations.

The most recent task order (June 26, 2019) was a NASA TEMPO payload delivery order to Lanteris Space LLC valued at $78.7 million ceiling, with obligated amount $72.2 million and completion targeted for June 2026. Most initial task orders from 2014 were small-dollar studies under $100 thousand each.

Since the ordering period has expired, pursuit is not viable. Any follow-on government interest in commercial hosted payload solutions would likely flow through a successor IDIQ vehicle.

The Developmental Planning Directorate (SMC/XR), Air Force Space Command has awarded a Master IDIQ for Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS). The HoPS IDIQ provides SMC and other Government organizations with a capability for hosting Government payloads on commercial spacecraft to meet mission objectives.