EPCC IDIQ RFI - 3 Nov 26 v1_CO Signed.pdf

United States Space Force Space Systems Command Commercial Service Office

Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) Equipment, Provisioning and Customer Care Help

Desk Support Request for Information/Sources Sought

The Government is seeking industry feedback, recommendations, and best practices during the market intelligence phase of this possible follow-on effort. Please DO NOT provide generic capability statements; they will be deleted. The Government is seeking well defined responses with supporting documentation to assist with developing the acquisition strategy. All responses must be submitted via email to the contacts identified below. This is for informational purposes only and the Government will not be obligated to award to any interested vendors that present information in response to this RFI/Sources Sought. The Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this RFI/Sources Sought. Responders to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI/Sources Sought. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received in this RFI/Sources Sought that is marked “Proprietary” will be handled accordingly. The Government intends to issue an RFI/Sources Sought for this requirement; however, the release date is subject to change.

As part of market research conducted pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, the Government may conduct one-on-one Capability Briefings with interested respondents. The purpose of these briefings is to clarify technical approaches, evaluate market capabilities, and gain a deeper understanding of industry offerings related to the requirements described herein.

Participation is strictly voluntary. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any costs associated with preparing for, traveling to, or presenting capability briefings.

Respondents indicating an interest in briefing the Government must submit the following point-of-contact details following the RFI submission deadline: Company Name, POC Name, Email address, Phone Number, Primary Topic Areas.

Expression of interest does not obligate the Government to schedule or conduct a briefing. The Government reserves the right to hold briefings with all, some, or none of the interested parties, based upon agency schedule, resource constraints, and alignment with Government requirements.

A decision by the Government not to conduct a briefing with any respondent, or to conduct briefings with only a subset of respondents, shall not disadvantage, preclude, or prejudice that respondent from participating in or competing under any future solicitation that may arise from this market research.

***All information provided is optional; however, it will be used to assist the Government in determining its acquisition strategy***

Title: Enhanced Mobile Satellite Service (EMSS) Equipment, Provisioning and Customer Care Help Desk Support (EPCC)

NAICS / Size Standard: NAICS 517410 / $35,000,000 size standard PWS Period of Performance Structure: 12-month base period with four 12-month option periods

Description(s):

The United States Space Force (USSF) provides United States Government (USG) and other sponsored customers with satellite communication services through a dedicated, government-controlled gateway. The secure gateway communicates with the contracted commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, and traffic processed through the secure gateway may be routed through secure government networks, public telephone networks, or other third-party networks.

The program provides cradle-to-grave services and support to its customers, including baseline network airtime access, sale and provisioning of authorized devices, 24/7/365 dedicated help-desk support, enhanced Government capabilities such as encrypted communications, comprehensive operation and maintenance of the secure gateway, and other services.

The objective of this possible follow-on effort is to deliver provisioning support and 24/7/365 dedicated help desk support to all authorized EMSS customers, including the Department of War (DoW), Federal Government, State and Local Government, approved foreign and allied governments, and other sponsored customers. The contractor may be required to provide EMSS Service Management services including Telecommunications Service Order (TSO) order management, warranty support, inventory management, supply chain functions, sub-contract management, provisioning activities, gateway liaison services, Return Material Authorization support, reporting, and program management.

The scope includes provisioning, invoicing, record management, and customer care services for users who access the commercial satellite constellation through the secure gateway. Services include Telephony (Voice), Data Transmission (Circuit and Packet Switched), Short Burst Data messaging, Tactical Push-to-Talk voice and data, Paging and Alerting, Multicast Data Broadcasts, High-Speed Broadband services, Secure Voice, enhancements/evolutions of those services, and additional commercial services introduced during the period of performance and included under separately managed baseline access agreements.

Sought After Qualifications for Possible Upcoming Requirement:

Scope: The contractor shall provide comprehensive, cradle-to-grave Service Management for authorized U.S.

Government and sponsored customers utilizing the contracted commercial satellite constellation via the designated secure gateway. This effort encompasses end-to-end support, including program management, provisioning, 24/7/365 mission-essential customer care, and detailed records management. The contractor will be responsible for processing telecommunications service orders, managing the supply chain for authorized devices, handling invoicing, and providing technical support for a wide range of mobile satellite services such as voice, data, and tactical communications. A critical component of this scope is the ability to provide surge support in response to emergent requirements while maintaining full continuity of essential operations.

Section A: Project Management Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 2) The Government is shifting its management focus from static, historical reporting toward real-time operational visibility and agile risk management. Respondents shall describe their Task 2 capabilities by answering the following:

1. Real-Time PM Dashboards: Historically, reporting has relied on static Monthly Status Reports (MSRs).

Describe your capability to provide the Government Program Management Office (PMO) with a secure, real-time, interactive dashboard that tracks contract health, SLA compliance, equipment burn rates, and Help Desk ticket statuses.

2. Surge & Crisis Management: Describe your agile project management methodology for handling rapid, unplanned surges (e.g., provisioning between 2000 and 7000 new IoT trackers or deploying 250 – 550 secure voice handsets in a 36–48-hour period) without degrading baseline SLAs.

3. Future Integration & Agile Onboarding: PWS requires support for new, unforeseen service provider commercial services added to the separate Airtime contract mid-period of performance. Describe your agile project management approach to rapidly ingesting, training staff on, and supporting new Iridium services without causing operational degradation to the baseline program.

Section B: Logistics and Hardware Sourcing Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 3)

Under Task 3, the contractor must execute the sourcing, secure logistics, and global delivery of a complex hardware portfolio, ranging from legacy devices to advanced CERTUS and other authorized secure communications equipment in accordance with Government direction. Respondents shall describe their supply chain and fulfillment capabilities by answering the following:

1. Broad Hardware Sourcing: How will you source, test, and manage inventory for specialized legacy terminals (e.g., NAL Tec SBD trackers, RO-X DTCS radios, pagers) alongside modern CERTUS terminals (e.g., Thales MissionLINK 700/200, Lars Thrane, Blue Sky Network SkyLink) and cryptographic modules (Sectera ISM2)?

2. Worldwide Shipping & Logistics Experience: Describe your experience packing, shipping, and tracking satellite communication equipment to CONUS and OCONUS government locations, including military bases, embassies, and APO/FPO/DPO addresses. How do you manage international customs, ITAR export controls, and secure chain-of-custody requirements?

3. Government Shipping Structure Recommendations: Based on your experience, what shipping structure (e.g., contractor-managed FOB Origin/cost-reimbursable shipping CLINs vs. utilizing Government-provided shipping accounts/FOB Destination) should the Government utilize to make global shipping as efficient, cost-effective, and low-risk as possible?

4. Extended Warranties & Out-of-Warranty Repair: Describe your capabilities in establishing extended warranty programs and managing out-of-warranty repair depot services for legacy Iridium equipment. How do you handle flat-rate repairs, perform diagnostic testing, or maintain hardware replacement pools to minimize user downtime in the field?

Section C: Provisioning and System Integration Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 4) Under Task 4, the contractor must provide a unified provisioning and billing desk, migrating and consolidating historically separate legacy and Certus workflows into a single-pane-of-glass administrative system. Respondents shall describe their provisioning, technical integration, and operational strategy capabilities by answering the following:

1. Iridium VAR Status & SPNET Administrative Path: Describe your organization's current status, or your explicit strategy to establish status as an Authorized Iridium Value-Added Reseller (VAR) in good standing

a. If currently a VAR: Confirm your active, direct administrative access to SPNET (Service Provider Network) and describe your team's experience using SPNET to provision and manage large fleets (10,000+ active nodes).

b. If not currently a VAR: Detail your concrete, step-by-step roadmap, key milestones, and estimated timeline to obtain Authorized Iridium VAR status and secure direct SPNET access. Address how your team will leverage equivalent multi-protocol provisioning platforms or sub-contracting/partnering arrangements to ensure zero operational gap at contract start.

1. Unified Multi-Protocol Provisioning: Describe your team's technical proficiency and platform capabilities to activate, modify, and suspend services across a diverse, concurrent portfolio including SBD (IMEI activation), RUDICS (data routing), DTCS (talkgroups/nets), and CERTUS IP profiles.

2. API & Automated Bulk Provisioning: As the EMSS portfolio scales, manual entry represents a severe bottleneck. Describe your technical capabilities to utilize APIs to bridge Government requests directly into Iridium’s SPNET, allowing for automated, zero-touch bulk provisioning, profile modifications, and deactivations.

3. Eliminating "Orphaned" Accounts: What automated processes, network monitoring tools, or auditing strategies would you introduce to identify inactive or underutilized nodes ("ghost devices") and recommend them to the Government for deactivation to optimize program efficiency?

4. Dual-Homed SIM and Routing Management: Under the consolidated scope, the contractor must provision and manage dual-homed SIM cards to allow users to transition from Commercial Gateways to the secure EMSS Gateway as capabilities evolve. Describe your technical approach to managing these dual-homed profiles and coordinating routing transitions without causing operational downtime.

5. CDR Sanitation & Commercial Billing: For services utilizing the Commercial Gateway, Call Detail Records (CDRs) are generated. Describe your capability to ingest, process, and sanitize and protect Government-designated sensitive metadata in usage and billing records within these CDRs, as defined by the Government, while executing accurate, monthly aggregated billing.

6. Organizational Strategy and Operational Impact: Considering the integrated "cradle-to-grave" service model in the reference PWS, please describe the primary operational advantages and disadvantages of separating the Help Desk/Customer Care function from the Ordering/Provisioning function.

a. How would separation impact the end-user experience, especially when a help desk inquiry is directly related to an order status, device provisioning, or a return/repair?

b. If separated, what specific coordination mechanisms or governance structures would you recommend to ensure seamless issue handoff and resolution between the two functional teams?

7. Technical Barriers and System Integration: The current process requires the contractor to maintain integrated databases for service orders and help desk inquiries. If these functions were separated:

a. What are the primary technical barriers to ensuring the Help Desk has real-time, read/write access to order status, provisioning details, and inventory data managed by a separate Ordering/Provisioning vendor?

b. Please detail your technical approach for integrating disparate IT Service Management (ITSM) and ordering systems. Include your experience with APIs, data warehousing, and ensuring data integrity across different platforms.

c. What are the risks of data silos, and how would you mitigate them to provide end-to-end visibility for the Government?

8. Cost -Benefit Analysis and Pricing Structure: The Government seeks to understand the full cost impact of separation versus consolidation.

a. What specific cost drivers would increase if these functions are separated (e.g., duplicated program management, dual software licensing, system integration efforts, security compliance for two entities)?

b. Conversely, where do you see potential for cost savings in a separated model? Please provide a pricing rationale (e.g., use of lower-cost labor for distinct, lower-complexity tasks).

c. How would separating the functions affect your overall pricing strategy for the EPCC IDIQ?

9. Past Performance and Lessons Learned: Please describe your organization’s experience managing concurrent Help Desk and IT Ordering/Provisioning operations on federal or enterprise contracts of similar scope to the reference PWS.

a. Provide 1-2 contract examples. In those cases, were the functions integrated or separate?

b. Based on that experience, what were the most significant challenges (e.g., accountability gaps, conflicting performance metrics, technical integration failures) and how were they resolved?

c. What key lessons should the Government apply when structuring the EPCC IDIQ?

10. CLIN Structure Recommendations: Based on the scope of providing adaptive support, hardware logistics, and future tech integration, what Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) structure (e.g., FFP, T&M, Hybrid) do you recommend? Explain how your proposed structure incentivizes vendor performance and cost savings efficiency and scalability.

Section D: Customer Care and Help Desk Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 5) Under Task 5, the contractor must manage a consolidated, single Help Desk providing Tier 1, 2, and 3 customer support for both legacy systems and Certus services, augmented by a new forward-deployed Field Service Representative (FSR) capability. Respondents shall describe their help desk architecture, technical troubleshooting capabilities, and FSR integration strategies by answering the following:

1. Cleared 24/7/365 Help Desk Structure: Do you currently operate a 24/7/365 remote technical help desk?

Describe your experience providing technical support to users operating across different security classifications and secure operating environments. Describe your experience providing technical support in cleared environments and troubleshooting authorized secure communications equipment in accordance with Government direction.

2. FSR Integration & Triage Process: How will you integrate a new, forward-deployed FSR capability (Tier 3) with your 24/7/365 Remote Customer Care help desk (Tier 1/2)? Detail how remote agents will triage and escalate physical hardware failures to FSRs.

3. Full-Portfolio Troubleshooting Capability: describe your capability or experience with Tier 1/2 remote agents and Tier 3 FSRs. Describe your experience in troubleshooting equipment or issues similar to the following: legacy Circuit Switched Data/RUDICS failure, CERTUS IP routing issue or a cryptographic key load failure on tactical radios (e.g., AN/PRC-117F, AN/PRC-163)?

4. Customer Call Center Performance Metrics & SLAs: What industry-standard call center performance metrics do you routinely track? What targets do you recommend for this contract's SLAs? Specifically address:

• Average Speed of Answer (ASA): (e.g., 90% of calls answered within 20 seconds)

• Abandonment Rate: (e.g., < 2%)

• First Call Resolution (FCR): (e.g., > 75%)

• Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR): (with tiered priority thresholds)

• First-Time Fix Rate (FTFR): for on-site FSR dispatches (e.g., > 85%)

5. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Capture: Describe your methodology for securely and continuously capturing

CSAT from government users, particularly those operating in classified or bandwidth-constrained environments (e.g., post-call IVR vs. low-bandwidth encrypted email surveys).

Section E: Records Management and CUI Data Architecture Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 6) Under Task 6, the contractor must host and maintain a master database tracking all subscribers, equipment (IMEI/MEID), SIM cards, and billing. Because this dataset is considered Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), it requires stringent cybersecurity protections. Respondents shall describe their secure database architecture, data integrity methodologies, and analytical capabilities by answering the following

1. CUI-Compliant Database Architecture: Describe your technical architecture for hosting the EMSS master database. How will it meet the 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls under CMMC 2.0 Level 2 to protect sensitive subscriber and asset records without relying on self-certification?

2. Data Integrity, Verification & DPAS Alignment: Describe your processes for ensuring 100% data integrity between your records management system, Iridium's SPNET, and the Government's Defense Property Accountability System (DPAS).

3. Tracking Hardware Origin (EMSS vs. Non-EMSS Sourced): Due to the unlimited airtime framework, units often seek to provision commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices purchased outside of the central EMSS program ("Non-EMSS-Sourced" hardware).

a. How will your database systematically differentiate, tag, and track "EMSS-Sourced" hardware (procured via Task 2) versus "Non-EMSS-Sourced" hardware?

b. What secure validation and Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) vetting processes will you perform on "Non-EMSS-Sourced" hardware before provisioning it on the secure gateway?

c. What on-demand reports will you provide to the PMO to track the authorized organizational and asset accountability attributes of these outside devices riding on the secure network?

4. Predictive Analytics for Program Efficiency: What types of predictive analytics do you provide or recommend implementing to maximize operational and administrative efficiency across the EMSS program? Specifically, address how predictive modeling can be applied to:

a. Supply Chain & Logistics: Forecasting hardware depletion and shipping lead times to optimize stock levels at CONUS and OCONUS hubs.

b. Hardware Reliability: Identifying failure trends in specific equipment batches or legacy components before they cause widespread operational disruptions.

c. Subscription Optimization: Detecting and predicting inactive, "orphaned," or underutilized SIM profiles to streamline the active user registry.

d. Resource Forecasting: Predicting help desk ticket volume spikes and FSR dispatch trends to optimize customer support staffing.

Section F: Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Protection Capabilities (Reference PWS Task 8) Under Task 8, the Department of War (DoW) requires stringent cybersecurity standards to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) across both the prime contractor and the entire subcontractor supply chain. Respondents shall describe their cybersecurity posture, CMMC compliance strategy, and supply chain oversight by answering the following:

1. CMMC 2.0 Alignment & C3PAO Certification: Self-certification is prohibited for this CUI-handling contract.

Explain your timeline and strategy to achieve and maintain a C3PAO-certified CMMC 2.0 Level 2 status as a prime contractor. Please provide your current SPRS (Supplier Performance Risk System) score to gauge readiness.

2. Annual Compliance Affirmation: CMMC 2.0 requires a senior company official to annually affirm compliance in SPRS. Describe your organization's internal procedures for executing this mandatory annual affirmation. Who is designated as your Affirming Official (AO), and how do you ensure they maintain the required "SPRS Cyber Vendor User" role in PIEE to sign off on compliance?

3. Subcontractor Cybersecurity Compliance: How will your Program Manager monitor and report CMMC 2.0 Level 2 compliance for your entire subcontractor supply chain?

Requested Information:

In addition to providing a tailored capability statement indicating the ability to provide the above services, interested vendors are asked to submit the following information:

A. Vendor Information Requested

a. Name of Business

b. Cage Code

c. Business Type SB/Large

d. POC: Name/Phone number/email

All responses shall be submitted NLT 10 December, 2026 by 4:30 PM EST. Please submit your response to the following individuals (include all):

Mr. LaMario Cato, Contracting Officer. Email: LaMario.Cato@spaceforce.mil

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the contact(s) above. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Answers to questions will be posted to SAM.gov. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 10 November, 2026 by 4:30 PM EST will be answered.

Response Guidelines:

Interested vendors are requested to respond to this RFI/Sources Sought with a white paper. Submissions cannot exceed [25pages], single spaced, 12-point type with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” X 11” page size. The response should not exceed a 5 MB e-mail limit for all items associated with the RFI/Sources Sought response. Responses must specifically describe the contractor’s capability to meet the requirements outlined in this RFI/Sources Sought. Oral communications are not permissible. SAM.gov will be the repository for all information related to this RFI/Sources Sought.

Upon conclusion of market research efforts, the Government anticipates releasing a formal solicitation for this effort.

Should you have any questions please reach out to the individuals above.

LAMARIO B. CATO, NH-04, USSF

Contracting Officer Space Systems Command COMSO mailto:LaMario.Cato@spaceforce.mil