FBO_Announcement_1.pdf

Intent to Award Notice – 140G0125Q0190

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has a requirement for Annual Internet2 Access.

EROS has unique mission requirements to ingest, process, and distribute satellite data in support of the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive (NSLRSDA), as mandated by the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992. These activities rely on the Landsat Ground Network (LGN), a USGS High Value Asset (HVA), to receive data from global ground stations.

EROS must also maintain the Landsat Archive and Landsat Product Generation System (LPGS), which are critical to providing public access to Landsat data in support of USGS Mission Essential Functions (MEFs) and Essential Supporting Activities (ESAs). This data is stored and managed both onsite at EROS and in the AWS cloud.

To meet these requirements, EROS needs specialized wide-area network (WAN) connectivity with key partners such as NOAA (via the N-Wave network), NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and international space agencies like ESA and ASA. Internet2’s network backbone and its regional hubs in Chicago and Seattle offer the necessary high-performance connections between these institutions and cloud service providers. This infrastructure is uniquely designed to support scientific, research, education, and federal agency needs.

The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to Internet2Network unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they have similar product that can meet the needs of this requirement. Vendors are invited to contact the Contract Specialist, Patrick Anderson via email at panderson@usgs.gov no later than 1:00 PM EDT, Tuesday, August 5, 2025, with an affirmative answer.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (FAR 13.1)

The following information is provided to demonstrate the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications:

EROS has unique requirements for the capture, processing, monitoring, reporting, and distribution of scientific data in a timely manner. USGS EROS requires the Internet2 network to provide a primary leg of the LGN connection between the EROS facility in Sioux Falls, SD and Seattle, WA where it connects to the Internet2 partner network NOAA N-Wave through to the satellite ground station in Gilmore Creek, AK (GLC). This is critical to the ingest of Landsat data captured from GLC. The Internet2 backbone also provides routing to NASA GSFC where the Landsat Mission Operation Center (MOC) is located and where ingest from other NASA missions originates. Internet2’s other partner networks allow for connectivity to ESA, ASA, and institutions based on mission driven requirements without the need to establish a direct connection or circuit. Additionally, many of the customers of EROS data distribution are education, scientific, research, other government institutions, and international partners that are members of Internet2’s network.70% of EROS data distribution traffic, a total of 12 Petabytes in FY24, utilizes the Internet2 network which is purpose built for this type of use case. Internet2’s backbone also provides a backup path in the event of a failure of EROS primary ingest/distribution WAN circuit.

mailto:panderson@usgs.gov