L-Band Satellite Bandwidth and Ancillary Services RFI.docx

RFI/Sources Sought L-Band Satellite Bandwidth and Ancillary Services for Regional and/or Worldwide Operation United States Space Force Space Systems Command Commercial Service Office

The Space Force Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) is seeking industry feedback, recommendations, and best practices to assist with the development and planning of a potential new requirement. Please be direct and succinct in your responses to the questions below. Opinions, if provided, should be accompanied with justification or rationale. Please DO NOT provide generic capability statements; they will be deleted. 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 suppliers that present information in response to this Request For Information (RFI)/ Sources Sought. The Government currently has no firm plans to issue a Request For Proposal/Request For Quote (RFP/RFQ) related to this notice.

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

Description of need:

Service must provide full duplex, direct bent pipe access to the satellite. Required power levels between 23 dBW and 40.5 dBW at edge of coverage, adjustable as needed. Required bandwidth from 50 kHz to 200 kHz per channel. At the satellite operator’s ground station, a government-provided rack of equipment will interface to the satellite operator’s ground equipment to receive IF signals for transmission over the satellite and deliver IF signals received from the satellite. Waveforms employed on these channels will be government-specific.

Geographic areas of interest are regional and/or across the world. Satellite leases will typically be continuous (annually renewed) or short term (from weeks to months). Annual leases may be at a higher amount of power and/or bandwidth.

Questions for Industry:

1. The longitudinal location of the L-band satellite(s) (assuming geostationary orbit(s)).

2. Footprint map(s) of the satellite(s) coverage area and candidate channels that might be available within each satellite’s footprint.

3. As mentioned in the description, the forward link power levels associated with a satellite footprint will vary. Candidate power levels are 23 dBW, 25 dBW, 28 dBW, 30 dBW, 33 dBW, 35 dBW, 38 dBW, and 40.5 dBW. Please indicate what power levels are viable for each of the candidate footprints provided. (e.g. a localized spot beam may have a higher power level than a regional or global channel.)

4. Location of related ground station(s) and availability of floor space within each ground station for telehousing equipment provided by the government. Identify which ground stations have primary and back up TT&C responsibility for the satellite and information regarding the staffing requirements/qualifications at these locations.

5. Specific satellite operator requirements to allow a private rack(s) of hardware to be hosted by the operator at related ground station(s).

6. Specific ground station requirements to allow a private rack(s) of hardware to be hosted by the operator at related ground station(s).

7. Telecommunication data link options for remotely accessing the private rack(s) of equipment hosted at the related ground station (e.g. Internet, fiber, VSAT, etc.)?

8. What is the maximum available contiguous channel bandwidth (beyond 200 kHz)

9. Is it feasible to lease a channel with asymmetric bandwidth, that is, for instance, 200 kHz-wide forward link paired with 1 MHz-wide return link bandwidth? If yes, describe what would be the requirements placed upon the lease.

10. What is the maximum EIRP available for a lease?

11. What is the process and technical requirements to allow the DoD to establish its own ground station to directly access the satellite in lieu of or in addition to using the satellite operator’s commercial ground station.

12. What are the feeder link frequencies, and are those frequencies subject for re-allocation for 5G cellular or other terrestrial services during the next 10 years?

13. For any bandwidth or ancillary services identified in response, is commercially published pricing is available (e.g. GSA MAS 517410, provider website/brochure, etc.)?

Requested Information:

In addition to providing direct and succinct responses to the questions above, interested suppliers are asked to submit the following information:

A. Supplier Information Requested

a. Name of Business

b. Cage Code

c. Primary Address

d. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code

e. Business Type Small Business/Large

f. POC: Name/Phone number/email

g. Identifier(s) for your applicable PLEO IDIQ contract vehicle(s). (if applicable)

B. If company is a small business, please describe ability to meet the requirements outlined in 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting.

Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper embodied as a PDF file no larger than 5MB in size. Submissions cannot exceed 10 pages, single spaced, 12-point type with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” X 11” page size, including all identifying information requested above. Please submit your responses to John Seacrist, Contracting Officer, at john.seacrist@spaceforce.mil.

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