Ku-Band Geostationary Satellite Transponder Bandwidth

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce, is soliciting quotations for geostationary satellite Ku-band transponder bandwidth to support two-way satellite time/frequency transfer operations, with proposals due July 28, 2026. The procurement is unrestricted, with no set-aside category.

Place of performance is the United States. The requirement is procured under FAR Part 12 as a commercial product/service and NAICS 517410 (Satellite Telecommunications), with a small business size standard of $44 million.

The technical scope requires non-preemptable transponder bandwidth on a station-kept geostationary satellite at longitude 30W through 45W, supporting 19 national metrological laboratories and technical institutes across North America and Europe. Specifications include uplink carriers within 14.0–14.5 GHz, downlink carriers within 10.95–12.5 GHz, linear cross-polarized configuration, EIRP 42 dBW, BPSK modulation at 2.5 Mc/s symbol rate with approximately 4 MHz occupied bandwidth, and coverage accommodating 17 Earth stations. The service must operate with existing TimeTech SATRE Earth station modems.

The period of performance runs from November 27, 2026, 00:00 UTC through November 26, 2027, 23:59 UTC. Payment is firm fixed price, 100% due upon installation, acceptance, successful testing, and proper invoicing under Net 30-day terms. Annual service costs are distributed as 25% to NIST, 25% to U.S. Naval Observatory, and 50% to Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany, with monthly invoicing to each cost-sharing member.

Quotations must be submitted on company letterhead and include technical capability documentation not exceeding six single-sided pages, citing how the proposed service meets requirements in the Statement of Work and Additional Specs. Offerors must provide minimum three relevant projects from the past three years and three customer references. Evaluation weighs Technical Capability, Experience, and Past Performance approximately equally, with Price as the fourth factor. Quotations remain valid for 90 days.