Notice of Intent for Exception to Fair Opportunity for Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) Contract Number: HC105023D0003

The Department of the Air Force published a Notice of Intent for Exception to Fair Opportunity for the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract. The Space Development Agency requires cloud services from Microsoft Azure to host a government tenant within the IL6 secret cloud region to operate flight software managing a constellation of 10 networked space vehicles for the United States Space Force's Next Generation Space Domain Awareness program.

The justification and approval document attached to the Notice seeks to award a sole source contract to Microsoft due to significant non-recurring engineering already completed within an existing IL2 Azure environment. Migration to a new cloud provider would cause schedule delays and increased costs, jeopardizing integration testing beginning August 15, 2024 and launch by May 2025. As the only contractor with existing access and experience standing up the secure cloud environments required, Microsoft is deemed the only contractor capable of meeting the Space Development Agency's requirements within the necessary timeframe.