SSC looking for commercial space vehicles for on-orbit testing platforms

Space Systems Command is planning to award multiple contracts for satellites that can carry experimental payloads as part of its Space Test Experiments Platform 2.0 program, according to a solicitation posted last week.

The service plans to award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts for commercial space vehicles as a way to provide “rapid access to space for science and technology payloads” on different sized satellites in low-Earth or geosynchronous orbits, the request for proposals states.

STEP 2.0 is part of the Space Test Program, which serves each branch of the Defense Department by providing access to space for experimentation. Congress appropriated $30 million for STP in fiscal year 2024, and the Space Force is requesting about the same for FY-25.

The contracts are a way to buy “cradle-to-grave” solutions for experimentation, an SSC news release states.

“The DOD Space Test Program is looking to leverage all the successes from industry to provide proven spacecraft to host DOD’s next generation of space technologies,” program director Lt. Col. Brian Shimek said in the news release.

SSC expects to announce awards by the end of July.

Businesses would be expected to include all hardware, software, data, labor, materials and documentation needed to design, develop, produce, integrate, store and deliver the space vehicle. The provider would also run technical support and end-of-life disposal or transfer to another user.

The contracts will last five years with an additional five-year option period.