Ground Station as a Service

This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is issued solely for market research purposes to identify capable small and large business entities and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ). This notice does not represent a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor shall the Government incur any financial obligation for information submitted in response hereto. No claim against the Government may arise from a response to this SSN or from the Government's use of any submitted information. Failure to respond to this SSN does not prohibit participation in any potential subsequent solicitation. The information contained herein is subject to revision and imposes no binding obligation upon the Government. All submitted materials shall become the property of the Government and will not be returned. Any proprietary or copyrighted information included in a response must be explicitly marked as such. 

Requirement:  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information System (NESDIS), Office of Satellite and Mission Operations (OSPO) requires an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) including site certification, telemetry downlink data services, and satellite commanding data services. This will satisfy NESDIS current requirements for commercial remote telemetry-only downlink for partner missions, Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2), Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite–5 (KOMPSAT-5), and PAZ. The GSaaS contract will provide agility for NESDIS to add or reduce ground station service task orders for future NESDIS or partner missions as they are defined.  Under this contract, the contractor is responsible for operating ground status sites that meet strict geographical, technical, and regulatory requirements, including securing necessary radio frequency licenses.  The contractor shall provide ancillary engineering support services, such as systems compatibility assessments and proficiency testing, while strictly complying with physical security programs, cybersecurity frameworks like NIST or ISO, and government data rights that restrict the external distribution of sensitive information without explicit permission.

NAICS Code/Size Standard:  The applicable NAICS code is 517810, All other Telecommunications with business size standard of $40M[RS1] .

Key Criteria:

• Site Requirement - The Contractor shall deliver GSaaS capabilities across qualified operational sites, ensuring continuous compliance with satellite-to-ground communication specifications, required security baselines, mission geographic footprint targets, and have availability to meet the Government’s anticipated tasking schedule.
• Scheduling Requirement – The Contractor shall fulfill Government services requests in accordance with the scheduling interface agreements specified in each task order.
• The Contractor shall achieve a minimum 95% operational success rate for scheduled contacts. A contact is deemed successful only if it is attempted, successfully completed with an Eb/N0 margin greater than 3 dB, and results in data delivery to the designated NOAA Internet Point of Presence within 60 seconds of contact completion.
• Security Requirement – The Contractor shall provide artifacts that demonstrate that sites and services meet security requirements according to the security frameworks established by the Contractor and approved by the Government.
• Regulatory Requirement – The Contractor shall be solely responsible for local and international regulatory compliance related to occupancy and operation of the service sites and for providing the services from those sites. The contractor shall secure, maintain, and comply with radio frequency licenses for the services provided. [TTT2] 

Required Response Information:
Capable small and large business vendors are requested to provide the following information in response to this SSN announcement:

1. Company Name/Division, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and website URL (if available).
2. A single Point-of-Contact name, title, telephone number, and e-mail address.
3. Unique Entity ID (UEI). Please note that companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be considered potential sources (SAM.gov).
4. Business Size in relation to NAICS 517810 and any SBA socio-economic certifications.
5. Demonstrated capabilities in meeting the needs of the Key Criteria listed above.
6. Conflict of Interest: Please detail the extent to which the respondent is aware of any potential organizational conflict of interest issues related to this requirement.

Response Format:
In order to better assist in the review of responses to this SSN, respondents are encouraged to prepare a capabilities statement that does not exceed 10 pages.

Response Submission Requirements and Deadline:

Responses to this SSN should be submitted via e-mail attachments, received no later than 05:00 PM, EST, 11 September 2026 to:
Contracting Officer: Trang Tran at Trang.tran@noaa.gov; and
Contracting Specialist: Markita Simmonds at markita.simmonds@noaa.gov.