This Pre-Solicitation opportunity from National Aeronautics And Space Administration was posted on May 4, 2026. The submission period has ended. Browse the details below for market research, or find similar active opportunities.
Notice of Intent to Sole Source for Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Extended Host Operations
Contract Overview
Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.
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AI Contract Overview
NASA Langley Research Center requires continued on-orbit operations support for the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Instrument, which is hosted as a payload on the Intelsat IS-40e geostationary spacecraft positioned at 91W longitude. The contract involves the operation of the host spacecraft to maintain power, thermal, and data interfaces with TEMPO, command relay between the instrument and another government contractor, and transmission of scientific and housekeeping data to a government data processing facility. Additionally, the contractor must monitor spacecraft health to prevent anomalies affecting TEMPO, ensure instrument safety during any spacecraft issues, safely deactivate the payload post-mission, comply with legal and commercial regulations for orbital debris and disposal, and provide predicted ephemeris data in line with operational requirements. This contract is planned as a sole source acquisition to be awarded to SES Space and Defense, which currently provides these services under an existing U.S. Space Force contract and is the only entity capable of sending commands to and receiving data from the TEMPO payload due to proprietary access to the host satellite and ground systems. NASA intends to acquire this service commercially under FAR Part 12, and while other organizations with the necessary capabilities may submit statements of capability, the government retains discretion over whether to pursue full and open competition. The solicitation details specify a response deadline and provide points of contact, underscoring the specialized and unique nature of these hosted payload operations.
General Info
Agency
NAICS
Place of Performance
Reston, VA, 20191, USASet-Aside
Documents
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Timeline
Submission Closed
Organization & Contact Information
Full Description
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) has a requirement to continue hosting on-orbit operations for the NASA-developed Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Instrument as a Hosted Payload (HP) on an Intelsat IS-40e spacecraft and delivery of the TEMPO Hosted Payload data. The host contractor shall provide the following services under this requirement:
- Operate the host geostationary spacecraft (IS-40e) at 91W longitude to include supporting the power, thermal, and data interfaces with the TEMPO Instrument.
- Pass commands to the TEMPO Instrument from another Government contractor.
- Relay TEMPO scientific and housekeeping data from the TEMPO Instrument on-orbit to another Government contractor data processing facility.
- Monitor host spacecraft health and status for any anomalies that may impact the TEMPO Instrument or TEMPO operations and ensure the safety of the TEMPO Instrument during host spacecraft anomalies.
- Safely deactivate the Hosted Payload at the end of the Hosted Payload mission.
- Meet all legal and commercial requirements, including ITU-R S.1003.1, for orbital debris/end of life disposal of the host spacecraft.
- Develop and provide Host Spacecraft predicted ephemeris data in accordance with the Extended Operations Host Requirements Document.
NASA LaRC intends to issue a sole source contract to acquire these services from SES Space and Defense under the authority permitting other than full and open competition implemented by FAR 6.103-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
The Government intends to acquire a commercial service using FAR Part 12.
TEMPO hosted payload services are currently provided by SES Space and Defense using its Intelsat 40e geostationary communications satellite under the United States Space Force contract FA8814-14-D-0003, Delivery Order FA8814-19-F-0001. SES Space and Defense owns and operates both the host satellite to which the TEMPO Instrument is integrated and operating on in-orbit, and the ground stations that the commands and data pass through to the host spacecraft. No other company is involved with providing these services as no other company is permitted to send commands to the host spacecraft nor intercept and decode the data downlink.
Interested organizations having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirement shall submit a capability statement of no more than 5 pages indicating the ability to perform all aspects of the effort. All responses shall be submitted electronically via NASA’s Box at https://nasagov.app.box.com/f/473c649f875a42058d40f71029c6fc67.
Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.
NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at : https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf