SMC Modular Enterprise Spacecraft Bus Procurement Request for Information (RFI)

This is a Request for Information (RFI). Space has become a contested environment and a warfighting domain. Near-peer adversaries are now challenging US space superiority. National security space enterprise needs to regain the space advantage and outpace the threat. The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is transforming the way we do business to outpace the threat, ensure US dominance in space, deliver war-winning capabilities with a resilient integrated enterprise, and drive innovation into all SMC acquisitions. Positioning to outpace the threat, the SMC enterprise is maturing an option to acquire spacecraft buses that meet the needs of our strategic mission area payloads - Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) for protected strategic communications, Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) for missile warning, and Global Positioning System (GPS) for position, navigation and timing (PNT) and the Nuclear detection System (NDS) payload) - with more aggressive technology insertion opportunities and at higher fielding rates. Enterprise buses would meet military-unique strategic requirements, take advantage of standard interfaces and use a modular open-system approach (MOSA) to achieve an upgradable design and production efficiencies. Modular scalable Enterprise buses would enable a higher fielding rate to support frequent, regular technology insertions for capability refresh, enhanced resiliency, and enable other benefits that can be derived from continuous and agile production. Consolidated acquisition of modular Enterprise buses would help offset the cost associated with high fielding rates by combining the bus needs across SMC mission areas, maximizing production efficiencies and increasing the bus production order quantity. SMC is developing notional technical and acquisition approaches for procuring modular scalable Enterprise buses and seeks industry input on how to achieve this objective. SMC believes that procuring modular Enterprise buses using a consolidated acquisition strategy supports the goals of providing frequent technology insertion opportunities and increased fielding rates, at the bus and payload level, sufficient to outpace future and evolving threats, while offering necessary cost efficiencies. This RFI offers SMC industry partners, both bus and payload suppliers, an opportunity to inform the SMC way forward for Enterprise bus concepts, spacecraft bus procurement and the feasibility of modular scalable buses to meet the requirements of our strategic programs. The information submitted in response to this RFI will be incorporated into SMC plans to: 1. Establish a consortium of bus and payload providers to develop a standard interface specification (SIS) for the spacecraft bus - mission payload interface, and other interfaces to the modular Enterprise bus (bus-auxiliary payloads, bus-ground, and bus-mission communications payload). 2. Determine feasibility, implementation and procurement options for modular Enterprise buses for multiple major missions, assuming standard bus interfaces and a MOSA for ESS, OPIR, and GPS/NDS. 3. Select an acquisition path forward and determine the appropriate insertion points for modular Enterprise buses in each mission area (ESS, OPIR, and GPS/NDS).