WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force’s long-delayed award of a multibillion-dollar contract to support the nation’s two main launch ranges has been pushed back again, this time until September, a service spokeswoman said.
Award of the Launch and Test Range System Integrated Support Contract (LISC) had been targeted for the second quarter of 2014 after the service acknowledged late last summer that an expected 2013 award was not going to happen. That delay gave the service more time to determine the portion of the contract to be set aside for small businesses.
Proposals for the primary LISC contract — a 10-year deal that consolidates three contracts currently supporting the launch ranges at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California — were due in May 2013.
In a July 16 response to questions, Alicia Garges, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Space and Missile Center, attributed the latest delay to the service’s need for more time complete source selection.
At least four industry teams are believed to have bid for the work, which is potentially valued at $2.5 billion to $3 billion:
- Consolidated Range Enterprise, whose members include Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions of Gaithersburg, Maryland; InDyne Corp. of Reston, Virginia; and URS Corp. of San Francisco.
- InSpace21, whose members include PAE of Arlington, Virginia, and Honeywell Corp. of Morristown, New Jersey.
- Raytheon Intelligence Information and Services of Dulles, Virginia, which is leading a team that includes General Dynamics of Falls Church, Virginia; ASRC Aerospace Corp. of Greenbelt, Maryland; ARES Corp. of Burlingame, California; Schafer Corp. of Arlington; and Primus Solutions of Greenbelt.
- Exelis Information Systems of McLean, Virginia, which is bidding with BAE Systems of Arlington, and L-3 Communications of New York.
