WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force plans to release a formal solicitation for companies to demonstrate their ability to build the next batch of GPS 3 positioning, navigation and timing satellites on Jan. 8, 2016.
The Air Force said in April it plans to award multiple contracts worth up to $6 million apiece as a forerunner to a competition in 2017 or 2018 for a fixed-price contract to build up to 22 follow-on navigation satellites. The first of those satellites must be ready to launch in 2023.
Currently Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver is under contract to build eight next-generation GPS 3 satellites, the first of which now is slated to launch no earlier than 2017. The contract includes options for up to four more satellites, and the Air Force has told Congress it expects to execute options for at least two of those satellites.
But in a Dec. 22 posting to the Federal Business Opportunities website, the Air Force said it planned to begin with a solicitation for the 11th vehicle in a Jan. 8 request for proposals.
As a result of the solicitation, the service would award up to three contracts, each with a base value of $6 million, plus options, to determine if “low-risk, high confidence sources exist” for the follow-on satellites. The initial phase of these contracts would last up to 38 months, the service said.
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems were among the companies that responded in 2014 to an Air Force request for information from contractors interested in building the next batch of GPS satellites.
