The United States Space Force opened a challenge earlier this month to modernize information systems at its current and future spaceports. This follows last year’s efforts by the sixth and newest branch of the United States military to begin to identify what upgrades are needed.
In November, SpaceWERX – the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) – launched the Digital Spaceport of the Future Challenge to generate cutting-edge ideas and state-of-the-art capabilities that will advance the service’s digital transformation, hardware modernization, and operational enhancement of our current and future spaceports.
SpaceWERX further announced that successful solutions could accelerate the Space Force into the advanced digital age while meeting growing demands for increased launch capacity. It is now seeking to award a new round of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts worth up to $1.9 million each for IT infrastructure upgrades at the Eastern and Western launch ranges, SpaceNews.com reported on Thursday.
The service has admitted that the launch ranges are in dire need of IT upgrades. It is seeking proposals from the private sector on how to best address the issues, and those are due by February 7.
“The main objective of this proposal is to foster a collaborative partnership with SpaceWERX and small businesses, advancing digital transformation, hardware modernization, and operational enhancement of our future spaceports. This is to be achieved through strategic seeding of innovative small businesses, aiming to develop technological solutions that align with the Assured Access to Space (AATS) vision. The ultimate goal is to leverage the agility, ingenuity, and adaptability of small businesses to revolutionize spaceport operations and services, thereby actualizing the Spaceport of the Future (SOTF),” read the objective on the SBIR portal.
Challenge Launched – And Direct to Phase II
SpaceWERX said the Digital Spaceport of the Future Challenge would focus on three areas, including updating legacy hardware; improving data management, data analytics and transport layer technologies; and advancing agility, capacity enhancement, and standardization.
Moreover, as this is a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made as a result of this topic – and it will bypass the typical Phase I feasibility study and jump into the development and deployment solutions.
“To qualify for this D2P2 topic, the Government expects the Offeror to demonstrate feasibility by means of a prior Phase I-type effort that does not constitute work undertaken as part of a prior SBIR/STTR funding agreement,” the portal further noted.
“While we appreciate your cutting-edge ideas, our bias is going to be towards proposals that promise tangible outcomes, so please keep that in mind,” Major Jason Lowery, deputy director technology and innovation at the Space Systems Command’s Assured Access to Space office, told participants during a recent SpaceWERX webinar, per SpaceNews.
Lowery said that proposals that could be implemented within 18 months are more likely to be selected. At issue is that the number of launches continues to increase and the aging IT infrastructure – from when national security launches were few and far between – is simply unable to keep pace.
“So we have much to gain from collaborations like this with SpaceWERX,” Lowery added. “We’re looking forward to working with small businesses to see what you all can bring to the table, and we hope this can be the first of several challenges to come over the next several years.”
Lower Barrier of Entry
The new challenge could also allow newer entities to take part – as it will skip the Phase 1, but also because it won’t involve highly classified work.
The work will be unclassified “because most of what we launch are civil and commercial payloads, not national security payloads. So this makes us an ideal entry point for companies aiming to expand into the DoD sector and particularly the U.S. Space Force,” Lowery continued. “You don’t have to go through a very lengthy classification clearance process to work with us.”
Loads of Launches
The number of launches is likely to continue, with SpaceX already projected for about 144 in 2024 – including launches of its Starlink constellation as well as missions for commercial and government customers.
Beyond this year, the United States Space Force could see increased launches from SpaceX, as well as from other companies introducing new rockets, including United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin, among others. According to data from consulting firm Deloitte, over the past five years, about 93% of all orbital missions launched from U.S. government ranges. That included 70% from Cape Canaveral, 17% from Vandenberg, and 5% from Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
