WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency (SDA) wants to give commercial space companies a chance to prove their mettle for future military satellite contracts. The agency on May 31 released a solicitation for its “Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO” (HALO) program, which aims to establish a pool of pre-approved vendors eligible to compete for upcoming demonstration projects.
The Space Development Agency (SDA), a U.S. Space Force organization tasked with deploying a military low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, is looking to bring in new blood from the commercial space industry.
Through HALO, selected vendors will be eligible to compete for future demonstration prototype projects. According to a solicitation, SDA plans to award multiple contracts annually.
Seeking new players
While established defense contractors have scooped up the lion’s share of SDA’s contracts for its planned LEO constellation, the HALO program is designed specifically to attract newer commercial players to try their hand at rapid prototyping and spaceflight demonstrations.
Proposals are due July 11, with an industry briefing scheduled for June 17.
The agency said HALO intends to provide opportunities for companies to gain valuable experience working with SDA on experimental projects and give them opportunities to demonstrate and mature their technologies so they’re better prepared to bid for larger procurements of satellites that the agency calls ‘tranches.’”
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