U.S. Space Force Restarts Satellite Antenna Contest After Canceling $1.7 Billion AeroVironment Deal
Updated
Updated · SpaceNews · Jun 25
U.S. Space Force Restarts Satellite Antenna Contest After Canceling $1.7 Billion AeroVironment Deal
1 articles · Updated · SpaceNews · Jun 25
Summary
A new SCAR pre-solicitation seeks mobile electronically steered phased-array antennas to supplement the military’s aging Satellite Control Network.
The restart follows the cancellation of a $1.7 billion award to BlueHalo, later acquired by AeroVironment, as the government shifted from a single-vendor custom design to open competition using commercial systems.
The Space Force wants systems that can be produced at scale, with the coming Commercial Solutions Opening expected to favor added vendors, fixed-price production, supply-chain resilience and manufacturing capacity.
AeroVironment plans to bid its BADGER antenna, while Northwood Space — which recently raised $100 million — enters with phased-array ground systems after winning a separate $49.8 million Space Force antenna-capacity contract in January.
The push reflects mounting strain on a ground network whose large mechanical dishes usually handle one satellite at a time, even as the number of military satellites keeps growing.
After a $1.7B contract failed, can a multi-vendor contest truly fix the Space Force's critical satellite network?
With thousands more satellites planned, what are the hidden environmental costs of crowding Earth's orbit and atmosphere?
Space Force’s Satellite Control Network Modernization: From Single-Vendor SCAR to Agile, Commercial JAM Marketplace
Overview
The U.S. Space Force is overhauling how it acquires satellite-control antennas after canceling a major contract with AeroVironment. This change comes as the Satellite Control Network faces growing capacity constraints, with its current large, mechanically steered dishes only able to talk to one satellite at a time, limiting throughput as the number of military satellites rises. To solve these issues, the Space Force is moving from custom, single-vendor solutions to a more agile, commercial, and cloud-based procurement strategy. The new approach aims to modernize satellite communications and better handle the expanding needs of space operations.