U.S. Space agency plans global network of missile warning ground sites

The U.S. Space Development Agency released a formal request for proposals September 18 for ground stations that will receive data from its next generation of missile-tracking satellites, with proposals due November 2.

The solicitation covers Ground Entry Points, or GEPs, for the agency’s Resilient Missile Warning Tracking satellites in low Earth orbit. These ground stations are the physical link between the satellites and the rest of the U.S. military’s missile warning network, built to receive tracking data and pass it into the broader system used to detect and follow missile threats.

The contract covers a wide range of work: building and equipping communications shelters, installing antennas and antenna electronics, setting up optical terminals and their associated electronics, along with the networking equipment and software needed to tie it all together. The stations will be built at multiple locations spread around the world, though the Space Development Agency has not disclosed specific sites in the RFP cover letter.

The agency plans to award an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract, a vehicle that lets it order work over time rather than committing to a single fixed scope up front. An initial task order will be issued alongside the base contract award, with that first order’s requirements detailed in a separate statement of work provided to bidders.

The base period of performance runs from March 31, 2027, through September 30, 2031, with an optional extension through September 30, 2035. Contract line items break the work into labor for development, labor for ongoing site and terminal maintenance, civil engineering for site construction, and hardware such as RF antennas, optical terminals and networking gear.

The Space Development Agency expects to announce an award in the second quarter of fiscal year 2027. Company questions on the solicitation are due October 2, and firms seeking access to a bidders’ library containing technical specifications and interface control documents must hold an active Joint Certification Program certification and submit their CAGE code and SAM.gov registration to request it.

Some of the solicitation’s technical volumes and reference documents are Controlled Unclassified Information or classified, and interested companies must contact the agency directly to request that material. The notice does not disclose a total contract value or ceiling for the IDIQ vehicle.

The Space Development Agency cautioned in the RFP that funding for the effort is not yet in place. The government’s obligations under any resulting contract depend on appropriated funds becoming available, and the agency said it reserves the right to make no award at all depending on the quality of proposals it receives and its continuing need for the capability.