Provision of external support to UKSA for the development of capabilities relating to national security

Descriptions

UKSA intends to procure a supplier to act as an external delivery partner to provide highly specialist knowledge, skills and expertise (KSE) in relation to capabilities relevant to national security, specifically Space Domain Awareness (SDA), In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) and Space Control and Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT). This is a call-off contract for the provision of knowledge, skills and experience relating to individual work packages within SDA, ISAM and PNT that cannot be fulfilled by any other provider on grounds of technical expertise (Schedule 5, Paragraph 6). UKSA will only award call-off contracts through this mechanism following internal technical review to confirm the proposed work package is in scope of this requirement and meets the requirements set out in Schedule 5.

The call-off contract includes a number of work packages relating to national security policy development, feasibility studies and policy insights, including at classifications above OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE.

In accordance with Section 94 subsection 1(a) of the Procurement Act, no further notices or information (including the name of the supplier) will be published as withholding this information is necessary for the purpose of safeguarding national security. The work being undertaken directly supports the development of national security capabilities in the space domain, where disclosure of the supplier and further details of the requirement could expose vulnerabilities.