Ball gets rolling on Satcom II

The General Services Administration has issued a request for proposals for its Satcom II contract for commercial, worldwide satellite communications. Responses are due by March 14.

The General Services Administration has issued a request for proposals for its Satcom II contract for commercial, worldwide satellite communications.

GSA will conduct a full-and-open competition for a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with economic price adjustment, and with a partial small-business set-aside. Responses are due by March 14.

Satcom II covers four types of satellite services: transport; applications; design, engineering and maintenance; and professional support as the small-business set-aside. Contractors may need security clearances to fulfill certain task-order requirements.

The contract also may include technological enhancements, service improvements, customer-specific applications and extensions, ancillary equipment and new or emerging commercial satellite service offerings as they become commercially available.

The five-year contract will replace satellite services contracts that expired in January, although agencies can issue task orders through the end of December and buy satellite services through other contracts, including FTS2001.

GSA has not yet set a ceiling for the Satcom II contract or specified the number of awards it will issue. Federal market research firm Federal Sources Inc. of McLean, Va., estimates the award to be worth $175 million with the estimated award date May 31.