[SatNews] As a manufacturer of commercial satellites with 74 GEO satellites currently on orbit, and in partnership with MDA, which has a long history of LEO satellite experience, including ...

 

Space Systems/Loral (SSL) announced that it was one of 14 companies qualified by the SMC to compete for work with U.S. Government agencies to host government payloads on commercial satellites. The SMC awarded SSL two IDIQ contracts for both geostationary (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO)/Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) missions that will streamline the contracting process if SSL is selected for future work.

 

As a manufacturer of commercial satellites with 74 GEO satellites currently on orbit, and in partnership with MDA, which has a long history of LEO satellite experience, including the RADARSAT Earth observation satellites for the Canadian Space Agency, SSL is well-positioned to help both telecommunications satellite operators and Government agencies benefit from the cost and schedule efficiencies of a shared platform.
 
SSL has already demonstrated its leadership in working with U.S. Government agencies to integrate payloads onto commercial satellites, such as the U.S. Defense Department’s joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) of an Internet Router In Space (IRIS), which was hosted on a satellite that SSL built for Intelsat.
 
Currently, SSL is working with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to place a Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), as a hosted payload, on a commercial satellite to be built by SSL and projected for launch in 2017.  SSL is working with its commercial customers to identify an appropriate host satellite for the demonstration.
 
The HoPS IDIQ contract is intended to establish a pool of candidates that can provide rapid and flexible means for the government to acquire commercial hosting capabilities for government payloads.  As one of the awardees, SSL will be eligible to compete for commercial Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) studies and future mission delivery orders over the five-year ordering period of the contract, up to a maximum value of $494.5 million.