PS25128: UKSAC25_0044 – Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) 2025-26 Studies

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    "name": "UKSA"
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  "date": "2025-07-22T12:53:48+01:00",
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  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-052741",
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        "locality": "Didcot",
        "postalCode": "OX11 0DF",
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        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "locality": "Swindon",
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      "identifier": {
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    "description": "The final date and time for the submission of bids is Monday 11th August 2025 at 14:00hrs\nDO NOT apply directly to the buyer.\nAll tender information MUST be submitted through the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal.\nBrief Description of Requirement\nThe Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE) within the UK Space Agency is intending to procure delivery partners across different studies to feed into on-going research at the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). The funding for the research associated with the IADC fits into a broader set of activities on Space Sustainability being led by UKSA and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) space directorate. The IADC consists of 13-member space agencies that perform technical research to inform key outputs which provide insights on how to mitigate the impact of space debris impact on the environment. The research performed by the IADC is split across four workings groups \u2013 measurements, environment and database protection and mitigation \u2013 and the research studies sought within this procurement will support on-going research across these working groups. The UK delegation to IADC is led by UKSA and is composed of cross-Government experts including representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spaceflight regulator alongside members of academia. The UK delegation does not directly have participation of industry to ensure that the research performed remains impartial. However, industry groups are not precluded from bidding for the work described in this specification the work though will be presented as UK delegation inputs. Outside of this procurement the UKSA is seeking to review the state of UK research into space debris by academic entities.\nWithin this procurement UKSA is seeking suppliers to perform technical studies of relevance to the four IADC working groups. We will require the supplier to fulfil the specification, including defining framework/model where needed and putting theoretical metrics into practice. This requirement is split into four lots, each related to a different technical area. Some lots contain multiple studies.\nPlease ensure you review all attached information to ensure a full understanding of this requirement. All attachments can be found with the Supplier Attachments tab within the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal. \nThis contract will be awarded based on the evaluation criteria as set out in the RFP document. \nHow to Apply\nUK Shared Business Services Ltd (UKSBS) will be using the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal for this procurement. \nTo register on the Jaggaer eSourcing portal please use the link https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier.\nIf you are already registered on the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal and wish to participate in this procurement, please use the link: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/.\nOnce you are logged into the system you will be able to locate the Procurement you wish to leave a bid on by clicking the ITTs Open to All Suppliers and searching for the reference number PS25128 and Jaggaer ITT reference number ITT_2212.",
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        "description": "Tender notice on Find a Tender",
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    "id": "PS25125",
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            "countryName": "United Kingdom",
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        "id": "1",
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            "countryName": "United Kingdom",
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        "id": "4",
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    "legalBasis": {
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    "lotDetails": {
      "awardCriteriaDetails": "The total value of this contract across all four lots shall not exceed \u00a3600,000.00 (inclusive of VAT). UKSA intends to award four lots, with a minimum value of \u00a325,000.00 (inclusive of VAT) per individual lot, with indicative minimum values per lot below (all-inclusive of VAT):\nLot 1: \u00a325,000\nLot 2: \u00a3150,000\nLot 3: \u00a375,000\nLot 4: \u00a350,000\nSubject to budget availability and receipt of sufficient high-quality proposals, UKSA may choose to award multiple contracts per lot (e.g. two contracts of \u00a325,000.00 each within Lot 1) and the total contract value reflects this. Some lots contain multiple related studies and bidders are able to bid for one or more of these studies within each individual lots. Were a bidder to be successful across all lots, the total contract value would be \u00a3325,000.00 which represents the maximum which could be awarded to an individual bidder. \nUKSA reserves the right to not award contracts within individual or multiple lots should insufficient quality proposals be received. \nAll contracts are offered on a six-month duration with a target commencement date of 15th September 2025 and prospective suppliers should note the deadline to complete the work shall not exceed 31st March 2026. Beyond this point, activity will not be funded."
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          "startDate": "2025-09-15T00:00:00+01:00"
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        "description": "This lot contains one study, though UKSA reserves the right to award multiple variants to multiple bidders in the event sufficient high quality bids are received:\nLot 1.1: Analysis of the data from EISCAT Beampark Campaign\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a325,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nCharacterisation of the Small Debris Space Environment remains an ongoing critical challenge for addressing space sustainability. NSpOC has previously funded a 24 hour beampark campaign using the EISCAT UHF radar system with the raw data analysed through an ESA contract. At the recent IADC, it was discussed that shorter follow up beamparks targeting specific fragmentation events would also be very beneficial. As a result of this, NSpOC has arranged for a further 24 hours of time but split up over 6 x 4 hr sessions targeting the recent CZ-6A fragmentation. The campaigns target 200-2000 km with a 75E pointing direction. We require a supplier to analyse the raw data to pull out detections and use the circular orbit assumption to extract an orbital inclination and altitude and make an assessment of object size based on the signal strength.",
        "id": "1",
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        "value": {
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          "amountGross": 50000,
          "currency": "GBP"
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        "description": "Lot 2:  Environment and Database - This lot contains three studies. Bidders may bid for and be awarded one or more studies within Lot 2. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not necessary to bid for all three studies to be eligible to participate. UKSA reserves the right to award multiple contracts in the event of budget availability and sufficient high-quality proposals. \nThe scope of Working Group 2 (Environment and Database) is the characterisation and modelling of meteoroid and debris around the Earth and storage and access of the data by electronic means, including meteoroid and debris models, short and long-term evolution, collision prediction and risk assessment. \n1. Lot 2.1: Assess the utility of existing metrics and develop new metrics for space environment\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a350,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nVarious metrics have been proposed to understand the status of the space environment. Some of these focus individual missions and can be aggregated across all objects to quantify the entire environment, and some measure underlying properties of the environment. Further work is required to develop metrics that can be used to look at the environment as a whole.\n2. Lot 2.2: Develop software and tools to assess the environment\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a350,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nThe UK wants to establish further capability to model the long-term evolution of the space environment and contribute to international efforts to understand safety and sustainability in the space environment.\n3. Lot 2.3: Timelines for End of Life (EOL) disposal\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a350,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nA quantitative assessment of risk and approaches to orbit design is desired which seeks to establish principles which minimise risk and improve sustainability of the missions. The outputs of the study should be used to suggest potential end-of-life mission design principles which improve sustainability while minimising risk to operator systems operating in the environment.",
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          "endDate": "2026-03-31T23:59:59+01:00",
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        "description": "Lot 3:  This lot contains two studies. Bidders may bid for and be awarded one or more studies within Lot 3. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not necessary to bid for both studies to be eligible to participate. UKSA reserves the right to award multiple contracts in the event of budget availability and sufficient high-quality proposals. \nThe scope of Working Group 3 (Protection) comprises the design and technology of shielding against meteoroids and space debris and the associated test methods which include test facility and procedure, hypervelocity impact data and simulation software. \n1. Lot 3.1: Critical Space Debris Threshold - Vulnerability\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a325,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nThe likelihood of spacecraft failure presented in national and international space debris mitigation standards requirements is based on the size of space debris that will be encountered during the mission. Spacecraft failure is quantified in terms of the probability of loss of collision avoidance manoeuvre capability or the probability of loss of post mission disposal capability. However, a thorough understanding of the relationship between space debris size and probability of spacecraft failure is currently lacking. Working Group 3 within the IADC is now addressing this topic via a dedicated study to develop impact vulnerability-based thresholds that can be used in the future as simplified metrics. \n2. Lot 3.2: Critical Space Debris Threshold - Fragmentation\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a350,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nThe likelihood of catastrophic break-up of spacecraft due to a space debris impact presented in national and international space debris mitigation standards is based on assumptions on the size or energy of the space debris involved in the impact. In practice, the employed definition of \"catastrophic\" to justify the \"critical\" threshold of the space debris involved is often qualitative and limited by the availability of the state-of-the-art research. Working Group 3 within the IADC is now addressing this topic by initiating a study to characterise fragments released in hypervelocity collisions that can be used in future for deriving fragmentation severity.",
        "id": "3",
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        "title": "Lot 3. Protection",
        "value": {
          "amount": 125000,
          "amountGross": 150000,
          "currency": "GBP"
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          "endDate": "2026-03-31T23:59:59+01:00",
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        "description": "Lot 4: This lot contains two studies. Bidders may bid for and be awarded one or more studies within Lot 4. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not necessary to bid for both studies to be eligible to participate. UKSA reserves the right to award multiple contracts in the event of budget availability and sufficient high-quality proposals.\nTo support on-going research support is sought on the following:\n1. Lot 4.1: Lunar Debris Mitigation Guidelines - further work on disposal options\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a325,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nThe UK Space Agency is keen to support efforts to develop recommendations for the sustainable use of Cislunar space. This study will seek to identify key research gaps and further develop the work carried out in the previous studies to feed directly into the IADC Working Group and other international forums (UN COPUOS and Artemis Accords). The outputs of this study may also be used by the UK Space Agency and wider UK Government to inform new regulatory policy for future UK-licensed lunar missions.\n2. Lot 4.2: Assessment of technologies driving post-mission disposal reliability\nTotal Contract Value: Up to \u00a325,000 (inclusive of VAT)\nTotal Contract Duration: 6 months\nInvestigate the technologies that underpin reliable post-mission disposal operations, considering those that achieve compliance to one or more of the post-mission disposal guidelines within the IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines. Develop and populate a catalogue to capture key information on each technology and critically evaluate the most promising solutions across cases for single-spacecraft missions and large constellations.",
        "id": "4",
        "status": "active",
        "suitability": {
          "sme": true,
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        },
        "title": "Lot 4. Mitigation",
        "value": {
          "amount": 83332,
          "amountGross": 100000,
          "currency": "GBP"
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    "submissionMethodDetails": "DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO BUYER\nAll submissions will be assessed in accordance with the Public Procurement Regulations that apply to this opportunity.\nResponses must be received by the date and time in the tender documentation; responses received outside of the deadline or not sent via the Jaggaer eSourcing portal will not be accepted or considered by the Contracting Authority further for this opportunity, unless a system outage is experienced, to which the Contracting Authority will advise upon accordingly. \nAll enquiries with respect to access to the eSourcing Portal and problems with functionality within the portal  must be submitted to eSourcing Portal Helpdesk, not the Contracting Authority contact for this procurement.  \nPhone 08000 698 632\nEmail customersupport@jaggaer.com\nPlease note; the eSourcing Portal is a free self-registration portal. Bidders can complete the online registration at the following link: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/\nBidders should read all attachments, messages and the response envelopes located within the eSourcing Portal carefully before completing the bid submission. Failure to comply with any of these instructions for completion and submission of the bid submission may result in the rejection and exclusion of the bid. Bidders are advised therefore to acquaint themselves fully with the extent and nature of the specification requirements and contractual obligations. These instructions constitute the Conditions of bidding. Participation in the process automatically signals that the Bidder accepts these Conditions as part of the bidding process.\nAll material issued in connection with this bidding process shall remain the property of the Contracting Authority and shall be used only for the purpose of this procurement. All Due Diligence Information shall be either returned to the Contracting Authority or securely destroyed by the Bidder (at the Contracting Authority\u2019s option) at the conclusion of the procurement. \nInterested organisations should ensure that they allow a sufficiency of time, prior to the deadline to allow all sections to be completed in full and any attachments to be uploaded.\nAs a user of the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal you will have access to the Jaggaer messaging service which facilitates all messages sent to you and from you, as well as other messages and updates in relation to any specific tender event. Please note that any and all information secured outside of the messaging service, shall have no Legal Standing, merit or worth and should not be relied upon by any organisation submitting a tender response. \nPlease note it is your organisations responsibility to access these messages on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information applicable to this opportunity.\nThe Contracting Authority expressly reserves the right:\ni.\tnot to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and\nii.\tto make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the procurement; and under no circumstances as part of your organisations participation in this opportunity, will the Contracting Authority be liable for any costs incurred by any organisation as a result. If the Contracting Authority decides to enter into a contract with any successful organisation(s), this does not mean that there is any guarantee of subsequent contracts being awarded. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of your organisation in doing so.\nAbout UK Shared Business Services \nUK Shared Business Services Ltd (UKSBS) brings a commercial attitude to the public sector; helping our contracting authorities to improve efficiency, generate savings and modernise.\nWhere UKSBS is not named as the Contracting Authority within the documentation, UKSBS will be acting as an agent on behalf of the Contracting Authority.\nOur broad range of expert services is shared by our customers. This allows our customers the freedom to focus resources on core activities; innovating and transforming their own organisations.\nFor full details of our partner base please review the following link: https://www.uksbs.co.uk/clients/",
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    "title": "PS25128: UKSAC25_0044 \u2013 Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) 2025-26 Studies",
    "value": {
      "amount": 500000.0,
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}