- Notice states Boeing has repeatedly declined to sell the government data rights
- IDIQ carries five-year base period and one 10-year option
- Registration is now open for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2027 Defense R&D Summit
The U.S. Space Force intends to award Boeing a sole-source contract worth up to $945.9 million for satellite communications sustainment, stating in a public notice that the company has repeatedly declined to sell the government the data rights that would allow the work to be competed.
Space Systems Command published the notice Tuesday on SAM.gov for the Wideband and Narrowband Global SATCOM Sustainment, or WNGSS, effort, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year base ordering period valued at $480.6 million and a single 10-year option worth $465.3 million.
Assured connectivity is on the agenda at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2027 Defense R&D Summit, convening Feb. 4 at the Hilton McLean. Department of War and national security technology officials will discuss advanced space technologies and engineering assured connectivity for the contested fight. Save your seat now.
Why Can’t the Global SATCOM Sustainment Work Be Competed?
The command states that Boeing is the original equipment manufacturer for the Wideband Global SATCOM, or WGS, and Ultra High Frequency Follow-On, or UFO, satellites and for critical components of the ground control system, and that it holds exclusive ownership of the proprietary data, software and infrastructure the sustainment work requires.
The government does not hold sufficient license rights to the technical data packages, flight software source code or high-fidelity satellite simulators to permit a competitive acquisition, according to the notice. That data was developed at private expense and includes design documentation for Boeing’s 702HP and 702MP satellite platforms, simulators, and ground control software.
Without it, the command states, no other contractor could perform the work without substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays and risks to on-orbit assets. Market research confirmed Boeing as the only contractor able to meet the requirement without a break in service, SSC added.
What Does the WNGSS Contract Cover?
The scope spans round-the-clock anomaly analysis, fault isolation and recovery for the WGS and UFO constellations, along with factory reachback engineering, telemetry trending, orbital analysis, maneuver planning, collision avoidance and end-of-life disposal.
It also covers sustaining engineering and software maintenance for the Global SATCOM Configuration and Control Element ground system; maintenance of satellite flight software, the satellite simulator, and operational databases; and support for transitioning new space vehicles into the operational baseline, including WGS-11, WGS-12 and the Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype payload.
How Does the WNGSS Contract Fit the Wideband Program?
Boeing received $605 million in April 2019 to build WGS-11. The Department of War and 10 partner nations signed an amendment to the WGS program’s multilateral memorandum of understanding in September, securing $302 million toward WGS-12, which is projected to launch no earlier than 2028 and will carry a Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype payload.
The sustainment work sits within a portfolio the Space Force has been consolidating. The service took over WGS and the Defense Satellite Communications System from the Army in 2022 and the Wideband Satellite Communications Operational Management System this fiscal year, under a 2020 directive from then-Deputy Secretary of War David Norquist to bring satellite planning, payload control and software sustainment under one service.
