- Vantage Analytical will provide research and engineering services across the full space technology lifecycle.
- Contract work is divided into four areas covering mission development, flight experiments and ground systems.
- AFRL selected Vantage Analytical out of the nine companies that submitted proposals
Vantage Analytical, a joint venture of Analytical Mechanics Associates and Vantage Systems, has secured a potential 10-year, $499 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to support Space Systems and Hardware Integration for Novel Experiments, or SSHINE, program.
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What Is the Scope of the SSHINE Contract?
The Department of War said Wednesday the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers research, engineering and technical management services for the analysis, development, integration, experimentation, demonstration and evaluation of space technologies.
The SSHINE contract spans the entire space technology lifecycle. The work is organized into four functional areas:
- Mission and space system development
- Flight experiment prototyping, assembly, integration and testing
- Flight experiment operations
- Ground system development
What Are the Details of the Contract?
The joint venture will perform the work at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico through Aug. 23, 2036, if all options are exercised. The award followed a competitive process that drew nine offers. AFRL obligated $2.3 million in fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds at the time of award.
AFRL first outlined the SSHINE procurement through a draft solicitation in August 2024, indicating the contract would be competed as a total small business set-aside under a single-award IDIQ. This was followed by the final request for proposals issued in January 2025, which said the selected contractor would support engineering prototype development and the evaluation of emerging space technologies for AFRL’s Integrated Experiments and Evaluation Division.
