This is one of two concurrent procurements being progressed, the other being for In-Orbit Manufacturing (IOM) Maturation Research & Development Projects. Please see the respective notice on Find a Tender:
The UK Space Agency is launching a Contracts for Innovation competition to fund approximately three Phase 0/A mission feasibility studies examining credible options for a potential future in-orbit demonstration of a Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD)-enabled spacecraft Life Extension service.
The studies will develop and assess mission concepts capable of performing safe, reliable and repeatable RPOD with a cooperative or prepared client spacecraft. The intended demonstration may enable or de-risk a future Life Extension service such as refuelling, Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) takeover, relocation, component replacement, repair, upgrade or refurbishment. The demonstration would not necessarily be required to perform the complete future service.
The Life Extension feasibility studies will:
This procurement is for exempted contracts under section 3(6) and paragraph 22 of Schedule 2, Part 2 (subject-matter exempted contracts) of the Procurement Act 2023. Exempted contracts are not public contracts as defined by section 3 of the Act and are therefore not required to be procured in accordance with the provisions of the Act relating to covered procurement. This competition concerns Research and Development services.
Bidder Engagement Event
The UK Space Agency will hold an optional in-person Engagement Event covering both ISAM In-Orbit Demonstration Programme Discovery Phase competitions. The event will provide an overview of the tender documentation and published tender requirements for both procurements and include a clarification Q&A session. Transcriptions and any clarifications that materially affect the procurement requirements will subsequently be uploaded to the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal.
The Engagement Event will take place on 6 November 2026 at the UK Space Agency Conference Centre, Harwell Campus, OX11 0FD. Bidders may attend either the morning session (10:00–12:00) or the afternoon session (13:00–15:00).
Organisations wishing to attend must express their interest by 15:00 UK time on 4 November 2026 by emailing UKSA.commercial@dsit.gov.uk with the subject line “IOD Discovery Phase Engagement Event”. The email must state which session the organisation wishes to attend and provide the name and email address of the proposed attendee. Attendance is limited to one representative per organisation. Subject to capacity, a second representative may be accommodated. Organisations wishing to send two representatives should request this when registering their interest. UKSA will confirm by 15:00 UK time on 5 November 2026 whether a second attendee can be accommodated.
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology has published 95 tender notices since 9 Nov 2023, with a combined advertised value of £367m. 13 of them are currently open.
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Source: Find a Tender. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Details may change; always check the original notice before bidding.