Mission Feasibility Studies – Spacecraft Life Extension Service Demonstration

Tender description

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: • Title: In-Orbit Manufacturing (IOM) Maturation Research & Development Projects 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: • Develop and compare credible mission concepts for an RPOD-enabled Life Extension service demonstration with a prepared client spacecraft, including analysis of the client, servicer, launch service, operations and ground-segment options required to deliver the mission. • Assess how each concept could demonstrate safe, reliable and repeatable RPOD operations and support a commercially relevant Life Extension service such as refuelling, AOCS takeover, relocation, repair, upgrade or refurbishment. • Identify the evidence, costs, risks, dependencies and decision points required to inform a potential future Life Extension demonstration procurement and associated Business Case. 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.