The U.S. Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office competitively awarded an Other Transaction Agreement for the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource program to BlueHalo, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for $1.4 billion May 21, 2022.
SCAR will address the critical U.S. Space Command requirement to rapidly, responsively and affordably augment satellite control capacity for the Satellite Control Network, as it provides tactical control links to U.S. Space Force satellites.
SCAR will increase communications capacity ten-fold for satellites in GEO through transportable, electronically steerable, phased array antennas, and will do so in a scalable way as the demands on the SCN rapidly grow in the coming years.
Acquisition for the SCAR effort embodies several tenets of the SpRCO “Right Path to Rapid” business practices including expanding competitive vendor pools and managing the acquisition process through effective and frequent communication with government and industry. This resulted in a completed competition in eight months, versus the year-plus standard. The government sought to expand the space industrial base through an OTA to ensure maximum participation from both small and large, traditional and non-traditional, vendors to leverage innovative commercial technologies for a prototype.
To meet an enterprise-level need, SpRCO formed tightly-coupled partnerships with several USSF strategists, operators, and maintainers, to include the Space Systems Command, Space Warfighting Analysis Center and Space Operations Command, and key associated operations squadrons. All organizations are actively communicating and participating in the SCAR acquisition and planning, allowing for smooth transfer from SpRCO for a follow-on acquisition to SSC and for transition to operational units. These partnerships will ensure the rapid implementation of SCAR by the warfighter, providing lasting, scalable growth in vital capacity for the USSF SCN.
SpRCO was established by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to enable space acquisitions to move quickly, addressing critical space capabilities needed by USSPACECOM within a one-five- year time frame. The SpRCO portfolio of programs are largely protected and this is a rare opportunity to share insight on the relatively new organization and its methodology. SpRCO is a Direct Reporting Unit of the USSF.