New satellite program from Space Development Agency enables newer vendors to compete
NewsJune 03, 2024
ARLINGTON, Va. The Space Development Agency (SDA -- a unit of the U.S. Space Force) debuted its its Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO (HALO) program, which aims to assemble a pool of pre-approved vendors that are eligible to compete for upcoming space and satellite demonstration projects.
In its May 31 solicitation, the SDA described HALO as an acquisition approach to solicit and award rapid, affordable mission-feasibility demonstrations; vendors in the chosen HALO pool will be able to compete for specific flight demonstration opportunities that arise.
One key goal of HALO called out in the solicitation is that of putting a fast, flexible contracting mechanism in place to announce and choose Tranche 2 Demonstration and Experimentation System (T2DES) and other SDA demonstration projects. The agency also hopes that HALO will increase the pool of performers capable of bidding on future SDA programs, open the door for nontraditional companies to gain valuable experience working with SDA on demonstration projects, and assure that those competing will have preapproved security capabilities that are sufficient to perform on SDA missions.
