Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Contracts for Innovation: UK Space Agency Unlocking Space for Defence (USD) and National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) BOREALIS Resident Space Object (RSO) Characterisation Development
The procurement contact named on the official notice.
UKSA is using the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal for this procurement. All tender information and clarification questions MUST be submitted through the portal. Please review all attached information to ensure a full understanding of this requirement. All attachments can be found in the Supplier Attachments tab within the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal. To register on the Jaggaer eSourcing portal please use the link https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ and follow the instructions to register as a supplier. If you are already registered on the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal and wish to participate in this procurement, please use the link: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ Once you are logged into the system, you will be able to locate the Procurement you wish to leave a bid on by clicking the ITTs Open to All Suppliers and searching for ‘USD & NSpOC BOREALIS Resident Space Object (RSO) Characterisation Development’. The ITT reference number is itt_2755. Applications will close at 15:00 on 4 September 2026 It will not be possible to submit applications beyond this deadline. https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/66309082019FDBF042B8
The submission route named on the official notice.
This is a large award for IT Services — above three-quarters of comparable contracts. Based on 36,449 valued IT Services tenders in our corpus.
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology's IT Services cycle is past due — it ran about every 8 months across 3 notices, and the door is open now. It may re-tender at any time.
24% of Department for Science, Innovation & Technology’s awards go to a supplier it has used before.
Which is the argument for getting on the list rather than winning this one. The incumbent is rarely the last winner — it is the roster. See the retention odds by category →
UK Space Agency’s Unlocking Space for Defence (USD) and the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) are offering funding to eligible organisations.
It is anticipated that between three and five contracts will be awarded, each valued between £120,000 and £250,000 (inclusive of VAT), to eligible organisations to apply, to research and develop initial proof of concepts for characterisation of resident space objects and similar solutions that directly improve the quality of data being ingested within the BOREALIS system, contributing to enhanced characterisation analysis capabilities within NSpOC.
This funding is from the UK Space Agency only and applicants should note this competition is wholly run and administered by the UK Space Agency.
Applicants should note that as BOREALIS is a sovereign UK capability and this work is to develop solutions that eventually can be deployed into use, this competition is restricted to UK registered companies on grounds of national security.
For the avoidance of doubt, this can include UK-registered universities.
Full details are provided in the attached Competition Brief.
This notice relates to the intended procurement for a contract which is an exempted contract under s 3(6) and Schedule 2, Part 2 (Subject-matter exempted contracts), paragraph 22 (Research and Development Services) of the Procurement Act 2023 (the 'Act').
Exempted contracts are not a public contract as defined in s3 of the Act and therefore are not required to be procured in accordance with the provisions of the Act that relate to a covered procurement.
What the notice asks for
This funding is from the UK Space
This funding is from the UK Space Agency only and applicants should note this competition is wholly run and administered by the UK Space Agency.
Applicants should note that as BOREALIS is
Applicants should note that as BOREALIS is a sovereign UK capability and this work is to develop solutions that eventually can be deployed into use, this competition is restricted to UK registered companies on grounds of national security.
Exempted contracts are not a public contract
Exempted contracts are not a public contract as defined in s3 of the Act and therefore are not required to be procured in accordance with the provisions of the Act that relate to a covered procurement.
Sentences from the notice that state an obligation, surfaced automatically and shown in the order they appear. Not an exhaustive list — always confirm against the tender documents.
What it takes to bid this
Typical UK bid effort for the £100k–£1m band — an estimate, not a quote.
Qualify & bid/no-bid ~10% · SQ / PQQ ~20% · Written response ~55% · Review & presentation ~15%
Typical for this category — confirm against the ITT pack
- Hold at bidCyber Essentials Plus (often mandatory for gov IT)
- Hold at bidISO 27001 (information security)
- Plan for deliveryData protection / DPIA readiness
- Show at bidComparable references / case studies
- Hold at bidFinancial standing (accounts, often ~2× contract value turnover)
- Hold at bidInsurance cover (PL / EL, often PI)
- Show at bidSocial value commitments
Hold at bid = pass/fail conditions of participation. Show at bid = scored in the quality response. Plan for delivery = contract obligations from day one.
Make the case to bid
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- OCID
- ocds-h6vhtk-06df60
- Stage
- tender · Open
- Source
- Find a Tender
- Buyer ref
- 075408-2026
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source data © Crown copyright.
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