Northrop Grumman seeks Australasian space systems partners
Northrop Grumman is seeking expressions of interests from Australian and New Zealand companies with space-appropriate capabilities including software development, systems integration, facilities construction, system operators, sustainment, and participation in the supply chain through manufacture and supply of sub-systems and components.
The deadline for industry submissions is 30 September 2020.
Australia is increasingly reliant on satellite-based capability and services, particularly where digital data and information drives decision-making. Through the 2020 Force Structure Plan, the Commonwealth has outlined its approach for investing and developing space capabilities to improve Defence’s resilience and enhance a large number of space-dependant capabilities across the Joint Force. These include:
- The acquisition and sustainment of sovereign-controlled satellites, and ground control stations that will be under sovereign Australian control, increasing our self-reliance and resilience.
- Enhancing space domain awareness to enable better tracking and identification of space objects and threats, such as space debris, as well as predicting and avoiding potential collisions.
- Developing capabilities to counter emerging space threats to Australia’s free use of the space domain and that assure our continued access to space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
- A rolling upgrade program to assure position, navigation and timing information in a contested environment.
- Acquisition of a sovereign space-based imagery capability to enhance coverage of the Indo-Pacific region.
The Space Systems Project presents an opportunity for Australian and New Zealand industry to participate in a strategically important program to build and maintain an enduring Australian space capability with an opportunity to enter export markets.
The due date for industry submissions is 30 September 2020.