Space and Missile Systems Center awards first-of-its-kind hosted payload solutions contract Published July 29, 2014 LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- The U.S. Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center awarded an indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity, or IDIQ, contract under the Hosted Payload Solutions, or HoPS, program, July 10. Companies competed to be included in one of two lanes: geosynchronous orbit, or GEO, hosted opportunities and medium-earth orbit / low-earth orbit hosting opportunities. Companies were allowed to compete in both lanes. The multiple-award HoPS IDIQ contract provides a rapid and flexible means for the government to acquire commercial hosting capabilities for government payloads. The HoPS contract provides flexibility for up to approximately six hosted payloads and a total value of up to $494.9 million. The contract created a pool of qualified vendors to fulfill the U.S. Government's need for various hosted payload missions. The HoPS IDIQ procures fully-functioning on-orbit and ground systems services for government-furnished hosted payloads on commercial platforms. The HoPS IDIQ can also be used to procure hosted payload studies that may or may not materialize into future missions. SMC will also award the IDIQ contract's first competitive delivery order for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, or TEMPO, mission study. From the newly formed competitive pool, up to four GEO lane contract holders will be awarded study contracts to examine the feasibility of accommodating the TEMPO instrument as a hosted payload. Each 6-month study is valued at less than $800,000. NASA plans to use the HoPS IDIQ for the subsequent TEMPO Mission Delivery order. The Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the Air Force's center of acquisition excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems. Its portfolio includes GPS, military satellite communications, defense meteorological satellites, space launch and range systems, satellite control networks, space based infrared systems and space situational awareness capabilities. More information on the HoPS IDIQ can be found on the Defense.gov website here.