HOUSTON - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking information from industry on commercially available data transfer services to support its Eugene Stansbery Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (ES-MCAT) on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
A notice issued by NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston supports the agency’s Orbital Debris Program Office and is intended to determine whether an industry partner can provide a commercial platform capable of transferring unclassified telescope data from Ascension Island Auxiliary Airfield to Johnson Space Center. Any future solicitation would be issued separately.
The draft statement of work calls for a contractor to provide a communications data path capable of transferring image and text files at a rate of 1.5 to 2.0 terabytes per month. The service would support daily data transfers between the remote telescope site and Houston over an expected operational period lasting through at least 2028.
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Telescope specs
ES-MCAT is a 1.3-meter optical telescope conceived, designed, and constructed by NASA Johnson Space Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Detachment 15 in Maui, Hawaii. The telescope is designed to characterize the orbital debris environment in support of spaceflight safety. A smaller 0.4-meter telescope known as Benbrook is co-located at the site and also supports NASA science objectives.
The telescope is being deployed to Ascension Island Auxiliary Airfield within the U.S. Space Force Eastern Test Range. NASA said the location provides favorable weather, geographic access to under-sampled orbital regimes, and proximity to existing communications infrastructure. The facility is expected to operate autonomously without permanent on-site staff for up to 15 years.
NASA is asking interested companies to describe their ability to meet the draft requirements, including relevant past performance and contract references, and to indicate whether the services are commercially available or would be considered modified or non-commercial. The agency is also requesting feedback on the suitability of NAICS code 518210 and product service code DG11 for the requirement.
In addition, NASA is seeking rough-order-of-magnitude annual cost estimates, projected timelines to establish service, identification of any special infrastructure requirements given the remote location, and recommendations on how best to implement the data transfer capability.
Responses are requested by 13 March 2026, although late submissions may be considered. The agency named Stephen Noethen as the primary point of contact for this RFI. They can be reached via email at [email protected]. More information is available at https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/8daa9d560ce64036b84c52d80ec95d08/view.
