NASA has awarded contracts to Thales Alenia Space France of Cannes, France, and Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A. of Rome, Italy, under the On-Ramp feature of the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition IV (Rapid IV) contract. The work will be performed at the contractors facilities in Cannes and Rome.
Rapid IV is a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that allows the federal government to place firm-fixed price delivery orders for spacecraft and related services. These multi-agency contracts may support other NASA centers and other federal agencies. The Rapid IV contracts have a combined potential maximum value of $6 billion. This value includes all the delivery orders issued from the Rapid IV contract and is not the order value to any one vendor.
The On-Ramp feature used with these contracts allows for the original solicitation to be reopened periodically in order to give new vendors the opportunity to propose flight proven spacecraft designs. On-Ramps also give vendors who already have been awarded a Rapid IV contract the opportunity to propose additional flight-proven spacecraft designs and/or update their existing catalog designs.
The Rapid IV contracts serve as a rapid and flexible means for the U.S. government to acquire spacecraft and related components, equipment, and services in support of NASA missions and/or other federal agencies. The spacecraft designs, related items, and services may be tailored, as needed, to meet the unique needs of each mission.
