Official UK procurement notice
National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC): Project ADORA Ionosondes
Authority: Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProject ADORA will support the rapid development and deployment of a new ionosonde system in the UK which will be used for ionospheric monitoring to inform space weather decision-making and risk management. Project ADORA will also include the software suite to facilitate remote monitoring and scaling modelling capabilities. This represents the next phase of a previous project to develop and deploy ionosonde technology in the UK which was led by the University of Birmingham.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Aug 2026, 09:31 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Aug 2026, 11:00 BST
- Authority reference
UKSAC26_0063- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-080737- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dfb2Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Prototypes Development; Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
The principal ground is schedule 5(2), prototypes and development. Project ADORA seeks to test the suitability of ionosonde technology for space weather monitoring purposes, satisfying schedule 2(a) (“testing the suitability of the goods or services”). It also seeks to undertake research and development activity by supporting the development of automatic scaling software. This contract shall support development of an initial test licence for application to one sensor, with the intention of scaling to apply to multiple sensors in the future. Further deliverables are associated with additional R&D activity for additional software capabilities, to be added in future years if the initial period is successful. This satisfies schedule 2(c) (“other research, experiment, study or development”).
Schedule 5(6) is also met as UKSA are unaware of any alternative suppliers with the technical capacity to undertake this work.
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Aug 2026- Transparency notice published10 Aug 2026, 09:31 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published25 Aug 2026, 11:00 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected10 Sept 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of BirminghamNSpOC: Project ADORA Ionosondes14 Sept 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2029Extensions: Two additional 12 month extensions will be permitted to incorporate additional developmental work packages, subject to budget availability and satisfactory completion of prior work packages. | £1,062,499 | 25 Aug 2026 | Awarded |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- The University of BirminghamAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender