Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Apr 2026, 18:50 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Request For Information - In-Orbit Servicing Mission Concepts

Authority: UK Space Agency (Central government)

Services
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrs 3 moends 30 Dec 2030 · starts 1 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) considers In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly & Manufacturing (ISAM) as a critical capability for strengthening the UK's position in space and supporting both civil and defence objectives.

At Space Comm Expo in March 2026, the Government announced new investment to strengthen the UK's In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to seek industry feedback to inform the UK Space Agency's options for deploying this funding through potential future ISAM mission(s). Through this RFI, UKSA is seeking views on possible mission concepts that could demonstrate or enable ISAM capabilities. In particular UKSA wishes to understand:

  • The feasibility of Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD) enabled ISAM Missions;
  • Indicative costs (as a range) of delivery;
  • Delivery timescales.

This Request For Information (RFI) builds on existing market engagement activity and is intended to inform the UK Space Agency's options appraisal, financial assurance and business case development for potential mission concepts, including how such concepts could be developed and taken forward in line with UK public sector commercial, assurance and governance frameworks, prior to any financial commitment.

Responses to this RFI will not be evaluated and this RFI does not constitute a commitment to procure or fund any activity. Information provided will be used solely to inform future programme planning, mission design and options development, with decisions on delivery models (including whether to proceed with a procurement of a contract or a grant call) and any subsequent competition remaining subject to applicable UK public sector requirements. Specific timelines will be subject to the feedback received from this RFI.

Within the next spending review period, the aims and objectives of the In-Orbit Servicing Mission are as follows.

AIM-01. Demonstrate safe, reliable, repeatable RPOD and robotic operations in orbit to give global satellite operators confidence in adoption and position UK ISAM companies to service this demand.

OBJ -001 Conduct In Orbit RPOD Mission(s).

OBJ-002 Demonstrate "service layer" concept through proof-of-concept demonstration and critical elements de-risking.

To view the RFI in full, including the questionnaire for those interested in providing information on mission concept(s) to the UK Space Agency please contact the following inbox:

[email protected]

We will respond with:

  • Request For Information: In-Orbit Servicing Mission Concepts (full version including question set)
  • Response template (in MS Word)

Please note responses to the RFI questions must be received by Friday 29 May 2026.

CPV: Aircraft and spacecraft · Communication satellites · Navigation satellites · Observation satellites · Satellite-related communications equipment · Space transport services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How UK Space Agency buys Military spacecrafts (CPV 3563), and who usually turns up

UK Space Agency’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Military spacecrafts (CPV 3563) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerUK Space Agency · all categories
The marketMilitary spacecrafts (CPV 3563) · UK-wide
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 11 of 35 known-size awards · market: division 35 · UK-wide, n=340
31%59%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 3 known-location awards · market: division 35 · UK-wide, n=289
1 of 334%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 decided notices · market: division 35 · UK-wide, n=53
36 days58 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 36 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 32 of 40 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 35 · UK-wide, n=513
80%58%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer8 lots with bid counts · all categories
13% had one bid
The market132 lots with bid counts · division 35 · UK-wide
18% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid13% / 18%
Buyer: 1 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 24 of 132 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 37%
Buyer: 2 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 49 of 132 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 30%
Buyer: 2 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 39 of 132 lots with published bid counts.
7+38% / 15%
Buyer: 3 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 20 of 132 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyerToo few to chart: 4 lots with estimate and award, 5 needed · all categories
The market61 lots with estimate and award · division 35 · UK-wide
48% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate48%
Market: 29 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%38%
Market: 23 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate15%
Market: 9 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 3551 monthsEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 35. The comparison uses that group.

Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 132 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet18% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 132 similar lots
1 bid18%
24 of 132 similar past lots received 1 bid (18%).
2–337%
49 of 132 similar past lots received 2–3 (37%).
4–630%
39 of 132 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+15%
20 of 132 similar past lots received 7+ (15%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
17 Apr 2026, 18:50 BST
Last source update
17 Apr 2026, 18:50 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-035409
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Aircraft and spacecraftCommunication satellitesNavigation satellitesObservation satellitesSatellite-related communications equipmentSpace transport services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0685ca Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

17 Apr 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published190 days ago
    17 Apr 2026, 18:50 BST
  2. Market engagement148 days ago
    29 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    To view the RFI in full, including the questionnaire for those interested in providing information on mission concept(s) to the UK Space Agency, please contact the following inbox:

    [email protected]

    We will respond with:

    • Request For Information: In-Orbit Servicing Mission Concepts
    • Response template (in MS Word)

    Responses to the RFI must be received by Friday 29 May 2026, and should be submitted in PDF format by email to the following inbox:

    [email protected]

    Emails should include the subject line:

    "RFI Response - In-Orbit Servicing Mission Concepts -

  3. Contract starts24 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Apr 2026, 18:50 BST
    UK2

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

UK Space Agency

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PRTY-4245-MTJY Quad Two Building 1st Floor, Rutherford Avenue, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, South East, OX11 0DFContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure