Lawrence Livermore National Security seeks to develop a spacecraft as part of its proposal to be a prime contractor for a mission under the NASA Astrophysics Small Satellite Explorers Program and has issued a request for information concerning the effort.
Table of Contents
Arachne Spacecraft Bus
LLNS is looking into possible vendors that can co-engineer the Arachne spacecraft bus, which will house a technology readiness level 6 telescope, according to a sources sought notice posted Wednesday on SAM.gov. The same vendor is expected to ultimately deliver an integrated observatory to a launch services provider.
ROM Requirement
Interested parties must submit rough order of magnitude—or ROM—estimates for the proposed spacecraft bus. The ROM should include cost estimates and a technical writeup. Responses are due Apr. 18.
The selection of LLNS’ proposal by NASA is expected to result in a competitive solicitation for a firm-fixed-price subcontract by calendar year 2026. Full rate production of three units of the spacecraft is projected to begin the following year.
Related Articles
The General Services Administration has launched USAi, a secure generative artificial intelligence suite designed to help federal agencies experiment with AI tools and accelerate AI adoption. GSA said Thursday the launch of USAi advances the priorities in the White House’s America’s AI Action Plan, which seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership in AI through coordinated federal action, streamlined adoption and smarter infrastructure. A panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Navy Summit on Aug. 26 will explore generative AI and how it optimizes decision-making within the service branch. Book your spot now at this GovCon networking event! Expanding Federal Government’s
Nextgov/FCW reported that the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council on Thursday released new model deviation text for six parts of the FAR as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul, or RFO, initiative. In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to amend FAR to streamline the federal procurement process and eliminate barriers to doing business with the government. In June, the FAR Council released model deviation text for sections related to emergency acquisitions, contract modifications and acquisition of information and communication technology, or ICT. The overhauled FAR parts include sections related to administrative and information matters; required sources of
The National Science Foundation and NVIDIA will invest $152 million in the development of advanced, open-source artificial intelligence models aimed at accelerating American scientific discovery. The public-private investment will support the Open Multimodal AI Infrastructure to Accelerate Science project led by the Allen Institute for AI, or Ai2, NSF said Thursday. Public-Private Investment for Open Source AI Models NSF will provide $75 million, with NVIDIA contributing $77 million. The initiative supports the White House AI Action Plan and aims to ensure the United States remains a leader in AI-powered research and innovation. “As called for in the AI Action Plan,