Official UK procurement notice
National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC): Optical Sovereign Sensor Software (OSSS)
Authority: UK Space Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUKSA has recently begun the hardware deployment of our Space Domain Awareness optical tracking stations. To operate these effectively, we require software that will enable the autonomous, remote and safe tasking of the sensors and their supporting hardware, with calibrated and corrected high-quality data returned to the central NSpOC wide C2 system (BOREALIS) via an API.
Suppliers will be required to deliver three high level elements whose architecture and interfaces must be appropriately documents - a Microsoft Azure based sensor network C2 system, an on-premises C2 and hardware safety system and a separate optical processing pipeline that will generate the tracking/pointing and hardware instructions to execute the sensor sessions and return calibrated and corrected satellite tracklets.
UKSA will require the successful supplier to utilise the existing hardware manufacturer provided software interfaces and to use existing commercially available/open-source plate-solving software packages. This is to preserve hardware warranties and minimise assurance activities.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Provision of commercial off-the-shelf software solution and software development as…Planned
Provision of commercial off-the-shelf software solution and software development as per the description outlined above.
UKSA anticipates launching this procedure in mid-March, with a planned deadline for bid submission of 24th April 2026. Contract award is planned for mid-late May with a targeted kick-off of 1st June.
**UKSA intends to place this requirement via the Space-Enabled and Geospatial Services Dynamic Purchasing System (RM6235). UKSA will NOT be able to issue tender documentation to bidders who do not meet the filter requirements set.
UKSA will also require Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation is in place at point of bid submission for this tender. Any bidders without Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation will be rejected.
Owing to the security requirements relating to access to BOREALIS, this tender will be restricted to Uk-registered companies where all strategic decisions are undertaken in the UK by UK nationals on grounds of security. International subcontractors and project consortia partners will be permitted, though UKSA reserves the right to require changes to project consortia and/or subcontracting arrangements where a proposed structure represents a security risk.**
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Space Agency buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), 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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.
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.
Half of these awards have an award date within 50 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
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?
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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.
1 bid13% / 12%
2–325% / 28%
4–625% / 28%
7+38% / 32%
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.
Below estimate46%
Within ±2%38%
Above estimate16%
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.
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 #1Provision of commercial off-the-shelf software solution and software development as…CPV 72Published estimate£1.5m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.
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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 789 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–328%
4–628%
7+32%
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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.
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.
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST Engineering Antycip SASEarlier contract | National Space Operations Centre: STK and ODTK Software Licencesended Mar 2026 | — | £97k | Matched as the earlier contract |
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.
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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
45% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
45% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (45% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
National Space Operations Centre: STK and ODTK Software Licences — held by ST Engineering Antycip SAS; the published contract ends 31 Mar 2026.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 3 Feb 2026, 10:33 GMT
- Last source update
- 3 Feb 2026, 10:33 GMT
- Authority reference
UKSAC26_0014- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-009326- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-061511Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
3 Feb 2026 → 18 May 2026 · 2 dates- Notice published266 days ago3 Feb 2026, 10:33 GMT
- Tender notice expected163 days ago18 May 2026, 00:00 BST
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
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.