Inter-Agency Debris Co-ordination Committee (IADC) Research Studies - 2026/27

The Office of the Chief Engineer within the UK Space Agency (UKSA) is intending to identify delivery partners to support a set of studies that will support ongoing research being performed as part of its role in the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). The IADC has 13 member states that conduct technical research to inform their publications on how to measure, model, protect from and mitigate space debris. The primary purpose is to exchange information on space debris research activities between members, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research, to review the progress of ongoing cooperative activities and to identify debris mitigation options. The UK has been a member for nearly 30 years and has been helping to guide the international policy over this time. The IADC consists of a steering group and four working groups - Measurements, Environment and Database, Protection and Mitigation. The studies that have been identified will seek to support on-going research being performed in each of these working groups. UKSA is seeking suppliers to perform technical studies of relevance to three of the four IADC working groups. We will require the supplier to fulfil the specification, including defining framework/model where needed and putting theoretical metrics into practice. We are splitting this competition into multiple lots linked to three of the four IADC working groups. Prospective bidders should note this requirement is not seeking any studies this year in support of IADC Working Group 1. Bidders may bid for and be awarded one or more studies within each lot. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not necessary to bid for multiple studies to be eligible to participate. UKSA reserves the right to award multiple contracts in the event of budget availability and sufficient high-quality proposals. Equally, UKSA reserves the right to not award individual lots where insufficient high quality proposals are received. The scope of Working Group 2 (Environment and Database) is the characterisation and modelling of meteoroid and debris around the Earth and storage and access of the data by electronic means, including meteoroid and debris models, short and long-term evolution, collision prediction and risk assessment. Lot 1 includes three sub-lots: * Lot 1.1 - £50,000 inclusive of VAT, £41,667 exclusive of VAT * Lot 1.2 - £50,000 inclusive of VAT, £41.667 exclusive of VAT * Lot 1.3 - £30,000 inclusive of VAT, £25,000 exclusive of VAT The total value of all three sub-lots is £130,000 inclusive of VAT and £108,334 exclusive of VAT. Bidders may be awarded 1, 2 or 3 sub-lots within this lot and are able to bid for 1, 2 or 3 sub-lots. Details of the technical scope and requirements associated with each sub-lot are available in the ITT documentation on the Jaggaer procurement portal. The scope of Working Group 3 (Protection) comprises the design and technology of shielding against meteoroids and space debris and the associated test methods which include test facility and procedure, hypervelocity impact data and simulation software. Lot 2 includes two sub-lots: * Lot 2.1 - £30,000 inclusive of VAT, £25,000 exclusive of VAT * Lot 2.2 - £70,000 inclusive of VAT, £58,333 exclusive of VAT The total value of lot 2 is £83,333 exclusive of VAT and £100,000 inclusive of VAT. Bidders can apply for, and be awarded, 1 or 2 sub-lots within this lot. The scope of Working Group 4 comprises the study of all measures to reduce or avoid the creation of space debris or reduce the hazards created by space debris. This includes identification of space debris sources, design and operation of space systems. Lot 3 consists of two sub-lots: * Lot 3.1 - £70,000 inclusive of VAT, £58,333 exclusive of VAT * Lot 3.2 - £40,000 inclusive of VAT, £33,333 exclusive of VAT The total value of lot 3 is £91,666 exclusive of VAT and £110,000 inclusive of VAT. Bidders can apply for, and be awarded, 1 or 2 sub-lots within this lot.