Opportunities for industry to renew Europe’s Spaceport
Updated (September 2021): ESA invites European space and non-space companies to get involved in activities to modernise facilities at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. A total budget of €140 million has been allocated to finance this work over the 2020–24 period.
“A major modernisation of Europe's Spaceport is under way at Europe's Spaceport funded and led by ESA with prime contractor CNES,” commented Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Space Transportation. “Through this, ESA is improving the availability and cost efficiency of facilities to better support new capabilities and mission requirements that will come with Vega-C, Ariane 6 and their evolutions.”
Launch range facilities and services inside and outside the Spaceport that are necessary to a launch campaign will be reorganised and renewed, including range safety and security.
This is called the ‘Core Launch Range Renewal’ (CLRR) and includes end-of-life overhauls of certain systems, the construction of a new mission operations centre for centralised supervision, installation of digital networks, new infrastructure such as air conditioning, water supplies and roads, and preparations for an ambitious transition to sustainable energy sources.
It is intended to enable remote control and monitoring of the launch range which covers 700 square kilometres. Operations activities will also be automated and artificial intelligence used where possible.
Europe’s Spaceport guarantees independent, reliable and competitive access to space for Europe. The upcoming arrival of Europe's two new launch vehicles, Ariane 6 and Vega-C, will further increase performance and versatility supported by a modernised launch range.
A quick overview of current and intended ‘Invitations to Tender’ are listed in the tables below. To access the latest information on these opportunities consult ESA’s online esa-star Publication system, click on All Non-ESA Tender Actions and enter the Tender Action number in the search box, such as '20.CSGT.002'.
The French space agency, CNES, is the prime contractor for this activity. All bidding documents are available for download in English and French, at https://marches.cnes.fr/. All final bids will be submitted to CNES via this same platform.
For further information and clarification, please email: cornelius.zund@esa.int
Intended opportunities
The following table lists all intended Invitations to Tender, or IITTs, which have been prepared by CNES and ESA. These opportunities are not yet open for bidding but are published on esa-star Publication to allow interested organisations to start advance preparation and to demonstrate their interest to ESA. This increases the chance of winning a bid.
Telecommunications
20.CSGT.002 CLRR - Procurement of Optical Fibers for the digital network at CSG
20.CSGT.014 CLRR - Evolution of digital network infrastructure at CSG
Mission Operations Centre
20.CSGT.010 CLRR - Mission Operations Centre construction - Carpentry batch
20.CSGT.011 CLRR - Mission Operations Centre construction - structural frame & bulding activities
20.CSGT.012 CLRR - Mission Operations Centre construction - roads & misc networks batch
20.CSGT.013 CLRR - Mission Operations Centre construction - Low current and security batch
20.CSGT.016 CLRR - Missions Operations Centre - meteorological system
20.CSGT.021 CLRR - Missions Operations Centre construction - HVAC activities batch
20.CSGT.020 CLRR - Missions Operations Centre construction - Energy activities batch
Power
20.CSGT.005 CLRR - Renewal of the 1D50 Main Power Supply station
20.CSGT.006 CLRR - Power supply engines alternative
Open opportunities
An Invitation to Tender, or ITT, is an IITT which has changed from 'intended' status to 'open' for bidding. The period within which a bid may be submitted is limited and stated for each Invitation to Tender.
Submit a bid
It is useful to be familiar with the processes involved in submitting a bid beforehand. As early as possible, an interested organisation should register with ESA via the esa-star portal in order to demonstrate their interest.
Information on how to register with ESA and how to use esa-star is available on the How to do section of the Business with ESA portal.
All final bids will be submitted via the CNES bidding platform https://marches.cnes.fr/. All information required to submit will be provided in the ITT documentation on esa-star Publication, once the calls go live.
Questions and further information
Interested organisations may request a one-on-one CLRR meeting to discuss the above by contacting cornelius.zund@esa.int.
