Space Force opens $981M push for NITE-STAR test and training range proposals
space force is moving ahead with a major new contract push to build a physical test and training range mixing ground systems and on-orbit capabilities. Space Systems Command has released a formal solicitation for the National Space Test and Training Complex Innovative Technology and Engineering–Space Test and Range (NITE-STAR), a multi-vendor contract vehicle valued at $981 million. The request for proposals was issued on March 18 (ET), with initial contract awards planned for this summer (ET).
Space Force solicitation: what NITE-STAR is building
The solicitation calls for industry teams to design, develop, integrate, and sustain a test-and-training environment that can include both ground-based elements and “live, on-orbit” range capabilities. Col. Corey Klopstein, program executive officer for operational test and training infrastructure at Space Systems Command, said the intent is to create a pool of companies that can compete to deliver pieces of the physical environment on the ground, or provide satellites and instrumentation to enable on-orbit range capabilities either as dedicated assets or as a service.
Klopstein said commercial services are a key focus area. “There are commercial capabilities out there that we want to be able to leverage in a different way for test and training … and we’ve leveraged range-as-a-service type of capabilities through commercial vendors, ” Klopstein said during a March 25 event (ET). “We want to see more of that going forward. In parallel, we are also developing purpose-built capabilities that we’re going to have on orbit. ”
The NITE-STAR program sits inside a broader push to build the ranges and simulators needed to train Guardians and validate the systems they will operate. Klopstein said operational test and training infrastructure efforts are centered on three areas: physical ranges, digital test and training environments, and an underlying data-management backbone.
Contract scope, timeline, and submission details
The NITE-STAR contract vehicle is described as a potential 10-year, $981 million multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity arrangement supporting space test and training infrastructure. The scope includes ranges, satellites, ground systems, and digital environments. On the hardware side, the solicitation includes work to design, build, and deliver satellites, spacecraft payloads, ground stations, sensors, telescopes, and command-and-control systems.
The contract structure includes a five-year base period with a single five-year option. The solicitation states Space Force expects to award positions by July 1, 2026 (ET). Qualified organizations have until 12: 00 MDT on April 17, 2026 (ET) to submit proposals electronically using DoD SAFE, and offerors are directed to email SSC. TIK. NITESTAR@spaceforce. mil to request a drop-off link. The solicitation also notes that pre-proposal conference slides and recordings are posted on SAM. gov, and that questions must be submitted using the official Q& A template to the contracting team at the same email address.
space force is also continuing to balance rapid near-term solutions with longer-term sustainment. Klopstein said that for the last few years the service has worked closely with commercial companies to field quick test-and-training solutions, awarding “tens of millions of dollars” through commercial solutions openings and other rapid acquisition mechanisms.
Immediate reactions: sustainability and the shift from ad-hoc to enduring
Klopstein pointed to digital training progress as one result of those earlier efforts, including maturation of the Space Warfighter Operational Readiness Domain (SWORD), which provides simulated space effects and scenarios. The capability was initially developed by the 392nd Combat Training Squadron at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado, in partnership with Space Systems Command, and the service has since awarded contracts to expand it.
He also described the use of an “other transaction authority” to establish a “range-as-a-service” contract for training exercises using commercial satellites. Working with Mission Delta 2, the space domain awareness delta in Combat Forces Command, Klopstein said the service recently coordinated movement of a commercial satellite so Guardians could observe it from the ground and use it for a training event.
But Klopstein stressed that the ad-hoc approach has limits, calling it unsustainable even as novel acquisition tools and commercial solutions continue to play a role. Contracts like NITE-STAR, he said, are intended to lay a longer-term foundation for higher-fidelity live and virtual training.
Quick context and what comes next
Before releasing the NITE-STAR solicitation, the service last year awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for the data backbone portion of the broader effort.
Next milestones are now tied to industry response and the award schedule: proposals will shape what physical range elements and on-orbit services are most competitive, while Space Systems Command moves toward initial awards this summer (ET). For companies aiming to join the NITE-STAR pool, the submission deadline and electronic delivery requirements are now the immediate gate—while space force positions the program as a bridge from short-term stopgaps to an enduring test-and-training range architecture.
