The aim of this procurement procedure is to conclude multiple innovation partnership contracts structured in stages following a sequence of steps in the research and innovation process for the purpose of:
(a) performing studies for the preliminary design of the EU GOVSATCOM Hub infrastructure (hereinafter ‘infrastructure’);
(b) developing the infrastructure;
(c) deploying the infrastructure;
(d) qualifying the infrastructure;
(e) providing initial operations of the infrastructure (if possible); and
(f) upgrading the infrastructure to accommodate other functionalities.
This process provides for intermediate targets to be attained by the partners, which are explained in detail in the procurement documentation. The above activities are structured in three contract stages, as follows:
Stage 1: Preliminary design
— feasibility analysis;
— preliminary design and consolidated design at system and N-1 level.
Stage 2: development
— detailed design and N-1 development;
— system integration and qualification;
— deployment (Option 1a) or Storage (Option 1b);
— readiness for Operations validation and acceptance (Option 2).
Stage 3: upgrading the infrastructure for scalability and connectivity purposes.