Bluestar Low Amplifying Signal Transmission (BLAST)
Naval Research Laboratory · NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.
Where this opportunity stands
Every notice posted under solicitation N0017324RWR01 in this department, oldest first.
Next steps for this stage
Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.
- Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
- Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
- Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.
What the notice says
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) intends to award a cost plus fixed fee contract, on a sole source basis with SRI International (SRI) located in Menlo Park, CA for the procurement of Bluestar Low Amplifying Signal Transmission (BLAST). NRL requires a base year, plus four, 1-year options for a total of five years for continuing research, development, experiments, maintenance and systems engineering of the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) low-frequency, high-power Bluestar antenna and all associated antennas and equipment. This requirement takes the research into the next phase of radio freq… (show all)
uency (RF) exploration for the use by space and airborne assets. The 150ft Bluestar antenna and its associated hardware/software located is located at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. The statutory authority for this sole source acquisition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Be advised that the aforementioned information is anticipatory in nature and is not binding. The North America Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this acquisition is 541715, with the business size standard if 1,000 employees. No solicitation package will be issued. This notice is not a request for competitive quotations; however, all responsible sources that are interested may identify their interest and capability. Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that future competition would be advantageous to the Government, would not be cost or time prohibitive, and would not hinder the mission or objective. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct competitive procurement in the future. The Government will consider responses received by the established due date and time set forth in this notice. Questions or comments to this Notice of Intent should be directed to Ryan Wheelock via email at ryan.wheelock@nrl.navy.mil. Please indicate in the subject of your email: Notice of Intent Submission � BLAST.
Who won similar work
6 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same office (NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY), same product/service code (PSC) AJ13 and NAICS 541715.
Single-winner award sizes (6): middle half $22.6M to $180.6M, median $87.2M; range $18.1M to $245.0M.
| Winner | Awards | Value | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPACE GROUND SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC. · $PSN · $5.4B | 3 | $462.5M | Jun 29, 2026 |
| RIPTIDE TECHNOLOGY INC | 1 | $148.3M | Aug 24, 2026 |
| GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION SYSTEMS, INC. · $GD · $42.3B | 1 | $21.5M | Jul 8, 2025 |
| AMETRINE INC | 1 | $18.1M | Oct 7, 2025 |
Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's last annual revenue from its 10-K.
- $PSN reported $5.4B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 6 past awards, $87.2M, is 2% of that. 10-K
- $GD reported $42.3B revenue in FY2025. The median single-winner award in these 6 past awards, $87.2M, is 0.2% of that. 10-K
One award's total value against one year of revenue; many awards are paid over several years.
- Aug 24, 2026RIPTIDE TECHNOLOGY INC$148.3MCommand, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Development, Support and IntegrationNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
- Jun 29, 2026SPACE GROUND SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC.$245.0MResearch and Development for Satellite Software and Operations SupportMateriality: 4.5% of $PSN revenue (Medium) SEC
- Jun 29, 2026SPACE GROUND SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC.$191.4MResearch and Development for Satellite Software and Operations SupportMateriality: 3.5% of $PSN revenue (Medium) SEC
- Jun 29, 2026SPACE GROUND SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC.$26.1MResearch and Development for Satellite Software and Operations SupportMateriality: 0.48% of $PSN revenue (Low) SEC
- Oct 7, 2025AMETRINE INC$18.1MCAMOUFLAGE NETTING AND EXPEDITIONARY LIFTING STRUCTURES ("X-HANGAR"), OPERATIONAL TEST SUPPORT, AND JOINT TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONNo listed company matched (Materiality N/A)
- Jul 8, 2025GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION SYSTEMS, INC.$21.5MDesign, development, contruction, integration, and testing of Black Pearl class Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUVs).Materiality: 0.05% of $GD revenue (Low) SEC
Materiality: one award's value as a share of the winner's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings (or its last fiscal year, as noted when you point at it). Low under 1%, Medium 1 to 5%, High 5% or more. Many awards are paid over several years, so this overstates a single year's share.
Competitive landscape
For the 4 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.
- 1 of these past winners lobbied Navy, Dept of or U.S. Marines since 2024 (10 filings)
- 0 of their lobbyists list a past Navy, Dept of or U.S. Marines job
- $571K from their corporate PACs since 2024 to members of House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Armed Services, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senate Committee on Armed Services
- 1 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
Policy around it
Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.
- 8 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
- 32 rules from the department in the last 12 months
- 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
Market
For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.
- 2 of the past winners are listed companies
- 1 insider buys and 4 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.
Companies are matched to tickers by exact name only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.