The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) awarded Parsons Corporation subsidiary Space Ground System Solutions a contract to continue its work supporting satellite ground systems software and operations at the Blossom Point Tracking Facility in Maryland. The award announced Tuesday is a five-year, $245 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract.
Parsons has supported this site for the NRL for 30 years. Under the contract it will continue to advance the Neptune software for automated satellite command and control and ground equipment control and status, and the Virtual Mission Operations Center (VMOC) for satellite mission management. The work includes designing, testing, maintaining, and enhancing mission-critical software modules, as well as providing configuration control and cybersecurity for space and ground systems supporting national security missions.
The Blossom Point Tracking Facility (BPTF) was the first satellite command and control facility in the U.S. The facility provides command, control, communications, network engineering, and management of new and on-orbit assets. It is located at an Army test range on the Potomac River in Maryland, to the south of D.C.
“Continuing our work with the Naval Research Laboratory underscores Parsons’ role in delivering resilient, mission-ready space capabilities,” said Rob McDonough, vice president of Space Operations Services at Parsons. “This award reinforces our demonstrated ability to engineer and sustain secure, software-defined mission systems that enable operational advantage in an increasingly contested space domain.
