Track at Big Distances with Track-Before-Detect (TBD2)

SOL #: DARPA-PS-26-01Solicitation

Overview

Buyer

DEPT OF DEFENSE

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa)

DEF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGCY

ARLINGTON, VA, 222032114, United States

Place of Performance

Place of performance not available

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical (541715)

PSC

National Defense R&D Services; Department Of Defense Military; Experimental Development (AC13)

Set Aside

No set aside specified

Original Source

https://sam.gov/opp/7d156117a2034a8da6685b736647413f/view

Timeline

Posted

Oct 30, 2025

Last Updated

Nov 26, 2025

Submission Deadline

Dec 4, 2025, 5:00 PM

Qualification Details

Fit reasons

NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.

Risks

Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.

Next steps

Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.

AMENDMENT 04: Amendment 04 includes an update to Figure 1 on Page 4, and incorporates V3 to the Q&A which adds Q&A #109. All other information remains unchanged in the Solicitation and associated Attachments.

AMENDMENT 03: Amendment 3 includes a clarification to Q&A Response #13 only. All other information remains unchanged in the Solicitation and associated Attachments.

AMENDMENT 02: Amendment 2 includes updates to the Solicitation and two (2) Attachments:
(Attachment 1) Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Guide. The CUI Guide is available by request not later than November 21, 2025, by 12:00 PM ET.
(Attachment 2) DARPA-PS-26-01 Questions and Answers.

AMENDMENT 01: The Abstract Due Date is extended to December 4, 2025, by 12:00 PM ET.

The goal of the TBD2 program is to enable continuous space-based detection and tracking of objects in cislunar space on relevant timelines. This effort will increase the safety of cislunar commercial and civilian traffic for the benefit of all nations and enable a sustainable space ecosystem. To accomplish this, TBD2 seeks to advance the state of the art for signal processing algorithms so that when combined with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or quasi-COTS optical sensors and/or focal plane arrays (FPAs), they can a) detect and track faint objects at gigameter (Gm) distances b) operate using available onboard processing capabilities, and c) do so on relevant timelines (within hours).