Sources Sought
Visual Information Services
Department of Defense · Department of the Air Force
AI summaryThis is a sources sought notice, a market research request and not a request for quotes, from the Department of the Air Force's 45th Contracting Squadron (45 CONS) for visual information services at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. The work is photography, video and graphics for the Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45) Public Affairs office, including launch coverage and on-call alert response. A small business set-aside is being considered, but firms of any size may respond. Responses are due by the response due date, November 16, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Department of the Air Force who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
This is a sources sought notice, a market research request and not a request for quotes, from the Department of the Air Force's 45th Contracting Squadron (45 CONS) for visual information services at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. The work is photography, video and graphics for the Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45) Public Affairs office, including launch coverage and on-call alert response. A small business set-aside is being considered, but firms of any size may respond. Responses are due by the response due date, November 16, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern.
Who can bid
- Small business status may decide the set-aside: the Government is considering a small business set-aside under NAICS 541922 (size standard $9M) but accepts responses from firms of any size.
- Registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) to be eligible for any later award or payment.
- Facility clearance at the SECRET level for a later contract, with the contractor's headquarters as a cleared facility, according to the draft PWS.
How to submit: Email a PDF to Contract Specialist Keona Franklin at keona.franklin@spaceforce.mil, referencing RFQ number FA252127QB023. Telephone responses are not accepted.. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (7)
From the version posted Oct 21, 2026.
- Serious: SECRET facility clearance listed for the future contract. The draft PWS says the contractor must hold or obtain a SECRET facility clearance and have a cleared headquarters; many small firms do not have one and the process takes time.
- Worth checking: Set-aside not decided; this is market research only. SAM.gov shows no set-aside. The Air Force is considering a small business set-aside and will use the responses to decide. Responding does not lead to an award.
- Worth checking: Photographer on call at all hours. Alert coverage must start within 30 minutes during duty hours and within 60 minutes after hours, which needs a rotating on-call staff.
Show all 7Show fewer
- Worth checking: Missed launch imagery counts against the contractor. Failing to get the minimum photos or video because of equipment setup, batteries, storage, operator error or missing staff is unacceptable performance.
- Worth checking: Restricted-area access and cleared staff. Employees working in restricted areas need a favorable background check and a secret clearance before performance, and the contractor is responsible for any gap in performance caused by missing clearances.
- Minor: Work sites include Ascension Island. The scope names Ascension Island, outside the United States, as an annex. The draft PWS does not say what it requires there about local licenses, office, taxes or currency.
- Minor: Government furnishes no materials. The contractor supplies its own materials for the whole contract, including options, while the government supplies the work center and listed equipment.
Read from the notice and 4 attachments. Show which files.
- FA252127QB023 Sources Sought.pdf (read)
- FY 27_PWS-Draft (V7).pdf (read)
- VIS Baseline Support Final.pdf (read)
- Alert Response Baseline Final.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Still photography on request: location, studio portraits, passport photos, copy work, special imaging and prints, with files named by the Department of Defense visual record numbering system (VIRIN).
- Rocket launch photography and video: at least one clear photo and one stable video of each launch clearing the pad, with extended liftoff-to-ascent coverage for certain missions.
- Alert photography and video of incidents, accidents and emergencies, with a photographer on call at all hours.
- Graphics work: briefing charts, posters, interior signs, displays, artwork and content for the base marquees, using Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Video recording and editing of events, news and training products, and operating the lights, projection and audio in the base theater.
- Public Affairs support: upload and file imagery to Defense Department systems, keep an alert roster, and attend exercises and inspections.
- Run the multimedia office: take in work orders, track them in a log, send monthly production reports, and maintain government-furnished equipment.
- Submit a quality control plan and complete a 30-day transition with an equipment inventory when performance starts.
- Place of performance
- Patrick Space Force Base, FL. The draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) also lists Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SLD 45 annexes (Malabar Annex, Jonathan Dickinson Missile Tracking Annex and Ascension Island) and other approved locations.
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Offers due
- November 16, 2026, 3:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email a PDF to Contract Specialist Keona Franklin at keona.franklin@spaceforce.mil, referencing RFQ number FA252127QB023. Telephone responses are not accepted.
What to include when you submit
- Send a capabilities package that shows your company's capabilities, with examples of commercial sales and product specifications related to this work.
- Describe your business size (annual revenues and number of employees) and status (8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, EDWOSB or small business).
- Describe any teaming arrangements you expect; if you team, separate the work done by the prime from the work done by each partner.
- Describe similar services you have offered to the Government and to commercial customers.
- Include your unique entity ID (UEI), CAGE code, SAM expiration date, and GSA contract number and expiration if you have one, plus any related specifications or drawings.
- State whether you are a supplier or a manufacturer, and give the name and size of any manufacturer whose products you supply.
- State whether your firm is foreign-owned or foreign-controlled and whether you plan to use foreign national employees.
- Mark anything proprietary as such.
After award, you must have
- Workers who need unescorted access to restricted areas must have a favorable National Agency Check and a secret clearance before performance starts. From FY 27_PWS-Draft (V7).pdf:
…obtain a favorable National Agency Check investigation and a…
- Apply for personnel security clearances within 7 calendar days after receiving the facility clearance, or within 30 calendar days after award if you already hold one. From FY 27_PWS-Draft (V7).pdf:
2.5.1 The contractor shall apply for personnel security clearances within seven calendar days…
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The draft PWS says work in progress at the contractor start date is finished by the incoming contractor. No market research counts, number of awards or Government estimate are given.
Not in the notice text
- Contract type, base period and options, number of awards, and the Government's estimate; none are stated.
- When the solicitation is expected; this notice is market research only.
- The workload history table (Appendix D) and the government-furnished equipment list (Appendix I) of the draft PWS didn't come through as text; check the draft PWS on SAM.gov.
- Whether a SECRET facility clearance must be held when quotes are due or only obtained after award; the draft PWS says "possess or obtain".
- What Ascension Island work requires about host-country licenses, registration, taxes and currency; the draft PWS does not say.
- Evaluation method and factors for the later solicitation; none are stated. The PWS is marked draft and may change.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 21, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- FA2521 45 CONS PK, Patrick SFB, FL
- Product/service code
- T099 · Photo/Map/Print/Publication – Other
- Business type
- Consulting & professional services (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541922)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice