[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26596-26598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11491]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
[Docket No. USCG-2025-0098]
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)--``Very
High Frequency Data Exchange System (VDES) Satellite Connectivity and
Service''
AGENCY: Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security.
[[Page 26597]]
ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is announcing its intent
to enter into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)
with SPACE NORWAY to test and evaluate the suitability of implementing
a VDES satellite (VDE-SAT) component for USCG operations. In addition,
the USCG also invites other potential non-Federal participants, who
have the interest and capability to bring similar contributions to this
type of research, to consider submitting proposals for consideration in
similar CRADAs.
DATES: Your comments and related material must reach the USCG on or
before July 23, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number USCG-
2025-0098 using the Federal portal at http://www.regulations.gov. See
the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for further instructions on
submitting comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about this
notice of intent, or wish to submit proposals for future CRADAs,
contact Mr. James Spilsbury, Technical Point of Contact, U.S. Coast
Guard Research and Development Center, 1 Chelsea Street, New London, CT
06320, telephone 860-271-2600, email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Table of Abbreviations
AIS Automatic Identification System
CRADA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
DHS Department of Homeland Security
MSI Maritime Safety Information
RDC Coast Guard Research and Development Center
VDES Very High Frequency Data Exchange System
VDE-SAT Very High Frequency Data Exchange System Satellite
VHF Very High Frequency
U.S.C. United States Code
USCG United States Coast Guard
II. Background and Purpose
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is investigating the Very High
Frequency (VHF) Data Exchange System (VDES) and impacts on the
Automatic Identification System (AIS). The volume of marine vessels
using the AIS has been increasing since its inception in 2000. This
increase is resulting in overloading of the two channels that carry the
AIS transmissions. In response to this overloading of AIS,
international organizations like the International Telecommunication
Union, the International Maritime Organization, and the International
Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities are
developing the next generation AIS--called VDES. VDES will increase the
number of channels available and utilize terrestrial and satellite
communication for the exchange of safety and navigation information.
VDES is a technological concept utilizing terrestrial and satellite
radio communication links in the VHF maritime mobile band to facilitate
globally interoperable digital data exchange between ships, between
ships and shore, between ships and satellite, and between satellite and
ships.
To date, the USCG has conducted extensive work and established a
robust test environment for AIS and VDES which includes communications
base stations near the USCG Research and Development Center (RDC) in
the vicinity of New London, CT. This CRADA will leverage RDC's
terrestrially based test network of VDES base and mobile stations to
demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of transmitting maritime
safety information (MSI) on the satellite channels of VDES (VDE-SAT) as
compared to the current AIS satellite channels. The CRADA will cover
the cooperative testing of the VDE-SAT equipment, platforms, and
satellite data services. The CRADA will be used to determine how VDE-
SAT could be implemented to support multiple USCG core mission areas
for shore-side and shipboard use under a variety of scenarios.
Technology researched, tested, and prototyped will adhere to all active
USCG, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) standards and
regulations.
The USCG seeks to continue its investigation of VDES, focusing on
the evaluation of the VDE-SAT component and how the system may be able
to expand VDES coverage beyond the range of terrestrial VDES sites for
enhanced maritime domain awareness. This investigation will evaluate
the capabilities and limitations of using VDES to communicate
Application Specific Messages or similar MSI (that is, International
Hydrographic Organization S-124 based) with vessels operating in polar
regions, offshore, or other inshore regions with limited to no VHF
coverage (for example, Western Rivers).
Our desire is to identify non-federal partners that can
successfully provide access to VDES satellites for test and evaluation
purposes.
III. Public Participation and Request for Comments
We request public comments on this notice. Although we do not plan
to respond to comments in the Federal Register, we will respond
directly to commenters and may modify our proposal in response to
received comments.
We encourage you to submit comments in response to this notice of
inquiry through the Federal Decision Making portal at https://www.regulations.gov. To do so, go to https://www.regulations.gov, type
USCG-2025-0098 in the search box and click ``Search.'' Next, look for
this document in the Search Results column, and click on it. Then click
on the Comment option. In your submission, please include the docket
number for this notice of inquiry and provide a reason for each
suggestion or recommendation. If your material cannot be submitted
using https://www.regulations.gov, contact the person in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate
instructions. To view documents mentioned in this notice of inquiry as
being available in the docket, find the docket as described in the
previous paragraph, and then select ``Supporting & Related Material''
in the Document Type column. Public comments will also be placed in our
online docket and can be viewed by following instructions on the
https://www.regulations.gov Frequently Asked Questions web page. We
review all comments received, but we may choose not to post off-topic,
inappropriate, or duplicate comments that we receive.
We accept anonymous comments. Comments we post to https://www.regulations.gov will include any personal information you have
provided. For more about privacy and submissions in response to this
document, see DHS's eRulemaking System of Records notice (85 FR 14226,
March 11, 2020).
IV. Discussion
CRADAs are authorized under 15 U.S.C. 3710a. A CRADA promotes the
transfer of technology to the private sector for commercial use, as
well as specified research or development efforts that are consistent
with the mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party
or parties agree with one or more non-Federal parties to share research
resources, but the Federal party does not contribute funding.
CRADAs are not procurement contracts. Care is taken to ensure that
[[Page 26598]]
CRADAs are not used to circumvent the contracting process. CRADAs have
a specific purpose and should not be confused with procurement
contracts, grants, and other type of agreements.
Under the proposed CRADA, the USCG Research and Development Center
(RDC) will collaborate with one or more non-Federal participants.
Together, the USCG RDC and the non-Federal participant will evaluate
the suitability of VDE-SAT technology in a shore-side and shipboard
environments to support USCG missions.
We anticipate that the USCG's contributions under the proposed
CRADA will include the following:
1. Provide appropriate staff with pertinent expertise to take the
lead in accomplishing the required tasks; collaborate with selected
non-Federal participants to evaluate the suitability of VDES Satellite
for future implementation by maritime authorities;
2. Provide information regarding the USCG's interest in the VDE-SAT
technology needed for creating the test plan, and co-design specific
operational test scenarios, bringing in real-world maritime expertise;
3. Obtain, transport, and provide all of the ensemble items to be
used during the testing;
4. Provide personnel support to non-Federal participant to assist
with setting up and execute testing in accordance with the agreed upon
test plan;
5. Work with non-Federal participant to develop a final report,
which will document the methodologies, findings, conclusions, and
recommendations of this CRADA work.
We anticipate that the non-Federal participants' contributions
under the CRADA will include the following:
1. Provide appropriate staff with pertinent expertise to support
the above-mentioned tasks;
2. Provide all necessary facility resources and services needed to
access VDES satellite services during the demonstration and testing
including but not limited to satellites with VDES-capable payloads;
3. Provide technical support for all technology demonstrations and
proposed test plans;
4. Provide technical data for the equipment, software, and services
to be utilized;
5. Provide shipment and delivery of any equipment required to
conduct evaluations, demonstrations, and test events as described in
the CRADA;
6. Provide travel and associated personnel and other expenses, as
required, for subject work;
7. Provide test data upon completion of testing.
The USCG reserves the right to select for CRADA participants all,
some, or no proposals submitted for this CRADA. The USCG will provide
no funding for reimbursement of proposal development costs. Proposals
and any other material submitted in response to this notice will not be
returned. Proposals submitted are expected to be unclassified and have
no more than five single-sided pages (excluding cover page, DD 1494,
JF-12, etc.).
The USCG will select proposals at its sole discretion based on:
1. How well they communicate an understanding of, and ability to
meet, the proposed CRADA's goal; and
2. How well they address the following criteria:
a. Technical capability to support the non-Federal party
contributions described, and
b. Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party
contributions described.
Currently, the USCG is considering SPACE NORWAY, for participation
in this CRADA. This consideration is based on SPACE NORWAY briefings to
the USCG and its ability to support demonstrations and test scenarios.
However, we do not wish to exclude other viable participants from this
or future similar CRADAs.
This is a technology suitability effort. The goal of this CRADA is
to evaluate the suitability of USCG and other maritime authorities of
implementing VDES satellite technology for shore-side and shipboard
environments. Special consideration will be given to small business
firms/consortia, and preference will be given to business units located
in the U.S. This notice is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C
552(a).
M. P. Chien,
Captain, Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development
Center.
[FR Doc. 2025-11491 Filed 6-20-25; 8:45 am]
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