Septentrio Chosen as Preferred Vendor for Reference Stations

• Dates: Aug 20, 2015
• Location(s): Boulder, Colorado

UNAVCO Staff
20 August 2015

Overview

UNAVCO is pleased to announce that Septentrio, Inc. has been selected as the Geodesy Advancing Geosciences and EarthScope (GAGE) Facility Preferred Vendor for next generation GNSS reference station products. The new preferred vendor status is valid through the close of the GAGE Facility Cooperative Agreement with the National Science Foundation for the purpose of upgrading and renewing continuous GNSS networks operated by UNAVCO, including EarthScope’s Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), COCONet, TLALOCNet, and where appropriate POLENET. This Preferred Vendor relationship grants UNAVCO a unique opportunity to provide technical input during the ongoing development process of Septentrio’s next generation GNSS receiver, which is scheduled for public release in early 2016. Special pricing on these systems will be available to UNAVCO and its Member Community.

Background

Earlier this year, UNAVCO held a rigorous selection process with the intent to select a Preferred Vendor for GNSS receiver systems. Several qualified vendors responded to our Request for Proposals (RFP). UNAVCO’s internal evaluation committee, comprised of our Development and Testing (D&T) team plus other Geodetic Infrastructure and Geodetic Data Services staff, held a vendor conference to allow each potential vendor an opportunity to present its respective receiver products for review. After the conference, the vendors could modify their original proposals. The D&T team then conducted a rigorous month-long technical evaluation, which was presented to the evaluation committee in a written report. The evaluation committee recommended a vendor based on the criteria described in the RFP. UNAVCO’s Director of Geodetic Infrastructure reviewed the report, solicited input from the GI Advisory Committee, added his recommendation to the committee’s recommendation, and submitted it to the President for final review and approval. A formal agreement between UNAVCO and Septentrio has now been fully executed. UNAVCO and Septentrio are now actively engaged on details related to final GNSS product delivery.