NASA ARC Solicitation: Airspace Concepts Evaluation Systems – ACES
Synopsis – Jun 23, 2008
General Information
Solicitation Number: NNA09248332R
Posted Date: Jun 23, 2008
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jun 23, 2008
Original Response Date: Jul 15, 2008
Current Response Date: Jul 15, 2008
Classification Code: A — Research and Development
NAICS Code: 541712 – Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Ames Research Center, JA:M/S 241-1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
Description
NASA/ARC is hereby soliciting information about potential sources for Airspace Concepts Evaluation System (ACES) NNA09248332R. The requirement is for the Space Administration (NASA) NextGen-Airspace Project to continue to provide the Agency with support and development for the Airspace Concepts Evaluation System (ACES) fast time Air Traffic management (ATM) simulation tool. NextGen-Airspace project is conducting research into advanced ATM concepts in order to increase the capacity and efficiency of the Nation Airspace System (NAS). This procurement is a follow-on requirement. The current contract is a cost-plus-award-fee contract number NNA05BE01C with Raytheon Company. The current end date of the contract is November 30, 2008 and the total contract value is $14M. Use the links at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/FOIA/agency/ to request information through the FOIA office. In this synopsis, NASA ARC is soliciting information about potential sources and preferred contracting approaches for the above services. Once the acquisition strategy is finalized, a presolicitation synopsis will replace this synopsis and will include the latest Interested Parties listing.
PURPOSE OF THIS SYNOPSIS
This notice has two purposes: 1) To request information on capabilities of potential offerors to provide the services in order to determine if this will be a small business set-aside. Information received as a result of this notice will be considered by the Government and used for acquisition planning purposes only. 2) To request information from interested parties regarding their preferred contracting approach including contract type, to provide the services. All acquisitions methods are being considered by the Government.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED WORK BACKGROUND:
The principal objectives of this research activity are two-fold: (1) to enhance and extend the system-wide modeling and simulation capability inherent in ACES to accommodate higher fidelity analyses of NextGen air traffic management concepts and capabilities currently undergoing research by the NextGen Airspace and NextGen Airportal projects; and (2) to integrate the concept models developed for ACES fully across all operational parts of the software. These operational concepts are:
– Traffic flow management (TFM) operational concepts – Separation Assurance (SA) operational concepts – Dynamic Airspace Configuration (DAC) operational concepts – Airspace Super Density Operations (ASDO) operational concepts
Supporting objectives are to: – Transition ACES to a new architecture, which is currently in prototype, to support modeling evolution and decomposition commensurate with NextGen concepts, which NASA and others will pursue. – Enhance ACES flexibility, maintainability, and usability for an evolving user-base across a range of applications. – Provide software and model verification and validation studies. – Create new analytical output metrics. – Create new models for TFM, SA, DAC, and ASDO. – Integrate third-party models into ACES. – Develop pre- and post-processing tools for ACES data. – Develop custom models per researcher requirements. (1) Technical Capability: Responders are invited to provide information regarding fast time simulation software design and development capabilities. Responders are also invited to provide information regarding air traffic management expertise and knowledge. (2) Infrastructure: Responders are invited to provide information regarding in-house development and test laboratories. RESPONSES REGARDING POTENTIAL SOURCES STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES:
Interested Offerors having the required specialized capabilities/qualifications to support some or all of the work are asked to submit a capability/qualification statement of 10 PAGES or less. There is no required font size and/or type designated for this Capability/Qualification Statement. Figures, exhibits, and diagrams should be readable. Submit your response electronically in PDF format.
The response must include the following:
1) Company name, address, point of contact, phone, fax, e-mail, and website (if applicable) as this information will be posted on the R&D Interested Parties List.
2) Whether your company is Large business, Small business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a)set-aside small business, HUBZone small business, Woman-owned small business, Veteran-owned small business, HBCU/MI, Service-Disabled Veteran-owned small business for NAICS code 541712 size standard 1500 employees.
3) Your company’s capability in each of the technical areas. These are: i) Research and development: Includes research support and management, research facility planning and scheduling and hardware development. ii) Operations and maintenance: Includes operations and maintenance of research facilities, and instrument and shop maintenance. iii) Computer programming and data processing: Includes computer programming, data acquisition and data analysis, and software development. iv) Safety and quality assurance: Includes system safety, reliability and quality assurance in coordination with the NASA ARC Office of Safety, Environmental and Mission Assurance Directorate. v) Risk management: Includes risk factor identification, risk assessment and mitigation. vi) Organizational support: Includes support in areas of documentation preparation and maintenance (technical papers, reports, proposals and newsletters), database management, meetings and conferences, proposal writing, educational outreach, and travel. vii) Contract management and administration: The contractor shall provide the necessary resources, supplies and capability for contract management and administration to meet the requirements; the capability includes surge capability (ability to increase contractor staff to support unexpected activity peaks).
For each technical area indicate what percentage of the technical area you would perform. If you plan to subcontract a portion of the effort please explain which portion, if any, you plan to subcontract.
4) The Contractor will be required to provide qualified management personnel, organizational structure, procedural and administration functions to effectively and efficiently manage the work performed under this contract. Describe your capabilities and experiences in performing and managing the technical areas listed above. Detail your capabilities and experience in working on contracts with multiple tasks and/or projects and include average number of tasks/year managed – Detail your capabilities and experience with and process for acquiring and managing subcontractors – Detail your capabilities and experience in acquiring and managing subject area experts.
5) A list of relevant work performed in the past five (5) years, including contract type, contract number, technical description, dollar amount, period of performance, and a customer reference name and telephone number. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based on responses.
RESPONSES REGARDING THE CONTRACTING APPROACH The Government is soliciting contracting approaches to the NASA R&D procurement that will enhance competition and provide business opportunities. Therefore, the Government is requesting feedback in the following areas for consideration during acquisition planning: a) Socio-economic considerations: ARC is interested in your comments on establishing subcontracting goals for Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-owned small business, Small-Disadvantaged Business, Women-owned small business, Veteran-owned small business, Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI), and HUBZone small business. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business or 8(a) set-aside based on responses. b) Performance-Based Contracting (PBC): ARC is interested in your comments on Performance-Based Contracting (PBC). If you have specific experience with PBC in support of similar contracts, please include your experience and opinion of measurable performance standards as it relates to the technical areas. c) Contract type: Contract types for consideration, alone or in a hybrid combination, include both Fixed-Price and Cost-Reimbursement contracts, such as FFP, FPI, FPAF, CPFF, and CPIF. Please include information regarding why a particular contract type or combination of contract types might be more appropriate (benefits and impediments), how that proposed contract type would affect costs and how you would propose. ARC will determine the most suitable contract type and is more inclined to select a CPFF type. Please also address possible performance measures for technical, cost, and schedule performance; risk mitigation; employee and asset safety and security; innovative best practices; quality of service to users; responsiveness to changing requirements and budget; and identifying opportunities for technical and administrative improvement. d) Technical Information: What type of technical information along with the Statement of Work would you like to see with a potential solicitation? e) Contract Content/Structure: Do you have any suggestions or examples of restructuring, simplifications, and clarity in the description of technical areas as well as other types of additional information that would improve understanding or clarity of requirements and terms and conditions? There is no limit on the page length to your response to RESPONSES REGARDING THE CONTRACTING APPROACH. YOUR RESPONSE TO THE SYNOPSIS All responses to the Statement of Capabilities shall be received no later than Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 1:00 PM Local PST. Please respond via electronic mail (e-mail) to the Contract Specialist, Janessa Langford, at the following address: Janessa.m.langford@nasa.gov. with a copy to the Contracting Officer, Nellie Powell, at the following address: nellie.m.powell@nasa.gov. Written questions should also be directed to the Contract Specialist, Janessa Langford, at the following address: Janessa.m.langford@nasa.gov. with a copy to the Contracting Officer, Nellie Powell, at the following address: nellie.m.powell@nasa.gov. If an interested party requests confirmation of receipt, the Contract Specialist will confirm receipt. In all responses, please reference NNA09248332R in the subject line and on all attachments. Verbal questions will not be accepted. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service. It is the potential offeror’s responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. ________________________________________ Government-wide Notes 26 NASA-Specific Notes B ________________________________________
Point of Contact
Name: Janessa M Langford
Title: Contract Specialist
Phone: 650-604-3558
Fax: 650-604-0932
Email: janessa.m.langford@nasa.gov
Name: Nellie M. Powell
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 650-604-3003
Fax: 650-604-2316
Email: nellie.m.powell@nasa.gov
