Partnership Opportunity for the Explorer Spacecraft
Synopsis – May 10, 2010
Partnership Opportunity Document – Posted on May 10, 2010
General Information
Solicitation Number: 101-2010
Posted Date: May 10, 2010
FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 10, 2010
Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No
Original Response Date: Jun 25, 2010
Current Response Date: Jun 25, 2010
Classification Code: A — Research and Development
NAICS Code: 334511 – Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
Set-Aside Code:
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 210.S, Greenbelt, MD 20771
Description
NASA GSFC is seeking a partner for a spacecraft, and related spacecraft subsystems for a potential proposal. The potential GSFC Explorer mission is designed to meet the science goals of the Explorer Program, as currently understood.
GSFC mission teams will be submitting proposals to the Explorers AO currently scheduled for release in mid to late calendar year 2010. The AO is a two-step process, with the first proposal response being primarily focused on the merit and feasibility of the science objectives of the proposed mission. The initial submissions will then be down-selected, and the resultant subset of proposals will be funded to perform Phase A concept studies. During Phase A, proposals will be expanded and refined to detail the entire end-to-end mission life cycle concept, with greater attention to engineering implementation. While the AO schedule cannot be specified at this time, the following is estimated based on earlier AO’s and related missions:
AO release June-October 2010 Proposals due January 2011 (target) Phase A selection July/Aug 2011 Phase A concept study report Summer 2012 (target) Mission selection Late 2012 (target)
Launch 2016 for first mission Late 2018 for additional mission (if selected)
This partnership opportunity is being issued to select a teaming partner to help prepare the GSFC Explorer candidate mission concept for the initial proposal submittal; to assist in the Phase A concept study if the mission is down-selected; and to provide a flight qualified spacecraft system should the mission be selected for flight. The major flight system GSFC is interested in finding partners for is a low cost low earth orbiting spacecraft. If the potential partner also has a mission operations capability that might present a cost-effective option to the project, the potential partner may include the mission operations effort in his or her proposal. Instruments are not part of this POD. Potential proposers to this POD may submit proposals covering any subset of the subsystems or systems noted herein.
There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the portion of this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the initial submission to the Explorer AO. Limited funding will be available for Phase A and full funding will be available for subsequent phases should the mission be competitively selected for those additional phases.
Potential respondents are asked to contact the GSFC Explorer team by 5 PM EDT on May 28, 2010 with a Notice Of Interest (intentionally not called a notice of intent). This Notice of Interest does not create an obligation to respond to the POD, but allows the GSFC Explorer team to disseminate additional details on the mission parameters and to provide answers to questions from potential partners. All Notice of Interest respondents will receive a document containing additional details on the proposed mission, which can be used to facilitate a focused response to the partnership opportunity. These details are proprietary and competition sensitive and are not to be shared outside the teams necessary to prepare a full response.
After receipt of the mission document, respondents may send questions to the GSFC Explorer Team at the E-mail address listed below. All questions and answers will be made available to all those who respond to the Notice of Interest. The source of the questions shall be held confidential. Questions and answers that contain information unique to a respondent’s proprietary approach will not be shared if they are identified as such.
Notice of Interest shall be sent to Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov via email with ‘Notice of Interest’ in the subject line, a simple sentence or two expressing interest and an email and address to send further information. For purposes of this partnership opportunity, the GSFC Explorer Team contact is Julie Crooke, Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov, 301-286-7255.
Responses to the Partnership Opportunity Document [POD] shall:
1) Be in a presentation format (viewgraphs) that shall not exceed 30 pages. The font size for the text shall be no smaller than 12 point. 2) Be specific about the system (spacecraft, subsystem, etc.) the response is for. 3) Address all requirements noted in sections 3.0 through 7.0 of this document.
Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such.
The respondents shall deliver the requested information in a presentation format. Final presentation packages must be received by 5 PM EDT on June 25, 2010. Please provide 10 copies and one DVD or CD of the presentation and deliver them to:
Julie Crooke NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Code 101 Building 8, Room 301-D Greenbelt, MD 20771 (Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov) 301-286-7255
All respondents will have an opportunity to make oral presentations of their proposed capabilities/concepts. All respondents that intend to make presentations must provide written or electronic notice by 5:00 P (EDT) on June 25, 2010. Notice may be by e-mail to Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov or in writing to the above address.
Oral presentations will be conducted at GSFC on July 7 and 8, 2010. Exceptions to those dates may be requested. Presentations will be scheduled in two-hour blocks. Speakers will have one hour to present with a second hour to be used for questions and answers.
The requested information through this POD is for preliminary planning purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that NASA will solicit the submitter for a procurement of any related effort in the future. NASA will not be responsible for any costs incurred by submitters in furnishing this information.
This solicitation/synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. An ombudsman has been appointed. See Internet Note “B”. The documents for this partnership opportunity will be in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, or PowerPoint 4.0) format and will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The WWW address, or URL, of the NASA/GSFC Business Opportunities home page is http://procurement.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin=51 .
It is the offerors responsibility to monitor this cite for the release of the Partnership Opportunity Document and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the Partnership Opportunity Document and amendments, if any. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html .
Point of Contact
Name: Dawn M. Fountain
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 301-286-3318
Fax: 301-286-1773
Email: Dawn.M.Fountain@nasa.gov
