This preliminary information is being made available for planning purposes only, subject to FAR Clause 52.215-3, entitled “Solicitation for Information and Planning Purposes.” It does not constitute a Request for Proposal, Invitation for Bid, or Request for Quotation, and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. This procurement is subject to review or cancellation at any time.
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is the first mission under the Living With a Star program as part of the Sun-Earth Connection. SDO will be made up of several instruments seeking to characterize the dynamic state of the Sun, thus enhancing NASA’s understanding of the solar process and space weather. SDO is viewed as a follow-on to the successful Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission. It will be a three-axis stabilized satellite in a circular geosynchronous orbit of ~105 degrees longitude and having an inclination of 28.5 degrees. SDO will have a mission life of 5 years, and currently, is scheduled for launch in April 2008.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is soliciting comments on requirements established regarding the SDO Communications Subsystem Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA). The present requirements are specified in the attached documents: Exhibit 1 – Statement of Work for SDO Project Ka-band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (464-COMM-LEGL-0059), Exhibit 2 – Performance Specification SDO Ka-band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (464-COMM-SPEC-0100), and Exhibit 3 Deliverable Items List and Schedule (DILS) SDO Project – Ka-band Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier.
This notice is issued by the NASA GSFC to post a draft SOW, Specification, and DILS via the Internet, and to solicit input and recommendations from interested parties. The objective of this RFI is to gather information that promotes competition and increases procurement efficiency by improving NASA GSFC’s knowledge of industry’s capabilities. NASA GSFC invites potential offerors to submit information that may be used to determine eligibility to be participants in feedback sessions with the SDO project. This procedure is described in FAR Part 15.202. The intent of the sessions is to provide dialogue in which participants can provide feedback on NASA GSFC requirements and its acquisition approach. The compilation of submitted information may be factored along with SDO requirements to refine the aforementioned SOW (Exhibit 1), Specification (Exhibit 2), and DILS (Exhibit 3).
Potential offerors are requested to submit information in the form of a brief Capabilities and Qualifications Statement that includes: 1) Capability to comply with the present requirements outlined in the Performance Specification and SOW. Requirements that are not in compliance should be noted with brief comment that either describe how a potential offeror’s Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier could be brought into compliance or state the potential offeror’s position on such requirement. This would serve as a main topic in one-on-one feedback sessions. It should also be stated as to whether certain requirements are cost drivers or increase risk and as to whether or not a fixed-price contract would be acceptable. 2) Capability to meet the hardware deliverable schedule, and 3) Summary of past relevant experience in developing traveling wave tube amplifiers. Please advise if this requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in Internet “Note A”.
The Government reserves the right to consider a small business or 8(a) set-aside based on responses hereto.
This notice constitutes all information concerning the SDO Communications Subsystem Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier that will be furnished at this time. Interested firms are requested to submit their capability statements to Ms. Lorrie Eakin, by email at Lorrie.L.Eakin@nasa.gov no later than the response date indicated above. Documents, comments, and questions may be forwarded to Ms. Eakin via electronic transmission or by facsimile transmission. In addition, copies of all documents shall also be forwarded to Mr. Michael K. Powers, at NASA GSFC, Mail Code 597, Greenbelt, MD 20771, or by e-mail at Michael.K.Powers@nasa.gov. When responding reference the number above (e.g., SDO-XXXX-XXX-XXXX).
This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, or will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. Respondents will not be notified of the final results from the one-on-one discussions. An ombudsman has been appointed—See NASA Specific Note “B”. The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in Microsoft Office 2000 format and will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA GSFC Business Opportunities home page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin;=51 . It is the offeror’s responsibility to monitor the Internet site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments, if any. Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
