SOURCES SOUGHT
58 -- S BAND DATA TELEMETRY SYSTEM
- Notice Date
- 2/5/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334220
— Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135
- ZIP Code
- 44135
- Solicitation Number
- NNC08ZRC012R
- Response Due
- 2/20/2008
- Archive Date
- 2/5/2009
- Point of Contact
- Glen M. Williams, Contracting Officer, Phone 216-433-2885, Fax 216-433-2480, Email Glen.M.Williams-1@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Email your questions to Glen M. Williams
(Glen.M.Williams-1@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NASA/GRC is hereby soliciting information about potential sources for S band data telemetry systems in support of the Ares I Upper Stage Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) Telemetry System Preliminary Requirements The NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio will be acquiring a telemetry system for the Development Flight Instrumentation System (DFIS) that is planned to fly on the Upper Stage of NASA?s Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). The telemetry system is expected to consist of a transmitter, antennas (2 at 90 degree vehicle diversity [TBR]), and properly matched radio frequency connection cable(s). This notice is issued by the NASA GRC via the Internet to post a Request for Information (RFI), seek product availability, and solicit responses from interested parties. Responses are to be forwarded to the technical point of contact, Robert E. Jones only via e-mail to Robert.E.Jones@nasa.gov or facsimile transmission at Fax: (216) 433-8705 no later than [INSERT DATE, 14 days after release of RFI]. The voice phone is (216) 433-3457. Prospective offerors are also invited to submit initial written or verbal comments or questions for clarification to the technical point of contact. Prior to any facsimile transmission, please contact the technical point of contact via phone. Do NOT call the procurement primary point of contact listed on this notice to clarify technical information. Only preliminary information is included within this document. Very comprehensive information about system operation, storage, and transport environmental requirements, as well as test and verification parameters in the form of attachments containing a draft SOW and Specifications will be posted for comments when finalized, but not before the deadline of this RFI. The anticipated type of procurement action is to obtain a completely integrated telemetry system using commercially available components that are configured to meet NASA?s specific function. The contractor is expected to provide the entire system, or subcontract the necessary components. Some units will also need to undergo spaceflight qualification (i.e. environmental) testing prior to delivery. Flight units will also need to undergo acceptance testing (3 line items: commercial unit, commercial units spaceflight qualified, commercial units acceptance tested prior to flight). A fourth line item for technical support is also anticipated. An indefinite delivery indefinite quantity type contract is anticipated with minimum and maximum number of telemetry systems over a five year period will be specified. The contractor is expected to be able to either perform the environmental and space flight qualification testing, or subcontract for it. The following information is requested: 1.The viability of providing an integrated telemetry system at the proposed center frequency, bandwidth, modulation format, and transmitter power. 2.Your ability to provide an integrated telemetry system, including verification and validation of flight test requirements for the system. 3.It is assumed that a slightly modified commercial item will be procured, however, if the preliminary requirements indicate that a commercial item procurement may not be possible, please inform us. 4.Availability of band pass and band reject filtering options in the transmitter, at the power and band levels indicated. 5.Do any requirements in the preliminary document indicate a significant price increase from your standard commercially available hardware? 6.Identify if there is anything unclear in the preliminary requirements document. 7.Will having ?to be determined? (TBD) and ?to be resolved? (TBR) items (specifications portions to be finalized after award) pose a problem with proposing a firm fixed price for performance? 8.Will having technical support priced by the hour pose a problem? (The actual amount of technical support is unknown and is anticipated to be procured by the hour with a not to exceed number of hours specified in the actual procurement). 9.Do you normally provide some number of technical support hours to assist with hardware integration and test? Background The Upper Stage is the second stage of NASA?s new Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle. In order to gather the data needed to support flight performance and model verification, Development Flight Instrumentation is planned to fly as an independent system on the first five Ares I development test flights. The Ares I Upper Stage Project is led by the NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. On behalf of the Upper Stage Avionics and Flight Software Integrated Product Team at NASA MSFC, the NASA Glenn Research Center is responsible for designing, developing, testing and delivering the Upper Stage DFI system. A vendor survey indicated that commercially available telemetry components may satisfy the radio frequency S-band performance requirements of the Upper Stage DFI telemetry system. Consequently, it is expected that the US DFI telemetry system will be based on currently available upper S-band frequency commercial transmitter, antenna and coaxial cable components configured to support the data transmission rates required for the Ares I Upper Stage DFI. In addition, the telemetry system components must pass space flight qualification and acceptance testing to be performed by the contractor per NASA requirements. DFI Preliminary S-Band Telemetry Requirements General Requirements The DFI S-Band Telemetry System will collect and transmit DFI vehicle data from the Upper stage and J-2X engine directly to the Earth-based ground monitoring stations of NASA?s Communications & Tracking Network (CTN). The DFI Upper Stage telemetry system includes one transmitter mounted inside the instrument ring of the CLV Upper Stage, and an antennae system mounted externally on the vehicle. All Upper Stage CLV DFI telemetry system hardware is considered expendable after an approximate ten minute operational flight time. The DFI Telemetry System shall meet flight operational performance for a flight time of approximately ten minutes. The total mass of the DFI Telemetry System shall not exceed [TBR] lbs. Weight reduction is a design goal. The DFI Telemetry System shall satisfy its performance requirements during exposure to the flight thermal environments defined in the Upper Stage [TBR] documents. The DFI Telemetry System shall satisfy all flight performance requirements after exposure to vibration and shock environments as defined in the Upper Stage [TBR] documents. Preliminary Transmitter Requirements The DFI S-Band Transmitter is a component of the telemetry system. The transmitter shall consist of a packaged unit capable of accepting the composite DFI data stream from a data acquisition unit, and sending this collected data to the Earth-based ground monitoring stations of NASA?s Communications & Tracking Network (CTN). The transmitter shall be capable of sending this data in a format compatible with the CTN systems. The materials used in the construction of the transmitter shall be chosen to minimize the effects of extreme environments. All Upper Stage CLV transmitter system hardware is considered expendable after an approximate ten minute flight time. Operational Frequency: The DFI S-Band Transmitter shall be tunable over the S-band frequency range to operate at a discrete frequency of 2370.5 MHz. Modulation Function: The DFI S-Band Transmitter shall operate using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation. Modulation Format: The DFI S-Band Transmitter shall provide two independent PSK-modulation functions (I and Q) [TBR]. Voltage Input: The DFI S-Band Transmitter shall operate and meet flight operational performance specifications with a steady state input voltage range of 23 to 36 VDC. Power Input: The maximum DC power consumption of the transmitter shall not exceed [TBR] Watts when the output is enabled and [TBR] Watts in standby mode over operational temperature range specified in [TBR]. Power Output: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall support up to 50 Watts of transmit power. Data Rates: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall provide data at a rate of 10 Mbps for each channel (I and Q). Data Input: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall accept a pulse code modulation (PCM) data stream. Operational Temperature: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall operate over a temperature profile range consistent with being internal to a dynamic launch vehicle over a 10 minute ISS launch trajectory [toward 51.6 degrees inclination] [TBR]. Operational Shock and Vibration: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall operate over a shock and vibration profile consistent with being internal to a dynamic launch vehicle over a 10 minute ISS launch trajectory [TBR]. Solid State: Solid state devices and amplifiers are given preference over electromechanical relays and other vibration sensitive electrical/electronic equipment. Band Reject Requirements: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall be filter tuned to reject RF energy by a minimum of 50 dB [TBR] over the frequency range from 2025 MHz to 2120 MHz. Band Pass Requirements: The DFI S-band Transmitter shall be filter tuned to pass RF energy over the frequency range from 2300 MHz to 2400 MHz. Preliminary Antenna Requirements The DFI S-Band Antenna is a component of the S-Band telemetry system of the Upper Stage of the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). This system will collect and transmit vehicle data from the Upper Stage and J-2X engine directly to the Earth-based ground monitoring stations of NASA?s Communications and Tracking Network (CTN) .The DFI Upper Stage telemetry system currently plans for two surface antennas mounted on the exterior of the instrument ring of the CLV Upper Stage. The antenna shall have the advantage of low height, high efficiency, and full hemispherical coverage. The materials used in the construction of the antenna shall be chosen to minimize the effects of extreme environments. All DFI Upper Stage CLV antenna system hardware is considered expendable after an approximate ten minute flight time. Frequency Range: The DFI S-band Antenna assembly will be tuned to operate over the frequency range from 2300 MHz (TBR) to 2400 MHz (TBR). Power Handling: The DFI S-band Antenna RF power handling capability shall be 50 W [TBR] continuous wave at all pressures between ambient pressure and 10-5 Torr [TBR]. Operational Temperature: The DFI S-Band Antenna operational temperature limits shall range from -300F (-184C) to +300F (+149C). Shock Temperature: The DFI S-Band shall be capable of handling a temperature shock of +500F (+288C). Operational Shock and Vibration: The DFI S-band Antenna shall operate over a shock and vibration profile consistent with being external to a dynamic launch vehicle over a 10 minute ISS launch trajectory [TBR]. Connector Requirements: The DFI S-Band Antenna shall be connected to the telemetry system through a standard type TNC female connector or standard SMA female connector. Solid State: Solid state devices and amplifiers are given preference over electromechanical relays and other vibration sensitive electrical/electronic equipment. Preliminary RF Cable Requirements The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable is a component of the S-Band telemetry system of the Upper Stage of the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). This system will collect and transmit vehicle data from the Upper Stage and J-2X engine directly to the Earth-based ground monitoring stations of NASA?s Communications & Tracking Network (CTN). The CLV Upper Stage telemetry system includes coax cables which connect the S-Band telemetry system components mounted inside the instrument ring of the CLV Upper Stage. The coax cable shall act to route and deliver RF power to the components of the S-Band telemetry system. The materials used in the construction of the coax cable shall be chosen to minimize the effects of extreme environments. All Upper Stage CLV coax cable hardware is considered expendable. Operational Frequency: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable shall provide transmission of RF energy over the frequency range from 2200 MHz to 2400 MHz. Insertion Loss: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable, with TNC connectors installed, shall have an insertion loss shall be no greater than 7.0 dB per 100 feet plus 0.1 dB per connector over the frequency range from 2200 MHz to 2400 MHz. RF Power Handling: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable shall be designed to handle at least 100 watts RF power over the frequency range from 2200 to 2400 MHz. Cable Shielding: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable shielding shall be greater than 80 dB/ft over the frequency range from 2200 MHz to 2400 MHz. Velocity of Propagation: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable velocity of propagation shall be at least 84% [TBR]. Weight: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable weight shall be no greater than 7.5 lbs/100 ft. [TBR] Size: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable diameter shall be no greater than 0.29 [+/-TBR] inches. Minimum Bend Radius: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable diameter shall be no greater than 0.29 [+/-TBR] inches. RF Connector: The DFI S-Band Coaxial Cable connectors on each end of the coax cable shall be stainless steel type TNC male connector or standard SMA male connector. 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. Responses must include the following: name and address of firm, size of business; average annual revenue for past 3 years and number of employees; ownership; whether they are large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone, and/or woman-owned; number of years in business; affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners, prime contractor (if potential sub) or subcontractors (if potential prime); list of customers covering the past five years (highlight relevant work performed, contract numbers, contract type, dollar value of each procurement; and point of contact - address and phone number). Please advise if the requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes 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. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement.
- Web Link
-
http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=22#128640
- Record
- SN01500695-W 20080207/080205224623 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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