SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- NASA-GSFC-POD-PIXIE-CRYOCOOLER-SYSTEM
- Notice Date
- 12/11/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 336419
— Other Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 210.S, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- ZIP Code
- 20771
- Solicitation Number
- NASA-GSFC-POD-PIXIE-CRYOCOOLER-SYSTEM
- Response Due
- 2/12/2016
- Archive Date
- 12/11/2016
- Point of Contact
- Julie A Crooke, Engineer, Phone 301-286-7255, Email Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov - Julie A. Janus, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-286-4931, Fax 301-286-0341, Email Julie.A.Janus@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Julie A Crooke
(Julie.A.Crooke@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Partnership Opportunity Document (POD)for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) PIXIE Cryo-cooler System General Information 1.0 Introduction and Scope This proposal opportunity is for a NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for an Explorers Mission expected to be released in September 2016. The draft AO is expected in the Spring/early Summer of 2016. NASA GSFC is seeking a partner to develop the 4-10 Kelvin (K) cryo-cooler system for a potential mission concept proposal, the Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE). The potential GSFC Explorer mission concept 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 expected to be 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, however, with convincing information on technology readiness, implementable design that is traceable to science requirements, programmatic cost and schedule risk. The initial submissions will then be down-selected, and the resultant subset of proposals will be funded to perform Phase A mission concept studies. During Phase A (Step 2), proposals will be expanded and refined to detail the entire end-to-end mission life cycle concept, with greater attention to engineering implementation, technology risk, programmatic, cost and schedule risk. While the AO schedule cannot be specified at this time, the following is estimated based on earlier AOs and related missions: AO release: September 2016 (target) Proposals due:December 2016 (target) Phase A selection: June/July 2017 (target) Phase A concept study report due: June 2018 (target) Mission selection: January 2019 (target) Launch readiness date: NLT November 2024 This partnership opportunity is being issued to select a teaming partner to help prepare the GSFC Explorer candidate mission concept for the initial Step 1 proposal submittal; to assist in the Phase A mission concept study report and Site Visit if the mission is down-selected; and to provide a flight qualified cryo-cooler system within the allocated schedule and budget should the mission be selected for flight. There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the AO proposal cycle. If the proposed mission is selected for a Phase A Concept Study, limited funding will be available according to the budget developed during proposal preparation. If the proposed mission is selected for flight, partner(s) will be funded according to the budget developed during the AO proposal phase. 2.0 Subsystem Overview Cost is an important issue for the mission designs. The likely PI-managed mission cost cap for the Explorer AO will be $225M in FY17$. This cost includes the instrument, spacecraft, management, safety & mission assurance, integration & testing, instrument to spacecraft integration support, integration support for the spacecraft to launch vehicle, and spacecraft operations, as well as required contingency (25% or greater reserves on Phases A-D). This cost does not include launch services. Reserves will be held at the Project level, and not with the partner. GSFC is interested in finding a partner to develop a flight-qualified 4-10 K cryo-cooler system. No other subsystems are part of this POD. Proprietary detailed information on the cryo-cooler system specification will be provided to those responding with a Notice of Interest. A Notice of Interest (it is intentionally not called a notice of intent) does not obligate an organization to provide a POD response, however, by responding with a Notice of Interest, the receiver of the proprietary detailed specifications on the cryo-cooler are bound by non-disclosure agreements of proprietary information and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions as stated and labeled in the follow-up documents. 3.0 Pre-selection Support 3.1 Initial Proposal Support SOW: It is expected that the selected respondent will provide support using their own resources to help develop and write the Mission proposal in response to the AO in the area of the cryo-cooler system (TBD pages as specified in the AO). This will involve meeting with the scientists and the overall mission engineering team: To help define the end-to-end performance and interface requirements; to define the flight system architecture; to identify study topics; and to predict performance. This will include cost estimation for all mission phases. Note: The cost differentiation between the Step 1 proposal and the Step 2 Phase A proposal can not be exceeded by 10%. The period of performance of the Step 1 proposal for this interval is expected to last 5--7 months, starting approximately April/May of 2016 and lasting until the Step 1 proposal is submitted, currently anticipated to be December 2016. 3.2 Phase A Study and Phase A Proposal Support SOW: If the mission is selected for a Phase A study, the proposal team will receive $TBD (total Phase A funding level will be identified in the AO) to conduct a Phase A study and submit a detailed concept study report and hold a Site Visit. The respondent, providing the cryo-cooler system for the mission, will be allocated a portion of this total budget to perform trade studies as identified in the initial proposal. The respondent will also be expected to contribute to designing, documenting, and costing the cryo-cooler system design, fabrication, integration and testing for inclusion in the final Explorer mission concept study report (as specified in the AO) and provide support to the Site Visit. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last approximately 11 to 16 months, starting approximately summer of 2017. 3.3 POD Response Instructions for Pre-Selection Support The respondent shall: 1) Demonstrate understanding and experience in the design, fabrication, integration and testing of the cryo-cooler system under consideration: Identify the means of addressing system requirements your team assumes are likely to exist and tasks the system is intended for, Highlight particularly critical or challenging areas for the design of the cryo-cooler system, Provide a technical summary/description of the proposed hardware including relevant heritage (mission names and instrument names, launch dates, successful performance, etc.) and information regarding the respondents on-time schedule and cost delivery of stated system(s) on previous space flight missions and/or missions currently in development Provide information on how much of the cryo-cooler system for this mission concept needs to change relative to previously provided/delivered cryo-cooler systems by the respondent. Provide information on the TRL of the anticipated cryo-cooler required for proposing with this mission concept proposal. 2) Identify any recommended trades related to the cryo-cooler system. 3) Indicate the level of resources to be allocated for the proposal phase. Discuss skills that will be provided, availability of required engineering support, past experience of engineering and oversight support, and the appropriate level of conceptual design, and all important analyses and trade studies. 4) Identify the pertinent missions for which they have previously provided support for proposal writing in the area of cryo-cooler system design, fabrication, integration and testing: Provide data on scope of the cryo-cooler system design, the role that they played in the proposal process, and the portions of the proposal they have written or provided assistance in writing. Provide a customer reference POC. Describe how this proposal role mapped to their role in the end cryo-cooler system development. If the scope changed, explain why. 4.0 Development Support SOW: At the end of Phase A another down-select occurs. If the mission is selected for development and launch, the respondent will be responsible for the design, development, fabrication, test and delivery of the cryo-cooler system. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last approximately 57 months, starting early 2019. This date may change depending upon selection timelines and budget allocations. POD Response Instructions for Development Support The respondent shall: 1) Identify available design and modeling capabilities required to support development of the cryo-cooler system. Describe the level of experience with similar cryo-cooler system for all important personnel. 2) Identify fabrication and testing facilities that will be required to support development and test of the cryo-cooler system. 3) Identify which missions they have successfully supported in this capacity and provide a customer reference POC. Provide information on recent similar cryo-cooler system designed and delivered, and describe how that experience is applicable to this mission. This shall include basic information on scope of work, how well the fielded cryo-cooler system met the cost and technical requirements, and how well the fielded cryo-cooler system met the proposed schedules. 4) Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate and timeline for the scope of the design, fabrication, and testing of the cryo-cooler system. The ROM will not be considered a binding commitment, but will serve as a consideration during the partnership evaluation. In consideration of the rigid cost cap for Explorer missions, the cost range for the cryo-cooler system will be an important consideration. The respondent is invited to comment on the reasonableness of the ROM cost estimate. 5) The missions will be very cost sensitive. List ideas and methods of keeping costs low and the risk of cost growth low, including how you, the respondent, would utilize existing open market hardware to minimize costs and provide a more robust system. 5.0 Additional Information For pre-selection or development support, the respondent can provide any additional information on any other pertinent missions for which his/her establishment, and any partners/vendors proposed, have provided cryo-cooler systems, and identify the relevant details of similar systems. The respondent may also identify any other ideas and related activities, which your organization is or has been involved with, and the significance of that activity to this mission. 6.0 General Instructions for POD Response Potential respondents are asked to contact the GSFC Explorer team by 5 PM EST on January 11, 2016 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 specification of the cryo-cooler system, 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 team necessary to prepare a full response without full, written consent from NASA GSFC. By responding to this with a Notice of Interest, the respondent/receiver of the proprietary detailed specifications on the cryo-cooler are bound by non-disclosure agreements of proprietary information and ITAR restrictions as stated and labeled in the follow-up documents. After receipt of the technical specification 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 respondents 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) The response to this partnership opportunity is limited to 15 pages in not less than 12- point font. Excluded from the page count are the cover letter, title pages, table of contents and page for the acronyms list. Respondents may attach additional appendices that further describe their capabilities, although GSFC is under no obligation to include the contents of such appendices in the evaluation of the offer package. 2) Address all requirements noted in sections 2.0 through 7.0 of this document. Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such. The entire offer package, including any cover letter, title pages, and other supporting material, shall be formatted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The offer packages (electronic copy only) must be received by 5 pm EST, February 12, 2016. The offer packages are to be delivered via email to the above listed contact. Each offeror will be contacted after submission to schedule a telecon or face-to-face walk-through of their material. 7.0 Selection Criteria for Awarding Partnership Opportunity Selection criteria will be consistent with the desire to encourage cost effective partnerships between the Government and Industry. The information requested in Section 7.0 will allow the evaluators to determine how well the respondents cryo-cooler system are appropriate to this Explorer mission. Selection Criteria Proposal/Pre-selection Support (40 points) Experience (and Team skills) and past performance in proposal phases Resource commitment. Identification and description of key critical areas Demonstrated understanding of the technical requirements of the proposed cryo-cooler system Demonstrated technology readiness of past and/or current cryo-coolers Proposed approach to meet the system technical requirements. Proposed approach to meet the cost and schedule requirements. Recommended design studies Development Support (60 points) Reasonableness of cost and schedule estimates Experience and past performance in development phases Experience and heritage with respect to similar cryo-cooler spaceflight hardware Experience developing and implementing similar cryo-cooler spaceflight hardware is a minimum requirement. Cost control measures Reasonableness of design and modeling capabilities to support the effort Reasonableness of fabrication and testing facilities to support the effort Mass of cryo-cooler. Power and any thermal control capability of the cryo-cooler. Power efficiency of system, sub-system or component Ability to survive and operate in target environment Ability of system to meet or simplify other mission requirements or challenges the respondent identifies 8.0Acronyms List AO: Announcement of Opportunity DSN: Deep Space Network EST: Eastern Standard Time FY: Fiscal Year GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center ITAR: International Traffic in Arms Regulations K: Kelvin NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOI: Notice of Interest PI: Principal Investigator PIXIE:Primordial Inflation Explorer POC: Point of Contact POD: Partnership Opportunity Document ROM: Rough Order of Magnitude SOW: Statement Of Work TBD: To Be Determined
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FBO.gov Permalink
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- Record
- SN03967661-W 20151213/151211234156-1ea4c882a4c8811a0f6a25e1ec6319de (fbodaily.com)
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FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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