The atmospheric waves experiment (AWE) is proposed by the utah state university research foundation (USURF) in response to nasas 2016 heliophysics explorers mission of opportunity announcement…

NASA Goddard Space Center awarded a definitive contract to Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory for Phase A concept studies of the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) instrument on February 23, 2018, with a ceiling value of $57.3 million and ultimate completion on March 31, 2027.

The work responds to NASA's 2016 Heliophysics Explorers Mission of Opportunity announcement. SDL shall deliver a Phase A concept study report encompassing principal investigator program office, instrument system engineering and mission assurance, design of a flight-qualified AWE instrument meeting mission and science requirements, integration and test plans, field operations and launch/flight operations plans, and science investigation leadership with data product generation. SDL will develop instrument and mission systems requirements documents, detailed block diagrams and technical descriptions, conduct instrument-level design reviews and trade studies, and lead the science team through instrument-level test planning and integration participation.

Place of performance is North Logan, Utah. The contract is priced on a cost-no-fee basis with no set-aside applied. Subcontractors include Global Atmospheric Technologies And Sciences, Inc. for S-Transform development and gravity wave modeling, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for co-PI science team support, Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC (Teledyne Judson) for focal plane array design and delivery, The Regents of the University of Colorado for deputy PI support and requirements development, and Utah State University serving principal investigator leadership.

Service Contract Inventory reporting shows declining labor utilization across the performance period: FY2021 invoiced $11.9 million across 29.2 FTEs and 60,836 contractor hours; FY2025 invoiced $3.8 million across 13.3 FTEs and 27,615 contractor hours. Government-paid hourly rates declined from $194.86 per hour in FY2021 to $138.14 per hour in FY2025. In FY2025, SDL subcontracted 86 percent of contractor hours across four named subcontractors.

The atmospheric waves experiment (AWE) is proposed by the utah state university research foundation (USURF) in response to nasas 2016 heliophysics explorers mission of opportunity announcement NNH12ZDA005O-hpexmo. This statement of work (SOW) describes the work to be conducted by USURF during the phase a (AWE) concept studies. USURF shall provide the necessary personnel, materials, equipment, and facilities to produce the AWE phase a concept study report (CSR) that encompasses: 1. Principal investigator program office. 2. Instrument system engineering, including instrument mission assurance. 3. Design of a flight qualified AWE instrument meeting mission and science requirements. 4. Develop plans in support of integration and test of the AWE instrument flight system. 5. Develop plans in support of essential field operations 6. Develop plans in support of launch operations, flight operations. 7. Develop plans for and lead the AWE science investigation, as well as the generation of resulting data products.USURF shall provide a briefing on the AWE science and science implementation plan at the phase a site visit. USURF shall provide an organization chart defining USURF roles and responsibilities, reporting procedures, and lines of authority. Participate in defining the relationships between the USURF PI program office and the NASA explorers program office. USURF shall develop a AWE instrument systems requirements document and a AWE mission systems requirements document. USURF shall develop detailed block diagrams and technical descriptions of all instrument systems. USURF shall conduct in-depth instrument-level reviews of the proposed instrument design. Conduct essential trade studies, analyses, modeling and simulations to assure compliance with instrument requirements. USURF shall lead the science team. USURF shall develop an instrument-level test plan and participate in planning for integration and test.