NASA headquarters (HQ) has chartered and is partially sponsoring the maturation of four (4) large strategic mission concept studies prior to the 2020 astrophysics decadal survey to provide four…

This is a cooperative agreement between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems Inc. to support the Origins Space Telescope (OST) mission concept study. The objective is to have BAE Systems perform systems engineering trades, produce technical documentation, and evaluate options to help the OST Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) demonstrate the feasibility and readiness of the mission for the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. The $100,000 award covers research and analysis in areas such as optical systems, observatory architecture, and mid-infrared detectors. BAE Systems is a major aerospace and defense contractor that holds several key federal contract vehicles with NASA and the Department of Defense, enabling the company to provide ongoing technical expertise and support for critical space programs. This contract award does not have a set-aside designation.

NASA headquarters (HQ) has chartered and is partially sponsoring the maturation of four (4) large strategic mission concept studies prior to the 2020 astrophysics decadal survey to provide four scientifically compelling mission concepts with existence-proof point-designs that are feasible and executable with respect to technical, cost, and risk considerations. Each of these four mission concepts is community-led by a science and technology definition team (STDT), whose expert members were appointed by NASA HQ. The four large mission concepts being studied, in alphabetical order, are: 1. Habitable exoplanet imager (HABEX) 2. Large ultraviolet optical infrared (LUVOIR) surveyor 3. Lynx, formerly known as the X-RAY surveyor 4. Origins space telescope (OST), formerly known as the far-infrared surveyor each mission concept STDT is supported by a NASA center, which supplies an engineering team tasked to develop a point design that meets the science goals defined by the STDT. NASA HQ assigned the OST mission concept study to gsfc. The objective of this cooperative agreement notice (can) is to partner with U.S. Commercial businesses and/or academic institutions to perform system engineering trades, produce whitepapers, engineering reports, error budgets, and other documentation that will help the OST STDT to evaluate technical options and convince the decadal survey that the mission is worthy of prioritization. Listed below are identified areas of interest, with the caveat that this list is not comprehensive: (1) optical systems a. Radiometric throughput analysis B. End-to-end wavefront error budget development C. Mirror material evaluation, fabrication study and planning: innovative solutions that plausibly lead to cost savings in mirror segment manufacturing, integration, and testing consistent with the osts cryogenic operating temperature and long-wavelength application (2) observatory systems, subsystems and deployments a. Observatory-level cryo-thermal system architecture for a large cryogenic telescope, with implementation approach, including sunshield design and deployment, current state-of-the-art cryocoolers, and approach to minimizing thermal conducting path between warm and cold subsystems B. Active/passive dynamic isolation and pointing control systems C. Backplane, packaging, and deployment design for 5-meter fairing launch vehicles D. Observatory integration and test planning and flow E. Materials trades (3) mid-IR detectors