RPP Amendment - Questions and Answers.pdf

Questions Submitted in response to Request for Project Proposal TMATE

Request for White Paper Proposal,

1. Appendix 001, Section I states "Flow-down articles may be provided at the offeror’s request". Is the government able to provide those articles prior to the submission deadline for this opportunity?

NOAA Response: The intent of this statement is that any flow down articles requested by the Offeror may be addressed during the development of the Agreement.

2. Can the USG please clarify if the Data Rights/Intellectual Property Evaluation Criteria is applicable to hardware being utilized as part of the end-solution or if this was listed solely in reference to the data being produced and supplied to NOAA?

NOAA Response: Data Rights/Intellectual Property will be assessed based on the white paper and may consider any part of the solution. Data Rights and Intellectual Property requirements will be negotiated as a part of any Agreement resulting from the white papers.

3. Would the USG allow for 10 pt font size for graphics, figures, and tables per standard USG RFPs?

NOAA Response: Yes

4. We are assuming that the NEDT requirements apply at the following integration times and bandwidths: 18 ms integration time (same as ATMS), 330 MHz for 57 GHz (ATMS channel 10), 1000 MHz for 183 (ATMS channel 20). Does the USG have any concern with these assumptions?

NOAA Response: Please include any assumptions on how requirements will be met as a part of the white paper.

5. Can the Government give examples of and more context or provide a clarifying definition on what may be deemed "significant development": Existing and adaptable commercial or other solution that meets or exceeds all objectives identified in Appendix 001 without what the Government interprets to be a significant development. For example, would integrating into a satellite and launching an existing (ie, “sitting on the shelf“) instrument considered be “significant development“?

NOAA Response: In this context, significant development is intended to include technology maturation and operational readiness. For instance, an existing on-orbit capability may require less development than an assembled and tested instrument that has not been launched, which in turn requires less maturation than an instrument concept.

6. How does the Government trade off / score a) fulfilling the technical requirements and technical maturation efforts with b) “no significant developments“ activities?

NOAA Response: As stated in the RPP, “Offerors with a White Paper rated “Favorable” in all criteria will be placed into Category 1 – Selected Offerors and receive an invitation for advancement to Phase II. Offerors with White Paper ratings of “potential” or “unfavorable” may be placed in this category at Government discretion should the Government desire to further explore the solution.”

7. The submission deadline is MARCH 9, 2026 at 3:00PM ET/12:00PM PT. Can the government provide a 2-week extension for the submission of this white paper so that vendors can have a reasonable time to respond to answers to questions and incorporate that feedback into our white papers?

NOAA Response: Based on the questions received, NOAA will extend the submission deadline to March 16, 2026 at 3:00PM ET/12:00PM PT.

8. In the RFP Objectives (Pg. 4) under "Capability Gap" it is stated that the "Data provided under this agreement will be delivered to NOAA and released to the general public."

Later under the Phase II - Basis for Evaluation (Pg. 9) "Data/Intellectual Property Rights" are specified as a top-level evaluation criteria. Can the Government provide clarity on the requirement for data rights and IP, and whether or not it is up to the offeror to specify or whether general public release is required?

NOAA Response: Data Rights/Intellectual Property will be assessed based on the white paper and may consider any part of the solution. Data Rights and Intellectual Property requirements will be negotiated as a part of any Agreement resulting from the white papers. However, it is expected that at a minimum, science data produced under any Agreement resulting from this RPP will be made available to the public, consistent with NOAA Administrative Order 212-15B.

9. Besides total price evaluation, will the magnitude of the offeror contribution (Cash or In-Kind) have an impact on proposal evaluation?

NOAA Response: NOAA will evaluate the overall ROM pricing to include offeror contributions. In addition, these contributions may be negotiated as a part of Agreement development.

Statement of Objectives:

10.Appendix 001: Tables 2 & 3: For vertical temperature and water vapor profile requirements, how should the offeror demonstrate this requirement given inherent uncertainties in the model and scene used for analysis?

NOAA Response: The requirements shown in Tables 1-3 are overall NOAA observational objectives. White papers should describe what contributions a proposed solution can make towards meeting these objectives, in concert with other existing and planned NOAA observational systems. Offerors should state any assumptions relative to the measurement precision of their proposed solution.

11.Table 2: Could the government please further clarify what it means by coverage being “global within 24 hours” for the threshold?

NOAA Response: A minimum of one observation globally each day.

12.Table 3: Could the government please further clarify what it means by coverage being “global within 24 hours” for the threshold?

NOAA Response: A minimum of one observation globally each day.

13.Table 1: Are global coverage in 24 hours and footprint thresholds absolute requirements? This may drive towards multiple satellites for instance when a single satellite is likely to achieve 90% - 98% global coverage depending on altitude and swath width.

NOAA Response: Offerors should state any coverage limitations as a part of their white paper response. TMATE is expected to contribute to the satisfaction of the stated requirements in combination with other existing and planned NOAA observational systems, all of which contribute towards the objective 6 hour global refresh cycle.

14.Table 1: Could the government please further clarify what it means by coverage being “global in 24 hours” for the threshold and “global in 6 hours” means?

NOAA Response: TMATE is expected to contribute to the satisfaction of the stated requirements in combination with other existing and planned NOAA observational systems, all of which contribute towards the objective 6 hour global refresh cycle.

“Global in 24 hours” means one daily observation worldwide. Global in 6 hours means one observation worldwide every six hours.

15.Table 1: Would you still consider using on-orbit data from the existing or upcoming flight instruments for demonstration purposes if it does not meet all threshold requirements?

NOAA Response: TMATE is expected to contribute to the satisfaction of the stated requirements in combination with other existing and planned NOAA observational systems, all of which contribute towards the objective 6 hour global refresh cycle. Any limitations to meeting threshold requirements should be described as a part of the white paper.

16.Other offeror-proposed solutions: Would you consider technology maturation of additional channels beyond temperature and water vapour to improve sensitivity to ice hydrometeors and provide new information on cloud characteristics.

NOAA Response: As described in the RPP, NOAA will evaluate white papers based on their ability to meet SOO objectives. NOAA may include solutions that do not meet SOO objectives at its discretion, should NOAA desire to further explore these solutions.

However, it should be noted that the primary intent of this RPP is to contribute towards numerical weather prediction models, as described in the SOO.

General Questions:

17.Can this proposal include data provided from existing on orbit assets? Is this preferred to launching an existing (“sitting on the shelf“) instrument or not necessarily?

NOAA Response: As described in the RPP, NOAA will evaluate white papers based on their ability to meet SOO objectives. Please refer to SOO Section III for examples of the types of activities that may be pursued under TMATE.

18.Is there a mission lifetime requirement?

NOAA Response: There is no explicit mission lifetime requirement. Offerors should state any assumptions or limitations as a part of their white paper response.

19.Can you please provide the estimated or target timeline between White Paper submission, Final Down-Select, and eventual award?

NOAA Response: NOAA intends to finalize any Agreements resulting from this RPP no later than 9/1/2026.

20.Should the ROM pricing cover only the activities to be performed during the Period of Performance (up to 24 months), such as technology maturation, ground-based testing, or on-orbit demonstration with existing assets?

NOAA Response: The ROM pricing should address the period of performance of the proposed OTA.

21.Or should the ROM pricing include the full end-to-end cost to achieve operational on-orbit data collection by 2030, including spacecraft development, launch, and commissioning (if not already on-orbit)?

NOAA Response: The ROM pricing should address the period of performance of the proposed OTA. Please refer to the performance objectives in Section V of the SOO.

22.If an offeror's solution requires launch of a new instrument to achieve the 2030 operational capability, should those costs be included in the Phase I ROM, or would they be addressed separately in a follow-on OTA (e.g., in the "planning estimate of budget and schedule for implementation" mentioned in Section V.3.d of the SOO)?

NOAA Response: The ROM pricing should address the period of performance of the proposed OTA. The intent of the ROM is to establish the Agreement price, not to assess a broader implementation strategy.