80GRC022R0012 Sources Sought Synopsis_Final.pdf

Sources Sought Notice: 80GRC022R0012

NASA High-Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development

NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is hereby soliciting information from Industry and Academia for the NASA High-Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development.

The NASA Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) GRC is seeking capability statements from all interested parties, including all socioeconomic categories of Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI), and members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for NASA High-Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-owned (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses receive.

NASA GRC is conducting market research to identify, as potential sources, companies, and universities that may possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to competently and competitively respond to requirements for the High-Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development.

No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.

Additional Pertinent Requirements

NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project (HTP) and Commercial Supersonic Technology (CST) project, under the Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP), are jointly tasked with developing a strategy to enable an environmentally responsible/sustainable civilian high-speed market. NASA is seeking to stimulate innovation and foster the pursuit of conceptual designs for high-speed (‘high-speed’ defined as Mach 2 through Mach <5) commercial transports that could enter service in the next decade (i.e., 2030-2040) or beyond, market permitting. These commercial transports must be able to overcome significant performance and environmental challenges for the benefit of the general public. These conceptual vehicle design studies will identify key technology development needs and opportunities that will enable such vehicles.

Recently completed HTP-funded studies

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of aerospace companies, both well-established and start-ups, that have proposed and even started to build and test aircraft concepts aimed at commercial point-to-point travel in the supersonic to hypersonic speed regime.

This growth in interest prompted the HTP to hold a forum in January 2020 with stakeholders across government and industry in conjunction with the AIAA SciTech Conference. As a result of that meeting, HTP subsequently funded two studies to begin to examine the economic viability, regulatory barriers, and technical challenges associated with this high-speed commercial market.

For reference, the final briefings and final reports from both of the 2020 HTP-funded market studies are publicly available and can be found on the NASA Technical Reports Server at the following links:

The SAIC final report and presentation:

• Report: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210015471

• Presentation: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210015472

The Deloitte final report and presentation:

• Report: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210014711

• Presentation: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210014932

On-going and envisioned future HTP-funded studies

At the conclusion of the two market studies done by SAIC and Deloitte, in January 2022 HTP kicked-off a follow-on 9-month effort with SpaceWorks Enterprises Incorporated (SEI) entitled, “Life cycle cost modeling of high-speed commercial aircraft” under a Phase 3 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award. The goal of that follow-on effort is to refine the life cycle modeling of high-speed commercial aircraft.

Information developed under SEI’s “Life cycle cost modeling of high-speed commercial aircraft” effort will be used to help guide the conceptual designs of a series of non-proprietary government reference high-speed commercial vehicles spanning the trade space of interest for which this Sources Sought is focused. In turn, those non-proprietary government reference high-speed commercial vehicle concepts will be used to develop airframe and propulsion non-proprietary technology roadmaps aimed at eliminating barriers. These non-proprietary government reference vehicles and non-proprietary technology roadmaps will help inform NASA’s research strategy to enable an environmentally responsible/sustainable civilian high-speed market.

This study is intended to produce advanced vehicle conceptual designs, as well as corresponding airframe and propulsion technologies needed to enable high-speed commercial aircraft. NASA envisions the study to be conducted notionally in a series of steps:

1) Develop near-term technology baseline vehicle conceptual designs using today’s available technologies and assess system:

a) performance (including, for example, maximum range and Mach number, total flight time, fuel usage per passenger mile, etc.)

b) weight

c) environmental compliance (e.g., sonic boom, landing/takeoff noise, and cruise emissions)

2) Develop technology roadmaps (with associated timeframes) that identify what (and when) advanced technologies can be incorporated into the baseline vehicle concepts to produce advanced vehicle conceptual designs.

3) Develop advanced technology vehicle conceptual designs (which incorporate the advanced technologies in step 2) and assess advanced vehicle concepts for:

a) performance (including, for example, maximum range and Mach number, total flight time, fuel usage per passenger mile, etc.)

b) weight

c) environmental compliance (e.g., sonic boom, landing/takeoff noise, and cruise emissions)

4) Prioritize the advanced technologies that will need to be developed to achieve the projected performance, weight, and environmental compliance.

Table 1 below captures the notional matrix of vehicle design requirements envisioned for this study. Note: This matrix may be descoped based on the results from SEI’s “Life cycle cost modeling of high-speed commercial aircraft” effort.

Table 1- Notional Matrix of Design Requirements

Cruise Mach 2 Cruise Mach 3 Cruise Mach 4 Cruise Mach 5 Passengers

(PAX)

20, 50 20, 50 20, 50 20, 50

Range (nmi) 3500, 6500 3500, 6500 3500, 6500 3500, 6500 Fuel • Jet-A

• Liquid natural gas (LNG)

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

• Liquid hydrogen (LH2)

When considering the level of fidelity in the multi-disciplinary analyses expected to produce a vehicle conceptual design, HTP has adopted the definitions found in Table 2. Similarly, the level of fidelity associated with the environmental analyses required for a commercial vehicle conceptual design is provided in Table 3. Note: These are provided solely for the purpose of giving interested parties some indication of what is implied in the term ‘conceptual design’, and not as a definitive requirement.

Proposing organizations are invited to include other collaborators as part of their team -collaborators may not receive funds from the NASA award. Responders to this RFI may describe potential plans for collaboration with industry, U.S. government agencies or other organizations in their responses.

(End of Additional Pertinent Requirements)

No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.

Interested parties having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirements described herein are requested to provide: (1) a capability statement of no more than 10 pages indicating the ability to perform all aspects of the effort including past performance on similar/related efforts and (2) written answers to the questions listed in the section titled “Questions” below.

This requirement is not considered a commercial item.

Questions

NASA seeks input in the following areas:

1) Is your organization interested in providing a proposal for the High-Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development effort as the Lead Organization?

a) Do you believe your organization has all the capabilities necessary to perform the task?

b) If not, in what areas do you require a partner(s)?

c) Do you have partners and/or collaborators with whom you have existing relationships to supplement your capabilities?

2) Is your organization interested in participating as a partner/subcontractor for the High- Speed Commercial Vehicle Conceptual Design Study and Technology Roadmaps Development?

a) What capabilities/role would your organization be best suited to provide/serve?

3) What issues or concerns, if any, does your organization anticipate with the proposed deliverable of non-proprietary government reference vehicle conceptual designs?

4) What issues or concerns, if any, does your organization anticipate with the proposed deliverable of non-proprietary airframe and propulsion technology development roadmaps?

5) What feedback and/or issues/concerns, if any, does your organization anticipate with the study requirements and/or the trade matrix?

All responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Rita Kizys, Contracting Officer at rita.k.kizys@nasa.gov no later than 6:00pm ET, May 3, 2022. Please reference Sources Sought #80GRC022R0012 in any response.

Interested parties are requested to provide the following: Name and address of organization and point of contact (POC) information (name, phone, and email address).

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by email to Rita Kizys, Contracting Officer at rita.k.kizys@nasa.gov no later than 6:00pm ET, April 21, 2022.

Submissions may be sent via email using password-protected attachments (required if any controlled unclassified information is included) with password sent via separate email. If requested in your response, all information received will be considered confidential and proprietary. Proprietary and export-controlled information should be marked appropriately in your response.

This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only 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 full qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement.

NASA representatives may contact respondents after submittal to clarify any information submitted.