Astrobee Pre-Proposal Conference Charts.pdf

Astrobee Free-flying Robotics System Operations and Sustaining Engineering

Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) to

Transfer System Responsibility to Commercial Provider

Pre-Proposal Conference February 21, 2025

Agenda

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Johnson Space Center

Ashley Chaves, Agreement Officer

Welcome Statement

PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE LOGISTICS

• Please write any questions you may have in the TEAM’s chat or e-mail

• A copy of this presentation has been posted on the Astrobee website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/afp/

• Clarifications concerning how NASA conducts business will be answered in the

Question-and-Answer session.

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

• Questions will be answered during this industry briefing at the end

• Verbal responses to questions will not be considered official

• Questions submitted via MS Teams Q&A or jsc-astrobee@mail.nasa.gov may be answered verbally and in writing. Answers posted to GPE will be considered official responses

• If a difference exists between verbal and written responses to questions, the written responses shall govern.

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/afp/ mailto:jsc-astrobee@mail.nasa.gov

• Proposals are required to be submitted through NASA’s Enterprise File Sharing and Sync Box (EFSS Box) platform.

• Section 3.1 Proposal Submittal of the Announcement for Proposals includes instructions for submission of proposals through this system

• Offerors are highly advised to test the system prior to the delivery date to ensure there will be no perturbations that would result in a late proposal.

• Review the proposal instructions, coordinate with the point of contact in advance of the delivery and ask questions if any instructions are not clear.

Proposal Submission Process

Goal for Today's Industry Briefing

1. Inform industry about the Announcement for Partnership Proposals (AFPP)

2. Answer questions about the AFPP

1. The Government will respond officially to all questions submitted by posting them to the Government-wide point of entry (GPE) via sam.gov and a link on the Astrobee website.

Disclaimer:

•These slides are for information and planning purposes only.

•This presentation shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government.

• JSC Ombudsman:

Donna M. Shafer JSC Associate Director Phone: 281-483-4258 Email: donna.m.shafer@nasa.gov Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 2101 NASA Parkway, Mail Code AA Houston, TX 77058-3696

Ombudsman

Astrobee Partnering Opportunity Scope / Objective

This Announcement solicits proposals for an Unfunded Space Act Agreement to Transfer System Responsibility to Commercial Provider for the operation, sustaining engineering, and utilization of the Astrobee free-flying robotic system aboard the ISS.

These robots provide a capability supporting researchers with technology demonstrations, scientific research, and STEM activities in the unique environment of space.

The objective of this initiative is to transition operations and sustaining engineering of this Astrobee robotic technology to a non-NASA entity to manage the system and to continue advancement in private sector utilization of this unique capability for the future development of commercial capabilities in space.

Astrobee Facility Partnering Opportunity

• The Astrobee system is a free-flying robotic capability in Low Earth Orbit on-board the International Space Station

• The Astrobee Program is currently funded through September 2025, and will be transitioned to a commercial provider upon execution of this Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA)

• The ISS Program will enable a transition period from SAA award through September 30, 2025

• After September 2025, no additional funding for the program will be provided by NASA

The Astrobee system consists of three free-flying robots aboard the International Space Station (ISS)

These robots provide a capability supporting astronauts and researchers with technology demonstrations, scientific research, and STEM activities in the unique environment of space

Government resources required and provided through this agreement will include the Astrobee hardware, spares, upmass, on-orbit stowage, documentation, and safety certifications

Assets such as crew time, upmass, and downmass will need to be coordinated through the normal ISS payloads process and National Lab / Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)

Overview of Astrobee System

Astrobee Facility Operations and Sustaining Engineering Scope

Sustaining Engineering:

• Hardware maintenance (HW)

• Software maintenance (SW)

• Lab maintenance (Astrobee System Labs)

• Operations (ground and on orbit supportability)

Astrobee Facility Operations and Sustaining Engineering Scope, (cont.)

User Support:

• User community support

• Assessment and demonstration of technology (Feasibility Assessment with ISS)

• Integration, safety, and verification (Astrobee Facility Assessments with the Payload, submittal of integrated ISS Safety products and ISS Interface Verification)

• Lab testing (Astrobee Facility, the Payload, and ISS)

• Ops planning (Planning and on Orbit Activities)

• Data distribution

The Astrobee SAA shall include the Partner’s milestones with objective success criteria that provide a measure of the Partner’s overall progress.

Milestones should represent significant technical and business progress in the Partner’s program

Milestones could include:

� Significant transition tasks and sustaining engineering activities.

� Business progress such as financing and marketing achievement.

� Completion of customer missions and/or signing agreements with new customers

Milestones

Government Resources Provided

Support provided by NASA in the Unfunded SAA:

� NASA partnership point of contact � NASA guidance with regard to activities permitted on-board ISS and implementation of the existing payloads review and approval process � NASA guidance with regard to requirements of NASA Mission Directorates and the ISS National Lab in supporting ISS activities � NASA attendance at regularly scheduled reviews of progress under the partnership � NASA observation of Partner milestones � NASA review of Partner-provided data � Access to NASA technical data, lessons learned, and expertise support.

• Astrobee On-orbit system

• Astrobee hardware and spares on the ground for the Astrobee on-orbit system

• Joint Astrobee and ISS initial payload assessment with partner

• ISS Payload Integration Service (Reference SSP 57057, ISS Science, Technology, and Exploration Integration Flow

• ISS Payload Operations Planning: procedures, crew training, increment scheduling

• ISS Payload Operations activities (ops)

• ISS Payload Data Distribution

Government Resources Provided, cont.

Government Resources Available on a Reimbursable Basis

Information about NASA-developed technologies

• Assistance in obtaining Software Usage Agreements (SUA), Data Usage Agreements

(DUA), License Agreements, and/or Loan Agreements.

Use of NASA equipment and/or facilities:

• Astrobee Facility maintenance and tracking (HW)

• ISS & ground Astrobee hardware and software performance

• Inventory tracking

Software maintenance and tracking (SW)

• Updates, licenses, configuration management

Lab maintenance (Lab)

• Flight Assembly lab, Operations workstations, Granite or equivalent testing lab, lab workstations

• Materials: CO2, Raw building materials, tools

� Joint Astrobee and ISS initial payload assessments with NASA � Astrobee Payload Interface and Facility user training (Interface) � Lab testing (Lab)

○ Payload software and hardware integrated testing with Astrobee facility and testing lab

○ Hardware/Software/Network interface testing

○ Operational Readiness Testing (ORT)

○ Test Reporting

� Operations (Ops)

○ Readiness testing and anomaly resolution in support of facility capabilities

○ Closure plans of on-orbit anomalies will be provided within a week of occurrence.

Government Resources Available on a Reimbursable Basis, (cont.)

Information for

Participants

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for award of an Unfunded SAA under this Announcement, an entity must be organized under the laws of the United States or of a State and be more than 50 percent owned by United States nationals.

Participants must comply with all applicable U.S. laws, regulations, and policies, including but not limited to safety, security, export control, environmental, suspension and debarment laws and regulations, and establishing an Interconnection Security Agreement when applicable.

Any entity awarded an Astrobee Operations and Sustaining Engineering SAA shall be required to comply with all U.S. export control laws including Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Compliance with U.S. Laws, Regulations, and Policies

Compliance with U.S.

Laws, Regulations, and

Policies, (cont.)

NASA is restricted from using appropriated funds to enter into or fund any agreement of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally with China or any Chinese-owned company, at the prime recipient level and at all subrecipient levels, whether the bilateral involvement is funded or performed under a no-exchange of funds arrangement.

Compliance with U.S.

Laws, Regulations, and

Policies, (cont.)

• Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, “Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment,” prohibits, inter alia, the Federal Government, Federal Government contractors, and grant and loan recipients from procuring or using any equipment, system, or service that uses “covered telecommunications equipment or services” (as defined in Section 889(f)(3)) as a substantial or essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system

• Entities that intend to rely on Russian suppliers shall comply with the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) and any other applicable sanctions law

Compliance with U.S. Laws, Regulations, and Policies (cont.)

Participants’ attentions are further directed to the following list of potentially applicable U.S. laws, regulations, and policies:

� U.S. Space Transportation Policy, November 2013 � U.S. National Space Policy, December 2020 � 51 U.S.C. Chapter 501 – Space Commerce � 51 U.S.C Chapter 509 – Commercial Space Launch

Activities

Intellectual Property

Under Astrobee Operations and Sustaining Engineering SAA, Partners will retain intellectual property rights to the maximum extent allowed by law and regulation

Title Rights in Personal Property

All personal property acquired or developed by a Partner for the Astrobee Operations and Sustaining Engineering activity will remain with the Partner.

NASA will retain title to the Astrobee property on-orbit and on the ground for the term of the SAA.

Anticipated Funding

NASA will not provide any funding to Partners through the Unfunded SAA awarded under this Announcement.

The Partner is expected to secure all the funding necessary to perform their obligations under the Astrobee Operations and Sustaining Engineering agreement from non-NASA sources.

The Government’s obligation to enter into and continue performance of this agreement is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds and continued non-interference with NASA operations.

Use of Government Resources

NASA encourages Participants to be as specific as possible in their proposals about the type of Government resources, the amount of each type, and the anticipated schedule that they are requesting.

Proposal Content and

Evaluation

Proposal Content

All proposals shall be submitted using the following outline:

Section I Executive Summary Section II Business Approach

B1 - Business Overview B2 - Development Plan B3 - Compliance B4 – Financing Plan B5 - Business Risks

Section III Technical Approach T1 - Capability Concept T2 – Development Plan T3 - Safety and Mission Assurance T4 - Technical Risks

Appendix 1 Proposed SAA Appendix 2 Proposed Government Resources Appendix 3 Supplemental Business Data

Executive Summary

• Describe the prominent and distinguishing features of the business and technical approach for the Astrobee Operations and Sustaining Engineering effort in up to 2 pages

• Summarize the following:

• Business and technical approach to bring the proposed Astrobee capability to market, and

• If known, government resource types that would be requested under the proposed partnership (e.g., testing, access to expertise).

• Confirmation on eligibility and compliance with requirements

Section II: Business Approach

• Describe the Participant’s approach for operating a sustained entity that will supply the Astrobee capability to the market.

• B1. Business Overview:

• Overview shall include the following:

• Business strategy,

• Market analysis,

• Products and services,

• Management team (resumes of key personnel may be included in Appendix 3).

• B2. Utilization Plan:

• This plan shall include the following:

• A plan and schedule for marketing the Astrobee capability,

• Identification of key participant resources such as personnel, facilities, intellectual property, and other assets required.

• Any major partners and suppliers including respective roles and contributions to the project and status of the relationship.

Section II: Business Approach, (cont.)

• B3. Compliance:

• The Participant shall describe compliance with the eligibility requirements and describe compliance with applicable federal laws, regulations, and policies outlined in Section 2.2 and 2.3

• B4. Financing Plan:

• The Participant shall describe the plan to acquire the funds needed to operate and sustain the

Astrobee capability.

• Estimate of total cost for Astrobee operations and sustaining engineering, including a commercialization plan, and financing plan

• Plan to acquire the funds needed beyond what the Participant currently controls through operational readiness including schedule of any planned financing events.

• B5. Business Risks:

• The Participant shall describe the most significant business risks associated with the effort and its plans to manage them.

T1. Sustaining Operations and Maintenance Plan

• The Participant shall describe how it will accomplish sustaining engineering and user support of the Astrobee capability, including:

• Sustaining Engineering:

• Hardware maintenance (HW)

• Software maintenance (SW)

• Lab maintenance (Astrobee System Labs)

• Operations (ground and on orbit supportability)

• User Support:

• User community support

• Assessment and technology demonstration (Feasibility Assessment with ISS)

• Integration, safety, and verification (Astrobee Facility Assessments with the

Payload, submittal of integrated ISS Safety products and ISS Interface Verification)

• Lab testing (Astrobee Facility, the Payload, and ISS)

• Ops planning (Planning and on Orbit Activities)

• Data distribution

Section III: Technical Approach

Section III: Technical Approach, (cont.)

T2. Safety and Mission Assurance

• The Participant shall summarize its approach for safety, reliability, maintainability, supportability, quality, software assurance, and risk management. Where humans are involved, whether during ground or spaceflight operations, the participant shall describe its approach to safety.

T3. Technical Risks

• The Participant shall describe the most significant technical risks associated with the effort and its plans to manage them.

Appendices

• Appendix 1: Proposed Space Act Agreement

• Appendix 2: Proposed Government Resources

• Appendix 3: Supplemental Business Data

Evaluation Process

• Step 1: NASA will review the proposals to determine that they comply with the requirements of 3.1 of this Announcement.

• Step 2: NASA will evaluate the full proposals that are compliant with this Announcement to assess how well the proposal meets the following criteria:

• Feasibility of the business approach to achieving commercial viability

• Feasibility of the technical approach to achieving commercial viability

• Feasibility for NASA to provide the requested resources

• Step 3 : NASA will conduct due diligence with participants whose proposals were selected

• Step 4: NASA will present the results of the proposal evaluation to the Selection Authority (SA)

• Step 5:NASA intends to award a single unfunded SAA

Questions

Answers