APSL DRFP Cover Letter - 80GRC026R0010.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration John H. Glenn Research Center Lewis Field Cleveland, OH 44135-3191

July 30, 2026

Reply to Attn of: Office of Procurement

TO: All Potential Offerors

SUBJECT: Draft Request for Proposals (DRFP) for Aerospace Power Systems Laboratory

(APSL), Solicitation No. 80GRC026R0010

You are invited to review and comment on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) Aerospace Power Systems Laboratory (APSL) Draft Request for Proposals (DRFP). The APSL is a two-phase design-build of a new laboratory facility to support the testing and development of power systems with associated site work, infrastructure, and systems. The purpose of this letter is to provide clarity regarding the procurement method, receive potential offeror feedback, and provide additional context.

Timeline: The current planned release date for the Final Request for Proposal (FRFP) is on or about August 14, 2026, with proposals being due approximately 30 calendar days later. The anticipated Phase 1 award date is October 28, 2026. The place of performance is onsite at NASA GRC and offsite at the Contractor’s facilities.

Contract Design: APSL is a Firm Fixed-Price Two Phase Design-Build contract. Phase 2 will be awarded through the exercise of options rather than a second solicitation.

• Phase 1: Down-Select Three Offerors. Phase 1 will be awarded to three offerors based on the factors below.

o Submissions Required:

Technical Qualifications (both design and construction) Relevant Experience & Past Performance Technical Approach (both design and construction execution - excluding detailed design and technical information) o Evaluation Factors: As individual factors, Technical Qualifications are approximately equal to Relevant Experience & Past Performance, both of which are more important than Technical Approach. Price is not a factor.

o Award Guidance: The three Phase 1 awardees will have identical contracts issued with a $150,000 stipend for their conceptual design and technical proposal. None of the option contract line item numbers (CLINs) will be awarded at the completion of Phase 1.

Base (CLIN0001) is for Conceptual Design & Technical Proposal - AWARDED Option 1 (CLIN0002) for a Complete Design - UNEXERCISED Option 2 (CLIN0003) for Construction - UNEXERCISED Option 3 (CLIN0004) for Incentive - UNEXERCISED

• Phase 2: Final Award. Exercise Options for the final awardee.

o Process: The Phase 2 RFP will be issued to the three Phase 1 awardees on or about

November 2, 2026. The three Phase 1 awardees will be provided time for a site visit, a one-on-one meeting with the requesting authority and contracting officer, and time to submit requests for information.

o Submissions Required:

Technical Approach (detailed conceptual design and technical information) Relevant Experience & Past Performance (from Phase 1 submission) Price o Evaluation Factors: As individual factors, Technical Approach is more important than

Price, which is approximately equal to Relevant Experience & Past Performance. When combined, Technical Approach and Relevant Experience & Past Performance are significantly more important than Price.

o Award Guidance: The final awardee will have Options 1 and 2 exercised. Option 3 is dependent upon the awardee’s performance.

Option 1 (CLIN0002) for a Complete Design - AWARDED Option 2 (CLIN0003) for Construction - AWARDED TBD - Option 3 (CLIN0004) for Incentive - UNEXERCISED o Two Non-Selected Phase 1 Awardees: The two Phase 1 awardees, not selected for Phase 2, will invoice for their design stipend and their contracts will be closed with all options unexercised. The Government will retain rights to the Phase 1 design submittal.

Potential Offeror Feedback: Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the DRFP, including the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, any perceived safety, occupational health, security (including information technology security), environmental, export control, and/or other programmatic risk issues associated with performance of the work. Potential offerors should identify any unnecessary or inefficient requirements and are also encouraged to comment on the DRFP CLIN structure, any unique terms and conditions, the inclusion of an incentives CLIN, the inclusion of the Liquidated Damages Clause, and the Section M Evaluation Criteria. Contractor feedback must be received by the undersigned no later than 8:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on August 10, 2026.

Additional Information:

• This is a full and open solicitation; However, the Phase 2 awardee will be required to submit small business goals.

• In accordance with 1852.215-77, a Preproposal/Pre-Bid Conference will be held at a time to be determined between Phase 1 award and Phase 2 proposal submission.

• Do not submit any pricing with the Phase 1 RFP.

• Project Labor Agreements are applicable in accordance with Executive Orders.

• The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is

236220 and the small business size standard is $45M dollars.

• Potential offerors should ensure their company is listed in the online databases for the following:

o System for Award Management o U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, VETS-4212

Reports o US Government’s unique entity identifier (UEI)

Disclaimer: To control and protect sensitive data owned by the Government and its Contractors, NASA policy requires all acquisition-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Documents related to this acquisition, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, exhibits, any amendments, and links to online reference/technical/ bidders’ library will be attainable electronically through the Government-wide point of entry (GPE) website at www.SAM.gov. Potential Offerors are requested to periodically monitor the website for updates.

NFS 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable. Contact the Contracting Officer (CO) for Ombudsman contact information.

This DRFP is not a solicitation, and NASA is not requesting proposals. This DRFP does not commit NASA GRC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA GRC to procure or contract for this requirement. This request is not an authorization to proceed and does not authorize payment for any charges incurred by the offeror for performing any of the work called for in this solicitation.

Submission Instructions: Any comments regarding the DRFP should be submitted via email to the John A. Christel, CO at john.a.christel@nasa.gov. If a respondent believes their comments contain confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive, or business information, those questions/comments must be marked appropriately. However, questions that are marked as containing confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive or business information will not be provided with a Government response. The Government will consider all comments received in preparation for the FRFP. To the extent a comment leads the Government to revise the acquisition approach or requirements, the change will be reflected in the FRFP. Some DRFP questions and comments may receive a posted response to SAM.gov if the Contracting Officer determines that a response would facilitate additional understanding of the solicitation. The Government may also respond via the GPE to comments and/or questions received following the issuance of the FRFP.

Contact Information: Point of contact for this solicitation is the undersigned at john.a.christel@nasa.gov.

John A. Christel Contracting Officer

Enclosure:

DRFP 80GRC026R0010

Draft Model Contract