Astro SMEX SC POA_Final.pdf

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 1 -

Partnership Opportunity Announcement (POA)

For a

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) Spacecraft

June 24, 2024

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 2 -

1.0 INTRODUCTION/SCOPE

This partnership opportunity is in response to the expected NASA Astrophysics SMEX Announcement of Opportunity (AO), to be released in Quarter 3 (Q3) of FY2025. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing a mission concept to be proposed for this AO. The partnership opportunity is being issued to select a teaming partner to provide a spacecraft bus.

The proposed mission is currently in pre-Phase A. If the proposal is down-selected, the next step in the proposal process is a mission concept study culminating in a Concept Study Report (CSR), which is the Step 2 proposal, and a site visit. The following schedule should be used as a basis for responses to this opportunity:

Notice of Interest (NOI) Due Monday, July 1, 2024 Due Date For Questions Friday, July 12, 2024 Proposal in Response to POA Monday, July 29, 2024 Expected AO Release Date No Earlier Than (NET) April 1, 2025 Expected Proposal Submittal Deadline 90 days after AO release Expected Step-1 Selections Announced Q2 CY2026 Initiate Phase A Concept Studies Q2 CY2026 Phase A Concept Study Reports Due 9 months after Step-1 Selections Expected Down-selection of Investigation for Flight Fall 2028 Spacecraft start date Vendor specified Instrument Delivery for Integration & Test (I&T) 33 months after down-select Expected Launch Readiness Date No Later Than (NLT) April 2032

1.1 COST

Total cost and cost fidelity are important aspects for the proposal. The expected cost cap for this AO is $175M (FY2025), excluding launch vehicle costs. This cost includes the instruments, spacecraft, instrument to spacecraft integration support, environmental testing, launch site operations, and mission and science operations for a nominal 2.5-year mission, as well as required contingency (25%, Phases B/C/D). The Phase A mission concept study (Step 2 down-selection) has a total expected cost cap of $2M (FY2025) for all partners.

There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the portion of this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the initial submission (Pre-Phase A, Step 1 proposal). Funding will be available for subsequent phases should the candidate mission concept be competitively selected for those additional phases.

1.2 DESIRED MISSION SERVICES

MSFC is interested in selecting a partner to provide a spacecraft bus and observatory Integration and Test through launch and mission commissioning. All interested parties are required to respond to this POA in accordance with Section 5 below.

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 3 -

1.3 PROPOSAL SUPPORT

It is expected that the selected POA respondent will provide support using their own resources to help develop the required SMEX proposal elements in response to the Step 1 Pre-Phase A NASA SMEX AO in the area of the spacecraft bus, and observatory integration, launch, and commissioning.

If the proposal is down-selected for a Phase A Mission Concept Study, this will consist of a nine-month concept study phase culminating in a CSR and on-site support of a site visit. Funding will be provided to the partner for this Phase A mission concept study support, Mission CSR, and site visit.

If the mission is selected for implementation (Phases B–F), the partner will be responsible for the design and development of the spacecraft bus and observatory integration, test, launch, and commissioning. The payload assembly will be provided as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). Respondents to this POA shall state the timeframe that their services will be available and the extent that the respondent can meet the timeline requirements set forth in the AO.

2.0 MISSION OVERVIEW

The Astrophysics Explorer Program conducts Principal Investigator (PI)-led space science investigations to advance NASA’s strategic goals in astrophysics, which are to discover the origin, structure, evolution, and destiny of the Universe and search for Earth-like planets.

More detailed information on the parameters of the potential MSFC mission will be provided to those responding with a NOI to this POA. A Notice of Interest (it is intentionally not called a notice of intent) does not obligate an organization to provide a POA response.

3.0 PRE-SELECTION SUPPORT

3.1 INITIAL PROPOSAL SUPPORT

It is expected that the selected respondent will provide support using their own resources to help develop and write the mission proposal in response to the AO in the areas of the spacecraft and observatory. This will involve meeting with the relevant scientists and the overall mission engineering team in order to: (1) help define the end-to-end performance requirements, including interfaces to the instrument payload; (2) define the flight system architecture; (3) identify trade studies; and (4) conduct necessary analyses (link margin, power system, integrated mechanical and thermal, etc.) to predict performance and quantify risks. This will include cost estimation for all mission phases. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last from partner selection until the Step 1 selections announcement.

3.2 PHASE A STUDY AND PHASE A PROPOSAL SUPPORT

If the mission is selected for a Phase A study, the proposal team will receive funds to conduct a Phase A study and submit a detailed CSR to NASA. The selected partner will be allocated a portion of this funding to assist in completing the CSR. The respondent will also be expected to contribute to designing, documenting, and costing the spacecraft for inclusion in the final CSR

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 4 -

(as specified in the AO). The period of performance for the phase A is expected to extend until the Phase B downselect announcement.

3.3 POA RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PRE-SELECTION SUPPORT

The respondent shall:

1) Demonstrate understanding and flight experience in the design, fabrication, integration and testing of spacecraft:

• Identify driving mission and system requirements for the spacecraft and a response to addressing those requirements;

• Provide a technical summary/description of the proposed spacecraft bus, including relevant heritage;

• Highlight particularly critical or challenging areas for the design of the spacecraft;

• Describe what types of capabilities and cost benefits the spacecraft provides for the intended mission.

2) Provide any recommended potential study topics related to the spacecraft.

3) Indicate what level of resources would be allocated to the proposal phase of support.

• Discuss skills that will be provided, ideas on what level of conceptual design and important analysis and trade studies that might be needed.

4) Identify the pertinent missions for which the respondent has provided support for proposal writing in the area of spacecraft design, fabrication, integration, and testing:

• Provide data on scope of the spacecraft design, the role played in the proposal process, and the portions of the proposal written or provide assistance in writing, and provide a customer reference Point of Contact (POC).

5) Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate and schedule for the design, fabrication, and testing of the spacecraft; integration of the GFE Payload to the spacecraft;

and observatory environmental testing. These ROMs will not be considered binding commitments but will serve as an important consideration during the response evaluation.

Justification of the ROM is required; including previous cost and schedule performance with data (estimated cost & schedule vs. actual).

4.0 DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT

At the end of Phase A, another down-select occurs. If the mission is selected for development and launch, the respondent will be responsible for the design, development, and test of the spacecraft. The respondent is responsible for identifying the spacecraft requirements and providing all aspects of the spacecraft (either directly, or through purchasing or teaming arrangements). The period of performance for this interval is expected to follow the timeline noted in 1.0; however, the respondent is encouraged to develop a schedule for completing the spacecraft bus that provides the best value to the Government.

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 5 -

4.1 POA RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT

The respondent shall:

1) Provide a description of the recommended spacecraft to meet the mission overview described in section 2.0, with specific emphases on the communication and propulsion approaches.

2) Identify which missions they have successfully supported as spacecraft provider and provide a customer reference POC.

3) Provide information on recent similar spacecraft designed and delivered, and how that experience is applicable to the mission. Basic information on scope of work, and how well the fielded spacecraft met the requirements (cost and technical, and how well they met the proposed schedules).

4) Identify available design and modeling capabilities required to support development of the spacecraft.

5) Identify fabrication and testing facilities that will be required to support development and test of the spacecraft.

5.0 POA RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS, FORMAT, AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Potential respondents are asked to contact the MSFC team as soon as possible after release of this document with a Notice Of Interest (intentionally not called notice of intent) and any questions. This contact does not create an obligation to respond to the POA, but allows the MSFC team to disseminate more details on the parameters of the mission being considered and provide answers to questions from potential partners. All Notice of Interest respondents will receive further details on the missions that will facilitate a focused response. These details will be competition sensitive and are not to be shared outside the teams necessary to prepare a full response. Answers to questions received within the timeframe listed in Section 1.0 will be publicly posted with this announcement, while the source of the questions will not be disclosed.

Notices of Interest shall be sent to neil.f.martin@nasa.gov and cc: to amy.l.walden@nasa.gov via email with ‘Notice of Interest’ in the subject line, a simple sentence or two expressing interest, and an email address to which to send further information. For purposes of this partnership opportunity, the point of contact is: Neil Martin (neil.f.martin@nasa.gov 256-961-7487). The backup contact is: Amy Walden (amy.l.walden@nasa.gov, 256-961-2358).

Responses to the POA shall:

• Be in a presentation format (viewgraphs: such as Power Point) that shall not exceed 30 pages. The font size for the text shall be no smaller than 12 point.

• Address all requirements noted in Sections 2.0 through 5.0 of this document.

• Shall be delivered No Later Than (NLT), 11:59 CDST, Monday, July 29, 2024 to Neil Martin at the email address listed above.

Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such by MSFC for the U.S. Government. Partnership selection is expected to be made by August 2, 2024.

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 6 -

6.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND CRITERIA

The evaluation team will use the following factors in selection and award:

1. Technical Approach (30%). Respondents will be evaluated on their ability to meet the technical requirements given in Section 2, 3, and 4. This includes demonstrated understanding of the requirements and proposed approach to meet those requirements.

2. Cost (45%). Respondents will be evaluated on their overall cost and on the reasonableness of cost and schedule estimates.

3. Relevant Experience and Past Performance (25%). Special emphasis will be given to demonstrated experience with similar missions, particularly with regards to instrument accommodations, spacecraft attitude control requirements, and mission communication requirements.

7.0 ACRONYMS

AO Announcement of Opportunity

CSR Concept Study Report

CY Calendar Year

GFE Government Furnished Equipment

FY Fiscal Year

I&T Integration & Test

MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center

MO Mission of Opportunity

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NET No Earlier Than

NLT No Later Than

NOI Notice of Intent (Proposal) or Notice of Interest (POA)

PDF Portable Document Format

POA Partnership Opportunity Annoucement

PI Principal Investigator

POA Partnership Opportunity Agreement

Astrophysics MO Spacecraft POA Page - 7 -

POC Point of Contact

Q Quarter

ROM Rough Order of Magnitude

SOW Statement of Work