DRAFT CAaaS SOW - 5-21-2025.pdf

SWGS-###--###, Revision DRAFT Space Weather Observations (SWO) Code 492

Space Weather Observations (SWO) Commercial Antenna as a Service (CAaaS)

Statement of Work (SOW)

U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Space Weather Observations (SWO) Commercial Antenna as a Services (CAaaS)

DRAFT

Statement of Work (SOW)

Review/Signature/Approval Page

Prepared by:

<Name> Date <Position Title> <Org./Code>

Reviewed by:

Approved by:

Electronic Approval available on-line at: (will be our CM tool URL)

Preface This document is under SWO configuration control. Once this document is approved, SWO approved changes are handled in accordance with Class I and Class II change control requirements as described in the SWO Configuration Management Procedures, and changes to this document shall be made by complete revision.

In this plan, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term “shall.” The terms “may” or “can” denote discretionary privilege or permission; “should” denotes a good practice and is recommended but not required; “will” denotes expected outcome;

and “are/is” denotes descriptive material.

Any questions should be addressed to:

SWO Configuration Management Office

NASA/GSFC

Code 492 Greenbelt, MD 20771

Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Contact Information 1

1.2 Background 2

1.3 Period and Place of Performance 3

1.4 Scope 3

1.5 Definitions and Glossary 5

2 Applicable Documentation 6 3 Technical Requirements 7

3.1 System Overview 7

3.2 Services Desired 8

3.2.1 Baseline Service - Continued X-Band Telemetry Coverage to One SWO Observatory at L1 12

3.2.2 Option 1 - X-Band Telemetry Coverage to Two SWO Observatories at L1 Simultaneously 13

3.2.3 Option 2 - Southern Hemisphere, S-Band Radiometric Tracking 13

3.3 Service Level Agreements 14

3.3.1 Operational Availability 14

3.3.2 Service Definitions and Exceptions 14

3.4 SWO CAaaS Interfaces and Requirements 16

3.4.1 Resource Allocation 16

3.4.2 Network Requirements 17

3.5 System Verification and Testing 18

3.5.1 Performance Verification 19

3.5.2 RF Compatibility Testing and Verification 19

3.5.3 Network Testing and Verification 20

4 Programmatic Requirements 21

4.1 Overall CAaaS Responsibilities and Constraints 21

4.2 Equipment Installation and Conformance 21

4.3 GFE/GFI 21

Appendix A 22

List of Tables Table 1: Applicable Documents 6 Table 2: Operational Requirements 9 Table 3: X-Band Telemetry Downlink Characteristics 10 Table 4: S-Band Radiometric Tracking Characteristics 12 Abbreviations and Acronyms 23

1 INTRODUCTION

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) has developed the Space Weather Observations Program, a parent program to the Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) and Space weather Observations at L1 (SOL) Observatory Missions, with acquisition assistance from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The SWO Program’s main goal is to provide critical data to the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The SWFO-L1 and SOL observatories will be placed at the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L1) with the goals of providing continuous measurements of the space environment, including observations of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and in situ observations of the solar wind, ultimately contributing to accurate forecasts of space weather disturbances.

NOAA requires uninterrupted data acquisition and radiometric tracking using a coordinated antenna network, incorporating NOAA assets, Commercial Antenna as a Service (CAaaS), international partnerships, and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program . The subject of this SOW is to provide CAaaS to the existing SWFO Antenna Network (SAN) and future SWO missions beginning no earlier than 2029.

1.1 Contact Information

For information regarding the SAN acquisition, contact the Contracting Officer (CO). CO contact information:

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Fax:

The Contracting Officer (CO) will appoint TBD as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for this contract. COR contact information:

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Fax:

1.2 Background

Part of the NOAA mission is to understand and predict changes in space weather to share that knowledge and information with others for the protection of life and property, as the Nation’s authoritative source for environmental data. NESDIS supports NOAA’s mission of Science, Service, and Stewardship through satellite missions, data centers, data and information products and services. NESDIS is responsible for the collection and provision of the critical satellite observations of Earth and the Earth/Sun system, and other essential environmental information needed for disaster preparedness, all hazard response and recovery and the protection of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and natural resources. It is an end-to-end responsibility that underpins NOAA’s value to the Nation. The United States depends on NOAA to provide satellite data and imagery for meteorological forecasts, space weather warnings and alerts, emergency services to support continuity of Government, and provide essential information for national, regional, and local planners and officials.

The Office of Space Weather Observations (SWO) under NESDIS is responsible for advancing space weather observational leadership to meet NOAA programmatic needs. SWO currently is responsible for management of the Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO) program and the Space Weather Next (SW Next) program, the latter of which is a loosely coupled program charged with developing and deploying space-based observational architecture to maintain space weather environmental observation continuity and to and extend space weather observations from all applicable orbits. These include observations on the Sun-Earth-Line (SEL) at L1, Geosynchronous orbit (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and other orbits such as highly Elliptical Orbits (HEO). SWO projects will also collect space weather observations Off-SEL including at Lagrange Point 5 (L5) and other locations in the Heliosphere.

On the Sun-Earth line, SWO is developing and deploying a series of SOL spacecraft. The first of these observatories is built as SWFO-L1. The next two observatories planned are part of the SWO L1 Series project are designated SOL-A and SOL-B. SWFO-L1 is planned to be launched in 2025, SOL-A is planned to be launched no earlier than mid-2029, and SOL-B may launch in 2032. Each will be operated in a Lissajous orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1. From Earth, the satellites will appear to be close to the Sun with a Sun-Earth-Vehicle (SEV) angle of not greater than 13 degrees and no less than 4 degrees and an orbital period of roughly seven months (see Figure 1). For the purpose of link analysis, the maximum path distance to these satellites should be considered to be 1,605,000 km. Each observatory will host up to six observing instruments. The SOL observatories have a design life of five years and are planned to have five additional years of consumables at end-of-design-life. Each observatory will collect the full set of NESDIS-required L1 measurements at the required cadence. SWO observation availability requirements require concurrent operation and management of a minimum of two spacecraft.

Figure 1: Sun-Earth-Vehicle Angle

Space Weather Ground Services (SWGS) is responsible for ensuring a consistent space weather ground services approach across SWO programs. Within SWGS, Antenna Services encompass the provision of space-ground communication and radiometric tracking services at distributed ground entry points, also known as ground stations. These antenna services will be provided by a combination of NOAA ground antennas, commercial antenna service providers, international partners, and other U.S. Government assets.

1.3 Period and Place of Performance

The base period of performance of this contract is from April 2026 (TBR) through March 2027 (TBR), with eight option periods of 6 months in duration. The end date of this contract, inclusive of all option periods, is March 2031 (TBR).

The primary place of performance for development will be at the contractor’s facilities. In support of system development, integration, testing, maintenance, and sustainment activities, additional places of performance may include:

● Consolidated Backup (CBU) facility in Fairmont, WV;

● Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station (WCDAS) in Wallops, VA;

● NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, MD;

● Observatory manufacturer’s facility (for radio frequency (RF) test rack installation);

● N-Wave Internet Access Point Facilities;

● Additional locations to be identified after contract award by the contractor or

NOAA/NESDIS, as part of SWGS activities.

The Government will make available access to grounds, physical structure, volume, and associated floor space, HVAC, primary and back-up power, physical security, etc., including approved upgrades to the same at each Government facility. Access will be provided for spare part storage, contractor-provided test equipment, and conference rooms for training and other on-site reviews, as coordinated with the facility.

The Government reserves the right to use additional providers to meet mission or cost exigencies.

1.4 Scope

SWO seeks commercially provided space-to-ground communications as a service to support the telemetry downlink and, optionally, southern hemisphere radiometric tracking of the SWFO-L1 and SOL-A satellites. The scope of this Request for Proposal (RFP) includes all efforts necessary to integrate, test, and deliver the services described in this RFP.

Satellite commanding, provision, or operation of NOAA ground station assets, the provision of NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) or Near Space Network (NSN) services, and the development, maintenance, and operation of the satellite operations facilities for these missions are outside the scope of this RFP.

This Statement of Work and Award is expected to be a service-definition-based Service Level Agreement (SLA) type of award, as described in Section 3.3 - Service Level Agreements.

1.5 Definitions and Glossary

The term “(TBS)” means “to be supplied,” and its use identifies missing or incomplete information, values, or data needed to fulfill a requirement.

The term “(TBD)” means “to be determined” and identifies missing information.

The term “(TBR)” is an acronym for “to be refined/reviewed” and identifies requirements that are subject to review for appropriateness and subject to revision.

The term “end item” means a final combination of products, component parts, and/or materials that is ready for its intended use.

The term “ground station” is defined as any systems, interfaces, infrastructure, equipment, or personnel that are needed by the contractor to meet the service requirements.

The term “telemetry” means data originating from the spacecraft and includes mission (science) data and housekeeping data.

The term “radiometric tracking data” means data collected from ranging and tracking of the satellite which can be used to determine the satellite orbital position and velocity.

The term "status" means the availability and performance of the CAaaS provided by the contractor as provided when requesting scheduled service and during a service contact.

The term “Operational Availability” is a measurement of how long a system has been available to use when compared with how long it should have been available to be used.

2 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTATION

These documents are applicable to this version of the SWO CAaaS SOW. Any modification to applicable documents will be reviewed to identify the impact upon this document. In the event of conflict between an applicable document and the content of this document, the SW Next Configuration Control Board (CCB) has the final authority for conflict resolution.

In the event of unresolved conflict between shared documentation and/or requirements, the contractor shall request conflict resolution by the Contracting Officer.

The following documents are the Applicable Documents from which this document has been derived. Any modification to an Applicable Document will be reviewed to identify the impact upon this document. In the event of conflict between an Applicable Document and the content of this document, the SWO Contracting Officer has the final authority for conflict resolution.

Document Number Title

SWFOGS-SAN-REQ-0040 SWFO Ground Segment Antenna Network Requirements Document

SWFOL1-SC-CDRL-0060 RF ICD Between SWFO-L1 and SWFO Antenna Network

SWFOL1-SC-CDRL-0207 SWFO-L1 Mission Data Format ICD

SOL-GS-REQ-0035 SOL Antenna Services Requirements Document

SOL-SC-CDRL-0062 SOL Project Spacecraft TT&C Data Format ICD

SOL-GS-REQ-0045 SOL Mission Services (MS) to Antenna Services (AS) IRD

SOL-SC-CDRL-0061 SOL Project Spacecraft Observatory Measurement Data to SOL Ground Services ICD

SOL-SYS-REQ-0017 SOL Spacecraft Communication Requirements Document

(CRD)

SWO-MGMT-LIST-0001 SWO Program Acronyms and Glossary List

NIST SP 800-53 (Latest ver.)

-OR-

ISO 27000

Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations

-OR-

International Organization for Standardization - Establishing and Managing Information Security

Table 1: Applicable Documents

3 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

3.1 System Overview

CSaaS will be utilized to supplement the NOAA antenna network and meet the 24/7 telemetry downlink requirements of both SWFO-L1 and SOL-A. Because the SWFO-L1 and SOL-A satellites are both at the 1st Lagrange point, they will have very similar rise and set times from the perspective of the ground stations. NOAA will use its own facilities to meet all nominal commanding and tracking requirements when SWFO-L1 and SOL are in view of their ground stations at Wallops, VA; Fairmont, WV; or other NOAA assets.

SWO mission operations are conducted primarily at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, MD with backup at the NOAA Consolidated Backup (CBU) in Fairmont, WV. NOAA SWO mission operations will communicate with the NOAA SWO antenna network management. The NOAA SWO antenna network management will interface with the CAaaS provider to receive X-Band telemetry and, optionally, S-Band ranging service. The following diagrams provide a high-level view of the architecture, interfaces, and data exchanged between the NOAA SWO antenna network management and the CAaaS provider and between the CAaaS provider and the SWO spacecraft.

Figure 2: Commercial CAaaS Message Architecture

Figure 3: Commercial CAaaS Communications Interfaces

3.2 Services Desired

The baseline service required is the provision of continuous, global X-Band telemetry downlink service coverage to the SWFO-L1 mission when SWFO-L1 is not within view (at a 5 degree elevation angle or higher) of the NOAA WCDAS and CBU ground stations. SWO is interested in several additional X-Band telemetry downlink services, included as options in this RFP, as well as an option for the CAaaS provider to deliver S-band radiometric tracking service from the Southern hemisphere. The CAaaS provider is also expected to deliver regular reports to document the services provided to each SWO satellite. The detailed requirements for each service are described in the applicable documents listed in Section 2 of this RFP and are summarized below.

The contractor service operations will receive service requests from the SWO Antenna Network Management. NESDIS expects the contractor to participate in any integration and test events necessary to certify the mission for launch and nominal operations.

NOAA requires CAaaS provided by the contractor to be in compliance with the operational and technical interface requirements as listed and referenced in the SOW. The interface will be jointly developed by the contractor and the government. This service must comply with all applicable NOAA security requirements, as specified in applicable documents. The provider shall provide the operational availability (Ao) during operational contingencies and anomalies.

Requirement Specification

Data Storage and Retrieval Received telemetry must be stored for a minimum of 10 days;

re-deliverable upon request.

Security Compliance In compliance with NIST SP 800-53 (latest version) or ISO 27000 family security standards; Moderate Impact or Equivalent. Encrypted traffic in transit and at rest.

Secure Data Streaming / Latency

Stream CCSDS AOS transfer frames with SWFO/SOL TRQ header attached to two NOAA Points of Presence within 2 seconds of frame receipt.

Link Margin ≥ 3 dB in nominal operation modes.

Retransmission Fulfilling retransmission requests shall not impact the delivery of operational, real-time telemetry

Table 2: Operational Requirements

Note: Requirements provided in Table 2 are intended to serve as reference only. The contractor is advised to consult provided requirement documents for up to date information and specifications.

Parameter SWFO-L1 SOL-A

Operational Availability (Ao) Ao ≥ 99.5% over a 30 day average; including weather and failure impacts.

Global Visibility

Continuous visibility when not in view of the NOAA Wallops, VA or Fairmont, WV Ground Sites, during nominal on-orbit operations.

Transitions / handoffs between ground sites shall ensure that antenna elevation to the observatory is ≥ 5°.

Service Gap

Maximum gap during scheduled service, 5 minutes, per satellite.

Maximum gap during scheduled service on a Critical Space Weather day, < 20 seconds.

S/C EIRP

(Minimum)

41 dBW, in the direction of the ground station

49 dBW, in the direction of the ground station

Carrier Frequency 8464 MHz 8459 MHz

Gap for critical space weather days 30 seconds 20 seconds

Carrier Modulation Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

(OQPSK)

(also known as Staggered QPSK)

Phase Shift Keyed (PSK)

Pulse Shaping Raised cosine Root raised cosine (RRC)

Data Rate (Max) 140 kbps (before FEC and transfer framing)

400 kbps (before FEC and transfer framing)

Encoding

RS (255, 223)

(recommended interleave depth = 5) and convolutional code, per CCSDS 131.0-B

RS (255, 223)

(recommended interleave depth = 5) and convolutional code

-OR-

Rate ⅞ LDPC All per CCSDS 131.0-B

Randomization n/a Randomized per CCSDS 131.0-B-5

Polarization LHCP

Estimated Required G/T 29 dB/K (@ 5° elevation)

BER Performance BER: 1E-8, after decoding at ≥ 5° elevation

Table 3: X-Band Telemetry Downlink Characteristics

Note: Requirements provided in Tables 2 and 3 are intended to serve as reference only. The contractor is advised to consult provided requirement documents for up to date information and specifications.

Parameter SWFO-L1 SOL

Uplink EIRP ≥ 73 dBW when at the 1 dB compression point of the transmit system.

Uplink Carrier Frequency 2074.545417 MHz 2046.4 MHz

Downlink Carrier Frequency

2252.9 MHz 2222.3348 MHz

Turn-Around Ratio 221 / 240

Polarization LHCP

G/T Minimum ≥ 22.0 dB / K (@ 5° elevation)

Spectral Mask Requirements

In compliance with requirements of NTIA Manual of Regulations and Procedures, Sect. 5.6.

Tracking Duration 1 hour of Doppler and range tracking from the southern hemisphere per session.

Simultaneous Operations

Perform telemetry reception, data playback, and two-way Doppler/range tracking.

Tracking Data Delivery

Deliver range and Doppler tracking data as CCSDS Tracking Data Message to NOAA satellite operations.

Table 4: S-Band Radiometric Tracking Characteristics

Note: Requirements provided in Table 4 are intended to serve as reference only. The contractor is advised to consult provided requirement documents for up to date information and specifications. This table is relevant only in the case that Option 2 - Southern Hemisphere, S-Band Radiometric Tracking is exercised.

3.2.1 Baseline Service - Continued X-Band Telemetry Coverage to One SWO Observatory at

L1

The contractor shall provide global X-band telemetry service to SWFO-L1 or SOL-A when it is not in view of the NOAA Wallops, VA or Fairmont, WV Ground Sites, in accordance with the relevant flight segment ICDs and within the required latency. This service shall begin April 2026 (TBR). Upon launch of SOL-A, no earlier than mid-2029, NOAA will determine whether the CAaaS will support SWFO-L1 or SOL-A, but the baseline is support to a single observatory at a time, not both observatories simultaneously. This coverage will be supplemental to that which is already provided by the NOAA ground stations, WCDAS and CBU. The antenna network must be operational by the aforementioned contract end date and provide data streams of received telemetry data in compliance with all operational and system performance requirements. The contractor shall distribute all housekeeping telemetry and mission data received at the antenna stations to the N-Wave PoP entry point to be available to the SWO Antenna Management. The contractor shall send antenna health and status to the N-Wave PoP entry point to be available to the SWO Antenna Management.

The contractor shall support all phases of the observatory-mission lifecycle as applicable:

pre-launch, launch, acquisition, post-launch, nominal operations, decommissioning, and de-orbit.

Ground station operational readiness shall be verified by March 1, 2026 (TBR). The contractor shall provide a development plan and timeline demonstrating that they can meet the due date for providing continuity service to SWFO-L1.

3.2.2 Option 1 - X-Band Telemetry Coverage to Two SWO Observatories at L1

Simultaneously

Starting with the launch of SOL-A, no earlier than mid-2029, the contractor shall provide global X-band telemetry service to both SWFO-L1 and SOL-A when it is not in view of the NOAA Wallops, VA or Fairmont, WV Ground Sites, in accordance with the relevant flight segment ICDs and within the required latency. The antenna network must be operational by the aforementioned contract launch date and provide data streams of received telemetry data in compliance with all operational and system performance requirements. The contractor shall distribute all housekeeping telemetry and mission data received at the antenna stations to the N-Wave PoP entry point to be available to the SWO Antenna Management. The contractor shall send SAN Status Data to the N-Wave PoP entry point to be available to the SWO Antenna Management.

The contractor shall support all phases of the observatory-mission lifecycle as applicable:

pre-launch, launch, acquisition, post-launch, nominal operations, decommissioning, and de-orbit.

Additional ground station capability should be ready 12-24 months ahead of the targeted launch date so that integration testing may be conducted prior to launch.

Ground station operational readiness should be verified 6-12 months (TBR) prior to the launch of

SOL-A.

3.2.3 Option 2 - Southern Hemisphere, S-Band Radiometric Tracking

The contractor shall provide radiometric tracking service to the SWFO-L1 and/or SOL-A missions. For mission tracking resolution purposes, the ground station must be located in the Southern Hemisphere. Tracking services must be operational by the aforementioned contract launch date and provide data streams of received telemetry data in compliance with all operational and system performance requirements, including the support of simultaneous ranging and X-band telemetry downlink.

Testing and validation of ground station ranging capabilities should begin 12-24 months prior to launch of SOL-A.

Ground station operational readiness should be verified 1-2 months (TBR) prior to the launch of

SOL-A.

3.3 Service Level Agreements

3.3.1 Operational Availability

Operational Availability (Ao) for X-band telemetry shall be calculated and tracked on a monthly basis. Unless otherwise specifically agreed upon, the Ao shall be calculated for the total contractor ground station network utilized by the Customer (the Government) according to the following equation:

𝐴𝑜 (%) = 100 ✕ (𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 − 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠) / 𝑆𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠

Where:

A. “Scheduled Contact Minutes” = the number of contact minutes scheduled by the Customer and confirmed and accepted by the contractor. In accordance with the agreed upon service and corresponding scheduling routines.

B. “Service Loss” = the number of scheduled contact minutes that were unsuccessful under the criteria specified in Section 3.3.2 below.

The contractor shall strive to provide ground stations as a service at a high level of Ao. The requirement of the Ao of the CAaaS is that it shall be no less than 99.5%. In the event that the service level is below the 99.5% SLA, the Customer shall be invoiced commensurate to the Ao percentage.

In the event that the Ao for all Work Orders is lower than 90.0% over a one-month invoice cycle, the Customer may terminate the Work Orders for non-compliance with and shall not be invoiced for the associated one-month period.

Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL): Monthly report that includes data per satellite delivered to each PoP.

Contractors should anticipate an invoicing process between 60-120 days while submitted reports and invoices are validated.

Contract Option 2 - Southern Hemisphere, S-Band Radiometric Tracking - Only applicable if Option 2 is executed by the Customer. If the contractor fails to schedule a ranging service contact at a minimum of a daily basis, then the contractor shall offer a credit for the next daily contact.

3.3.2 Service Definitions and Exceptions

Contacts - A “Contact” is defined as the duration of time scheduled by the Customer for transmission (downlink) and/or reception (uplink only applicable in the case of S-Band ranging) within line of sight of the ground station (horizon mask).

In the event that there are several communications services within the contact, the contact duration shall be defined from the earliest time for acquisition of signal (AOS) to the latest time for loss of signal (LOS).

A contact must have a minimum of 30 seconds duration to be considered as a contact.

Service Losses - Unsuccessful spacecraft contact, in part or in whole caused by:

A. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to antenna tracking, RF chain, or configuration issues attributable to the contractor.

B. Contacts unsuccessful due to unavailable power to the antenna or Customer Furnished Equipment (CFE).

C. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to contractor operator, human-error or insufficient / neglected routine maintenance or proactive problem resolution.

D. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to failure or outage on the network controlled by the contractor.

E. Network losses at or before delivery to the N-Wave Point of Presence F. Reallocation of the scheduled resources with SAN Operations notification and concurrent G. Changes or updates to the scheduled resources that are not updated for SWFO support schedule H. Inability to send the recorded data or replay the data

Service Losses Exceptions - “Service Losses” will not include:

A. Contacts not scheduled by the Customer according to the agreed upon service and corresponding scheduling routines excluding SOL and/or SWFO spacecraft emergencies (individual or severally).

B. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to CFE failure.

C. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to spacecraft failures or erroneous spacecraft operations, including erroneous ephemeris data provided by the Customer to the contractor.

D. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to Force Majeure or other factors outside of the control of the contractor. Service loss exceptions due to Force Majeure are allowable only to the extent the contract terms and conditions allow.

a. Force Majeure - Act of God, hurricane, blizzard, fire, flood, terrorism, war, riot, insurrection, civil commotion, national emergency, power shortage, strike, labor dispute, epidemic, quarantine, contamination, embargo.

b. It should be understood that NOAA may consider support flexibility during emergencies when evaluating service delivery metrics for each performance period

E. Contact affected by terrestrial radio interference caused by external forces outside of the contractor’s control.

F. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to previously announced downtime for routinely scheduled ground station maintenance and repair. Downtime shall be announced no less than 3 days in advance.

G. Contacts with unsuccessful acquisition due to precipitation (rain or snow) exceeding 95% of expected precipitation, as compared to the measured average of the previous 10 years.

H. Other exceptional circumstances, such as providing support for third party spacecraft emergencies, approved by the Customer in advance upon request by the contractor.

Critical Space Weather Day - A “Critical Space Weather Day” is defined as an operational condition that is declared by the Space Weather Prediction Center during times of elevated space weather activity.

Critical Space Weather includes S4-S5 solar radiation storms, R4-R5 radio blackouts, and G4-G5 geomagnetic storms.

Duration of critical space weather days can last between 3 and 21 days. Alerts, watches, warnings, and forecasts are monitorable at swpc.noaa.gov/products/alerts-watches-and-warnings.

These alerts, watches, warnings, and forecasts can be received in automated emails by subscribing on this same web site.

3.4 SWO CAaaS Interfaces and Requirements

The contractor shall interface with the SWO Antenna Network Management, to facilitate operational services that include but is not limited to, service scheduling, communication of the service status, post-service reporting, and notification of changes to the scheduled service plan.

The interfaces with the CAaaS antennas are shown in Figures 2 and 3 in Section 3.1. The contractor shall format all communications in compliance with the program data format (TBD) of the SWO Antenna Network Management system.

It is anticipated that the SWO Antenna Network Management will be modified to expand its functional interfaces beyond the SWFO mission architecture it was originally designed for. It is not expected that the SWO Antenna Network Management interface to the contractor will change as a result of this modification, however, the contractor shall provide support and development as needed to accommodate their system interface to any developments in the SWO Antenna Network Management.

The contractor shall participate in NOAA-led testing to demonstrate compliance with system requirements and to verify the functional messaging across the systems.

3.4.1 Resource Allocation

Resource allocation describes the pre-service and in-service activities necessary to use the contractor’s provisioned services. NESDIS SWO requires: (1) Service planning, (2) Service confirmation, (3) Service updates

3.4.1.1 Schedule Planning Interface

http://swpc.noaa.gov/products/alerts-watches-and-warnings

Through the contractor’s interfacing with the SWO Antenna Network Management, schedule requests and status shall be communicated between systems. TCP/IP messages containing the scheduling requests from the SWO Antenna Network Management will be received by the contractor via the N-Wave PoP interface.

The NOAA scheduling interface will send reservation requests to the contractor in order to schedule contact times for a designated mission. The request will provide a contact window and specify the mission to be supported. The contractor is responsible for confirming reception of the request and subsequently confirming or denying the availability of the ground station assets to support the contact via the NOAA scheduling interface.

In the event that service is not available, human-to-human contact can be used to facilitate scheduling and mitigation steps as needed.

3.4.1.2 Service Monitoring

Comms link status / metrics that should be reported to the Customer for each contact following the completion of a ground station contact with a mission.

The status of the parameters mentioned below should be reported continuously during a scheduled contact at an interval of 5 seconds (TBR):

1. Ground Station Azimuth

2. Ground Station Elevation

3. Ground Station Receive Frequency

4. Carrier Lock Status

5. Bit Synchronizer Status

6. Frame Synchronizer Status

7. Total Number of Frames processed by Frame Synchronizer

8. Number of Frames lost

9. Eb/No Estimate

10. Number of Corrected Frames

11. Number of Discarded / Uncorrectable Frames

The CAaaS provider shall deliver weekly (TBD) reports of the service provided to each SWO satellite, to include the following statistics

● Requested service minutes

● Service minutes successfully provided

● Data gap statistics

○ Total minutes of lost service

○ Number of data gaps

○ Duration of each data gap

● Ao

● Data latency and throughput to the N-Wave PoP

● Overall status of operations, including any off-nominal occurrences

● Resource allocation metrics indicating how frequently services are not available to SWOF-L1 and SOL-A

3.4.2 Network Requirements

3.4.2.1 Traffic: All traffic to/from contractor sites (antenna, operations center, etc.) to/from

NOAA N-Wave interface points is the responsibility of the contractor.

3.4.2.2 Bandwidth: All traffic to/from contractor sites (antenna, operations center, etc.) to/from

NOAA interface points must have sufficient bandwidth to meet the traffic requirements.

3.4.2.3 Encryption: All traffic to/from contractor sites (antenna, operations center, etc.) to/from NOAA will be protected using encryption (such as IPSec).

3.4.2.4 NOAA Points of Presence (PoPs): The contractor will interface at multiple

NOAA/N-Wave network communications entry/exits point PoPs.

3.4.2.5 N-Wave Traffic Termination: N-Wave (NOAA’s Networking Service) provides Access

Points at several POP sites that can be used to terminate the contractor encrypted up/down data streams for entry into the NOAA networks.

3.4.2.6 Contractor Traffic Termination: In some cases, with NOAA approval, the contractor may elect to provide their own equipment at N-Wave PoPs to terminate the contractor encrypted up/down data streams. However the contractor must provide external connectivity to connect to their own networks. N-Wave provides connectivity to their routers/firewalls for entry into the NOAA networks.

3.4.2.7 Traffic Measurements: Contractor responsibility ends and operational availability is measured at the N-Wave entry points.

The contractor shall demonstrate compliance with all policies and security in accordance with NIST SP 800-53 (latest version) or ISO 27000 family security standards (per Table 2).

Certification will reoccur no less than every six-months (TBR).

3.5 System Verification and Testing

The contractor is expected to support the verification and testing process as needed for each SWO mission. Through a combination of verification activities (inspection, analysis, simulation, testing, and/or demonstration) the contractor will demonstrate compliance with Operational and System Service requirements, and the ability to attain operational readiness within the timeline set by the missions.

Verification and testing procedures will be dictated by the maturity of the contractor’s service.

The contractor is encouraged to propose such procedures to demonstrate system operational readiness.

For SWFO-L1, a compressed testing and verification process may be warranted due to the mission schedule and spacecraft being in pre-launch storage. For SOL-A, testing may follow a more conventional pre-launch timeline and array of tests.

Test support from the contractor may include preparations such as test event planning, test procedure development, defining conditions for test-ready status, and identifying test configuration changes needed. Support from the contractor during and after the test event may include test execution, subsequent results analysis, troubleshooting, and the support of additional mission rehearsals as needed.

SWGS in collaboration with other NOAA offices (Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) / Office of Common Services (OCS)) will act as the test lead on these efforts.

The contractor is expected to support teleconferences and working group meetings in preparation for all test events.

3.5.1 Performance Verification

The contractor shall demonstrate compliance with Operational and System Service requirements through analysis and simulation of the ground station, using methods such as orbital simulation, link budget calculation, and cascaded RF analysis.

Documentation and cascaded analysis of the RF chain shall be provided at the system and component levels.

Measurements and documentation to be included in this report:

- Component datasheets

- Component S-parameter and delay measurements

- 1dB compression measurements of active components

- Block diagram of RF chain

- Cascaded S-parameter measurement or calibrated frequency sweep

- Executive summary of Orbital simulation results, used to address the Global Visibility and Operational Availability requirements

- Link budget analysis

- Ground modem documentation

- Block diagram of data routing over network to interface

In addition, the contractor should provide an operational timeline which identifies system verification and testing milestones needed to declare operational readiness.

Associated documentation, measurements, and analysis will be briefed and provided to the Customer no later than 60 days (TBR) after the contract award.

3.5.2 RF Compatibility Testing and Verification

The contractor may be needed to support pre-launch compatibility testing to demonstrate the operational status of the ground station’s RF signal path. This verification may be accomplished through interfacing with the RF Record and Playback Prototype (R2P2), which provides playback of science mission data recorded directly from the SWFO-L1 and SOL-A spacecraft at X-band. The X-band recordings will be played back into the ground station through a test injection point located as close to the antenna’s receive feed as possible.

The success of the test will be conditional on the BER performance of the ground station.

3.5.3 Network Testing and Verification

The contractor shall support pre-launch compatibility testing to demonstrate end-to-end data flow and delivery to the defined NOAA interface, the N-Wave PoP. Potentially through the use of the R2P2 and/or contractor copies of the recorded signals, representative signals will be injected into a ground station test injection point and routed to the N-Wave PoP as it would be during nominal operations.

Mission operations of each mission (MOS & C2) will be used to verify the reception of transfer packets over the network from the commercial ground station.

4 PROGRAMMATIC REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Overall CAaaS Responsibilities and Constraints

4.1.1 The CAaaS Contractor shall advise and assist the Government in achieving Commercial

Antenna as a Service in compliance with NOAA-directed and other applicable standards.

4.1.2 The CAaaS Contractor shall communicate, collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate with the Government, and other contractors, and other CAaaS support organizations bringing new capabilities, services, or changes to the CAaaS environment.

4.1.3 The CAaaS Contractor shall operate, maintain, and sustain all CAaaS Capabilities, including development and test environments, as directed by the Government.

4.1.4 The CAaaS Contractor shall procure, install, maintain, and sustain all tools and equipment for production and test environments.

4.1.5 The CAaaS Contractor shall ensure security controls for all activities and changes to the CAaaS are applied In Accordance With, (IAW) direction from government authority/(ies).

4.1.6 The CAaaS Contractor shall comply with CAaaS SLAs as directed by the Government.

4.1.7 The CAaaS Contractor shall make recommendations to the Government that promotes internal and external CAaaS interoperability with other systems.

4.1.8 The CAaaS Contractor shall support Government efforts to rationalize, modernize, and consolidate the CAaaS into an enterprise reference architecture.

4.1.9 The CAaaS Contractor shall maintain comprehensive CAaaS documentation that directly supports execution of mission requirements and provides detailed instructions for all CAaaS functions (e.g., procedures, checklists, worksheets, and runbooks). Potential

CDRL?

4.1.10 The CAaaS contractor should make recommendations to the government to rationalize delegated decision making process during non-business hours, to include when the government Point of Contacts (POCs) are not available.

4.2 Equipment Installation and Conformance

4.2.1 The CAaaS Contractor shall ensure that equipment installed at CAaaS service interface points complies with the existing NOAA/NESDIS architecture, Operations Support Systems (OSS), and Authorities to Operate (ATO).

4.2.2 The CAaaS Contractor shall use the NOAA/NESDIS Approved Products and change control process(es) when specifying or purchasing equipment.

4.3 GFE/GFI

NOAA will provide space to ground interface control documents, ground network interconnection and security documents, and related specifications after task award.

Appendix A

Abbreviations and Acronyms AOS Acquisition of Signal ATO Authority to Operate C2 Command and Control CAaaS Commercial Antenna as a Service CBU Consolidated Backup (Fairmont, WV) CCB Configuration Control Board CCR Configuration Change Request CDRL Contract Data Requirements List CFE Customer Furnished Equipment CMO Configuration Management Office CO Contracting Officer COR Contracting Officer Representative DIL Deliverable Items List DOC Department of Commerce DSN Deep Space Network ERB Engineering Review Board GEO Geostationary Orbit GLS Ground Link Simulator GS Ground Segment GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center GSP Ground Segment Project HEO Highly Elliptical Orbit HW Hardware IAW In Accordance With L1 Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 L5 Lagrange Point 5 LEO Low Earth Orbit LOS Loss of Signal MOS Mission Operations Services NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NESDIS National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NSN Near Space Network NSOF NOAA Satellite Operations Facility NWS National Weather Service OCS Office of Common Services OSPO Office of Satellite and Product Operations OSS Operations Support Systems POC Point of Contact PS Product Services PWS Performance Work Statement RD Requirements Document RF Radio Frequency RFP Request for Proposal SAN SWFO Antenna Network SEV Sun-Earth-Vehicle SGC Space-Ground Communications SGSP SWFO Ground Segment Project SLA Service Level Agreement SOL Solar weather Observations at Lagrange 1 SOW Statement of Work SW Next Space Weather Next SWFO Space Weather Follow On SWFO-L1 Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (Observatory) SWGS Space Weather Ground Services SWO Office of Space Weather Observations SWPC Space Weather Prediction Center TBD To Be Determined TBR To Be Reviewed TBS To Be Supplied TO Transition to Operations URL Uniform Resource Locator WCDAS Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station (NOAA)

1.5Definitions and Glossary