Draft Request For Proposal (DRFP) Cover Letter.pdf

March 23, 2021

OP-LS

TO: All Potential Offerors

SUBJECT: Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP), Solicitation No. 80KSC020R0058, for Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) Launch Services

You are invited to review and comment on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) Launch Services solicitation. The principal purpose of this requirement is to provide FAA licensed launch services capable of delivering payloads to a variety of orbits, with a minimum of a 200 km circular orbit, including escape trajectories. The resultant RFP will request Offerors to price Standard Launch Services on a not-to-exceed (NTE) basis and provide labor rates for Special Task Assignments. Although there are no missions included in this draft solicitation, a mission(s) may be included in the final RFP and proposal instructions will be provided at that time.

Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation, including the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches. 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, attachments and appendices, and the evaluation criteria.

This competitive acquisition will result in a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the ability to issue FFP task orders. The contract will have an effective ordering period of 5 years from the contract effective date. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 481212 and the small business size standard is 1,500 employees.

Potential offerors should ensure its company is listed in the online database(s) for the following:

(1) System for award management: https://www.sam.gov/SAM/

(2) U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, VETS-4212

Reports: https://vets4212.dol.gov/vets4212/

The successful offeror must pass an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) clearance before contract award (See FAR 22.805).

It is anticipated that the RFP will be released in June 2021, with proposals being due 30 calendar days later. It is anticipated contract award will be made in October 2021.

The following additional information is provided to assist in understanding this acquisition:

After release of the draft RFP, the VADR Industry Day is anticipated to be held on April 1, 2021. Notice will be posted on the acquisition website noted below.

Documents related to this acquisition, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, appendices and any amendments will be attainable electronically from the World Wide Web through the Government-wide point of entry website at www.beta.SAM.gov. In order to control and protect sensitive data, NASA policy requires all acquisition-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Potential Offerors are requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.

NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) clause 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is Kelvin Manning, Kelvin.m.manning@nasa.gov, 321-867- 7246.

This DRFP is not a solicitation and NASA is not requesting proposals. This DRFP does not commit NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center 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.

For your convenience, VADR Comment card is attached:

Instructions for submitting comments/questions:

1. Submit all comments utilizing the Excel file titled “VADR Comment Card.xls” attached.

2. Input each comment by utilizing the provided drop down menus, in the columns titled

“DRFP Section,” SOW Section,” and “Attachment,” to correlate comment to appropriate section of the DRFP. For general comments or any comment that does not pertain to a specific section or attachment, select N/A from the drop down menus.

3. Each new comment/question shall be placed on a separate row and have the applicable section identified.

4. To submit the completed comment/question card please rename the file to include the name of your company (example: “Your Company Name” Comment Card.xls).

5. Reference the synopsis number, 80KSC020R0058, in the subject line of the e-mail.

Oral communications will not be accepted.

Prospective offerors are encouraged to submit written comments/questions via email to ksc-vadr@mail.nasa.gov.

Prospective offerors are requested to submit comments/questions as soon as they are identified and as frequently as needed. All comments/questions should be submitted within 30 calendar days after release of this DRFP to permit the Government sufficient time for consideration. The Government may answer comments/questions prior to issuance of the RFP or with it. If a respondent believes their comments contain confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive, or business information, those questions/comments shall be marked appropriately. However, questions that are marked as containing confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive or business information will not be provided a Government response. To the extent a comment leads the Government to revise the acquisition approach or requirements, the change will be reflected in the Final RFP.

On behalf of NASA, thank you for your interest in this acquisition.

Kathy Owen Contracting Officer

Enclosure:

Draft RFP 80KSC020R0058