2020-04-07 TAOS QA.pdf

UNCLASSIFIED//Distribution A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited.

TAOS BAA, Call 001 Q&A 07 April 2020

General Notes

1) An Unclassified//Limited Distribution Addendum to this Q&A Document is available to those who send an email stating intent to submit a White Paper. Please submit the intent to response and request the limited distribution Q&A to the points of contact identified in the Call.

2) Throughout the open solicitation, the Government team cannot accept any one-on-one briefings or Q&A. If your team has ideas for consideration, please submit them according to the Call instructions. If your team has questions, feel free to email the points of contact identified in the Call. Questions will be aggregated, listed, and answered in a Q&A posted on beta.SAM.gov.

Questions

3) Anticipated Funding (BAA, page 3).

a. The Chart shows funding starting in GFY 2019, and running for four fiscal years with a distribution ($1.5M; $2M; $2M; $2.5M). Does AFRL intend the funding to start in GFY 2020 with the same distribution?

Correct, and these are aggregate funding amounts (sum of all awards)

b. Can AFRL recommend how many awards are planned?

This is not known. This Call covers a wide range of technical scope, and multiple awards may be used to span this scope sufficiently.

4) Does AFRL anticipate an extension of the due date under the current state of national emergency due to coronavirus pandemic?

The due date has been extended. Please review the Call for the most current due date submission information.

5) Does the cover page count against the White Paper five-page maximum limit?

No, the cover page is not included in the 5 page maximum limit.

6) Does the ROM cost section single-page count against the White Paper five-page maximum limit?

No, the ROM cost section is not included in the 5 page maximum limit.

7) Does the Addendum of Key Personnel count towards the White Paper five-page maximum limit?

No, the addendum of key personnel is not included in the 5 page maximum limit.

8) Is it permissible to contact the Government Technical Points of Contact to directly request additional discussions?

UNCLASSIFIED//Distribution A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited.

See #2, above.

9) Does AFRL-RDS intend the “Task 1 Conceptual design studies” to focus on operations at Starfire Optical Range (SOR), elsewhere, or at a combination of locations?

The studies shall be generalized to inform impacts from various site options.

10) Has AFRL-RDS determined specific optical wavelengths of interest already, based on existing or available laser technology or receiver technology?

Wavelength has not been fixed.

11) AFRL-RDS cites “…technical solutions to develop an active optical ranging and characterization capability…”. Some previous AFRL TAOS content (and related presentations) indicated that inverse synthetic aperture imaging (ISAL) is an important sensing methodology.

a. Is the primary (only?) focus of this effort precision ranging?

b. Can AFRL-RDS comment on the desired range resolution?

c. Does AFRL-RDS request development of imaging (1D shape echoes, 2D image, 3D image, “N”D) capabilities?

d. Is imaging capability already sufficiently well developed?

As stated in the call, the focus of this effort is to develop technologies that support rapid orbit determination and detection of closely spaced objects.