SETS BAA CALL 0002_26Jun24.pdf

AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY/ SPACE VEHICLE DIRECTORATE SPACE ENVIRONMENT

TECHNOLOGIES AND SCIENCE (SETS) PROGRAM

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

FA9453-23-R-X001

PROPOSAL CALL ANNOUNCEMENT CALL 002

GEOSPACE ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND SCIENCE (GETS)

26 JUN 2024

NAICS CODE: 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)

PSC CODE: AC12

FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate (RV) Geospace Technologies Division (RVB) Geospace Environment Impacts and Applications Branch’s (RVBX)

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT NUMBER: FA9453-23-R-X001

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE: Space Environment Technologies and Science (SETS) Program

CALL ANNOUNCEMENT (CALL) NUMBER: 002

CALL TITLE: Geospace Environment Technologies and Science (GETS)

CALL TYPE: Two Step

TECHNICAL AREAS: 1) Solar, Solar Wind, and Ionospheric Effects, 2) Thermosphere, Satellite Drag and the Reentry Environment, 3) Plasma Physics and Chemistry, 4) Particle Physics and Radiation Belt Environment, and 5) Cislunar Environment

DUE DATE AND TIME: 26 July 2024

APPLICABILITY OF BASELINE BAA: All requirements of FA9453-23-R-X001 apply unless specifically amended and addressed in this Call. For complete information regarding FA9453-23-R-X001, refer to the initial FULL TEXT Closed BAA. It contains information applicable to all Calls issued under the BAA and provides information on the overall program, proposal preparation and submission requirements, proposal review and evaluation criteria, award administration, agency contacts, etc. For any discrepancies, please contact the contracting officer's attention immediately.

Initial FULL TEXT Closed BAA link: link will be here

I. REQUIREMENT INFORMATION:

A. BACKGROUND: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate (RV) Geospace Technologies Division (RVB) Geospace Environment Impacts and Applications Branch’s (RVBX) is seeking sources capable of supporting the program’s fundamental and advanced research in space and environmental impacts technologies. Additionally, the program is https://sam.gov/opp/3a9c2cbc14274171af81eb749e4762c2/view interested in understanding and quantifying the impact of the space environment on Department of Defense and national security systems and in achieving a capability to specify, predict, mitigate, and exploit the effects of the space environment that can disrupt or degrade operational systems.

B. DESCRIPTION: This Call is specifically requesting potential Offeror(s) to provide White Papers addressing at least one or any combination of Topics 1-5 from the Space Environment Technologies and Science (SETS) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Topic areas are:

1. Solar, Solar Wind, and Ionospheric Effects

2. Thermosphere, Satellite Drag and the Reentry Environment

3. Plasma Physics and Chemistry

4. Particle Effects and Radiation Belt Environment

5. Cislunar Environment

C. OBJECTIVE: The effort outlined by this Call does not represent separate, discipline scientific and engineering activities. The Government's existing and planned contracts and in-house research teams have produced and continue to produce substantial discipline knowledge and technologies. The objective of this Call relates to the interdisciplinary development and integration of those products and products of the greater research community leading to innovative new space environment awareness, mitigation and exploitation capabilities for the joint warfighter. In such a body of work, the various research activities are expected to be tightly coupled, with requirements from one aspect driving scientific investigation of another, with the combined results feeding into novel technologies. These new capabilities must be cost-effective, and new ideas that build on existing capabilities and investments will likely prove advantageous.

To achieve this objective, the Offeror should provide a response that involves integrating and coordinating, simultaneous activity in several interrelated areas, including the research, development, and evaluation of advanced techniques for the observing/sensing, collection, transport, processing, and storage of terrestrial and space system geophysical data needed to support novel capabilities, including the planning, scheduling and evaluation of collection schemes. Such efforts should advance the Government's existing techniques, as well as enable new capabilities, and must specifically include the exploitation of:

1. Past and Upcoming AFRL Space Experiments: AFRL Demonstrations and Science

Experiments and in-situ instrumentation, payloads, and flight experiments to characterize the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the upper atmospheric and ionospheric environment, to include natural and artificial disturbances, as well as assess and characterize impacts to military and civilian communications, navigation, and surveillance systems.

2. Other space missions addressing elements of the space environment, including operational systems such as Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2), Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M), other energetic charged particle (ECP) observing missions.

These missions are designed to exercise and mature sensors and systems capable of measuring the energetic charged particle and ionized environments. They will operate in concert with ground sensors intended to enable the next-generation of space environment specification and forecast, including magnetometer or variometer systems, passive ionospheric sensors, enhanced sounders, radio frequency (RF) beacons or transponders, antenna array-based systems, and ground receivers. The efforts should advance the Government’s development of novel sensing techniques, data quality control algorithms, and integration into data assimilative models. The efforts should also evaluate constellation and sensor deployments with regard to environment hazards to inform future sensing architectures. Using such data sets obtained from space-based sensors operating in concert with ground-based sensors, design and evaluation of integrated space environment modeling techniques that exploit multiple measurement platforms, phenomena, and environmental domains to provide integrated, statistical predictions and specifications needed to support next-generation capabilities for next-generation system operation and design.

The efforts should advance the Government's prediction and specification ability for the environment, interact where appropriate to enhance non-environmental specifications and prediction capabilities, as well as provide new capabilities. In addition, research objectives should progress describing the environmental impacts on spacecraft operations and electromagnetic propagation and quantify degradation and interference from perturbations.

Specific target applications for development and/or insertion of new capability include:

1. Ionospheric specification and forecasting including global and regional Total Electron Content (TEC) and bottomside attributes, irregularity structure models including E region and high latitude phenomena, scintillation analyses, extension to all latitudes, and at scales relevant to RF propagation and impacts

2. High-latitude ionospheric driver specification (i.e., plasma convection, particle precipitation, and thermospheric winds), including possible improvements to climatology and real-time data driven schema.

3. Local space environment situational awareness models and tools to identify and attribute environmental risks to spacecraft operation including spacecraft hazards and spacecraft RF systems

4. AFRL’s RF Attribution and Interference Detection system for identifying and attributing environmental effects and hazards to spacecraft RF systems

5. AFRL’s International Radiation Environment Near Earth (IRENE) model including current component models AE9, AP9, and SPM for energetic Electrons, energetic Protons, and Space Plasma Model, respectively, and future component models such as the SAPPHIRE-2S solar proton model

6. Outer zone radiation belt models such as the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) model and GPS-based Outer Zone Model

7. Inner zone proton models such as the Selesnick Inner Zone Model (SIZM)

8. Spacecraft charging assessment tools and models such as the NASA/Air Force

Spacecraft Charging Analysis Program (Nascap-2k)

9. Physics-based improvements for magnetospheric specification and forecasting models such as AFRL’s Magnetospheric Specification and Forecast Model (MSFM)

10. Solar forecasting models and tools such as the Solar Indices Forecasting Tool

(SIFT), Air Force Data Assimilative Photospheric Flux transport (ADAPT) model, and solar energetic particles (SEP) Forecasting System

11. Techniques to forecast, mitigate, or exploit impacts of the space environment on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) systems

12. AFRL’s Special Transport and Chemistry (STC) model investigating the dynamics of artificial plasma clouds

13. Modeling of high-altitude nuclear explosion-produced artificial radiation belt impacts and remediation

14. Cislunar environment climatology and modeling including magnetotail plasma dynamics

The combined sensing and modeling products will be refined, extended and validated through laboratory experiments with ionospheric, thermospheric, magnetospheric and heliospheric applicability, to include basic and applied research project tailoring and execution; the design, test, prototyping and demonstration of novel space environment monitoring and observing systems; the design, test, prototyping and demonstration of novel space environment mitigation and exploitation technologies; fundamental and applied space environment chemistry experiments, including in the field; and the study of space plasma dynamics, material aging and characterization, component qualification, and spacecraft charging. To accurately simulate the charged particle environment of space and study its interaction with the materials and systems intended to operate therein, the efforts should support the Government in developing test facilities and methodologies to accurately mimic the space environment to more rapidly evaluate materials and systems in ground-based testing to facilitate the rapid adaptation of novel materials/technologies, reduce risk, calibrate environmental sensors and create a more agile pathway for new space technologies. This development is critical to the rapid deployment of space-based assets.

The efforts will also assist the government in the development of international environmental testing standards that will standardize the protocol by which a material will be brought to market.

The integrated sensing and modeling techniques should be driven and exercised by next generation space environment impact prediction, visualization and attribution technologies that combine, as appropriate, solar, solar wind, magnetosphere and ionosphere observational data, integrated environmental models, and engineering data to provide enhanced awareness, predictive capabilities, and mitigation and exploitation courses of action. This research, development, design, and evaluation effort should enhance the Government's existing space system awareness and planning capabilities, as well as enable new capabilities. These new technologies must in-turn consider compatibility and interoperability with the larger Air and Space Forces’ toolset for planning, situational awareness and command and control (C2). Specific types of impacts include upsets, degradation or interference to space vehicles or their payloads and radio frequency systems, including but not limited to communication and surveillance applications. Gains over the current state-of-practice at this end of the utility chain are the ultimate goal of this work.

The Government's objective in this effort is to build upon the current state of the art by specifying and predicting the space environment, expand where necessary the current state of the science, including with artificial intelligence/machine learning techniques, and ultimately to advance the Air Force's operational capabilities to predict, specify, mitigate and exploit the space environment. In particular, this effort will perform cross-disciplinary research and development to integrate models, data and tools across the solar, heliosphere, magnetosphere, thermosphere and ionosphere domains to meet Joint Force needs, including the investigation, design and evaluation of new measurement, modeling, mitigation and exploitation techniques and tools, and the definition of interfaces for those capabilities to the larger Air and Space Forces’ toolset. These interfaces will demand consideration early in the development cycle of interoperability and information assurance equities. The results of this work will be captured in reports, computer software products, and data sets/models key to advancing the Government's science and technology efforts in this area and leading to transition of new capabilities into DoD operations or to industry partners for further technology maturation.

The integrated, cross-disciplinary and tightly-coupled nature of these efforts is likely to require and encourage teaming between offerors in order to meet the Government's requirements. Highly rated offerors will demonstrate depth of knowledge in and breadth of knowledge across the relevant discipline areas, experience in integrating research across those disciplines, and experience in the development of advanced technology from those integrated results. Professional software development capability and experience are also required, as is experience with space environment sensor design, data handling, processing and analysis of results from space flight experiments.

Given the inherent uncertainties in research and development and, in particular, the type of integrated effort described here, the Government fully expects that various approaches and efforts will advance at different rates or fail to advance in the manner originally envisioned.

It is further recognized that by the nature of any Research and Development effort, work attempted to include this requirement, could change and or advance through new discoveries or by the use of differing methodologies to arrive at an acceptable and usable solution. It is anticipated that substantial Government-contractor communication will be needed to fully achieve the goals of this effort, and that specific objectives or tasks may require alteration, extension, or elimination as the state-of-the-art advances.

II. AWARD INFORMATION:

A. ANTICIPATED FUNDING: This funding profile is an estimate only and will not be a contractual obligation for funding. All funding is subject to change due to Government discretion and availability of funds and the technical work to be accomplished. Anticipated funding for this Call (not per contract or award) is:

FY 24 FY 25 FY 26 FY 27 FY28 Total anticipated funding:

$3,324,000 $5,583,000 $5,721,000 $5,862,000 $6,008,000 $26,498,000

B. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS: The cost of preparing white papers and proposals in response to this Call and any subsequent request for proposal is not considered an allowable direct charge to a resulting or other contract.

C. ANTICIPATED NUMBER OF AWARDS: The Air Force anticipates awarding a minimum of one

(1) contract. However, the Air Force does reserve the right to make multiple awards or no awards pursuant to this Call. Additionally, the Air Force reserves the right to award, some, all, or none of any white paper or proposal submitted in response to this Call.

D. ANTICIPATED AWARD DATE: Expected award date is 01 February 2025.

E. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE (POP): The anticipated contract period of performance is 63 months with 60 months for technical performance and 3 months for a final reporting.

F. ANTICIPATED TYPE OF CONTRACTS/INSTRUMENTS: The Air Force anticipates awarding a

Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee contract as a result of this Call, but also reserves the right to award the instrument best suited to the nature of research proposed.

G. DELIVERABLES ITEMS: The anticipated deliverable items are subject to negotiation:

1. Software and Documentation

2. Presentation materials

3. Monthly Status Reports

4. Final Scientific and Technical Reports

5. Monthly Financial Reports

Data deliverables are subject to negotiations. The following Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs) is representative of data requirements that may be required. See attachments for more details.

A001: Scientific & Technical Reports A002: Status Report A003: Computer Software Products A004: Presentation Material A005: Funds and Man-Hours Expenditure Report

The anticipated deliverables include data. The Government may consider all applicable data rights clauses, as necessary, to meet the Government’s mission and technical objectives.

H. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY: None anticipated.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

A. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST (OCI): All OCI issues and the need for applicable clauses will be resolved prior to award.

B. SECURITY REQUIREMENT: It is anticipated that after award the contractor will require access to classified information during the effort. In accordance with FAR 52.204-2 the resulting award will require a DD Form 254. Offerors must have a valid U.S. security clearance of SECRET or higher in order to respond to this Call because this Call may include information classified at the SECRET or higher level which will be released only to offerors possessing the appropriate clearance. All classified material will be handled in accordance with E.O. 13526, National Industrial Security

Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) DoD 5220.22-M, Industrial Security Regulation (DoD

5220.22-R), DoDM Industrial Security Program 5200.01 Volume 1 through 4, and AFI 16-1406.

C. BASE SUPPORT AND ACCESS: Base support is anticipated. The Government will ensure the contractor has access to all facilities where work will be performed. The government will provide workspace for the contractor providing onsite technical support. The Government will provide on-site Contractor personnel with staging area, access to projection equipment, and access to appropriate Government files and databases. General office supplies, such as pens, paper, staplers, etc., will not be provided. Use is limited to official Government business related to the performance of the requirements in this contract. The Government will provide access to all Government facilities, as necessary, including sponsorship for access to non-Government facilities, for execution of all Contractor tasks. 52.204-2, Security Requirements and 5352.242- 9000 Contractor Access to Department of the Air Force Installations apply to contracts made under this call.

D. FOREIGN NATIONALS: No Foreign Nationals will be considered for this Call.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

A. PROPOSAL DUE DATE AND TIME: Proposals must be submitted in response to this Call no later than on 26 July 2025, 1200 hours MDT.

White papers for any other technical areas identified in the overall Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will not be accepted in response to this Call solicitation. Proposals received after the due date and time shall be governed by the provisions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3).

Offerors may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this announcement are not met by the due date and time.

B. INTENT TO PROPOSE: Potential offerors are requested to advise the contracting point of contacts if they intend to submit a white paper in response to this Call. Such notification is merely a courtesy and is not a commitment by the offeror to submit a white paper.

C. CALL AMENDMENTS: Offerors should monitor SAM.gov for any additional notices to this Call that may permit extensions to the proposal submission date or otherwise modify this announcement.

D. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: White Papers must be submitted to the contract specialist annotated below via email to AFRL.RVKB.CONTRACTS@spaceforce.mil with a subject line of “[CONTRACTOR NAME] SETS BAA Call 002 White Paper”. The government requests a minimum of 30 calendar days for reviewing and selecting white papers for proposal selection.

White paper submissions must reference the BAA number FA9453-23-R-X001 as well as the Call number i.e., “Call 002,” and title.

E. WHITE PAPER PROCESS: Below are specifics regarding white paper format and content. White paper submissions must follow all format and content criteria provided in both the overarching BAA and the individual Call.

F. GENERAL WHITE PAPER INSTRUCTIONS: White papers that include data restricted from public disclosure or used by the Government for any purpose should be marked with the proper mailto:AFRL.RVKB.CONTRACTS@spaceforce.mil disclosure and use of data restrictions. Submissions must reference the BAA number FA9453-23- R-X001 as well as the Call i.e., “Call 002,” and title.

G. WHITE PAPER FORMAT:

a. Instructions White Paper Technical Volume:

White papers should capture innovative and technically sound approach to accomplish the Call’s objective(s) and/or advances in knowledge, understanding, technology, and state-of-the-art.

After the review of white papers, the Government will determine whether a formal proposal will be requested based on the evaluation criteria listed in section V, White Paper Evaluation Criteria. Offerors of those white papers evaluated as satisfying the technical merit factor (Section V, paragraph b) and for which it is determined there is sufficient funding available, will be sent a letter Request for Proposal (RFP) to submit a formal technical and cost/business proposal to the contracting point of contact. An RFP does not assure an offeror of a subsequent contract award. White papers not selected for full proposal submission will be disposed/destroyed in a manner that protects proprietary data.

Any questions concerning the white paper preparation shall be referred to the Contracting POC cited in the Call.

b. White Paper Cost/Business Volume (two-step process):

You may be ineligible for award if all requirements of this solicitation are not met on the whitepaper and/or proposal due date. The Cost/Business section which includes the ROM should provide top-level details on major cost items such as labor, special equipment that will need to be purchased, materials, and any subcontracts or other organizations’ costs (to include Government furnished facilities, equipment, or personnel) for the proposed effort. The ROM cost section shall not exceed one page.

c. White Paper Format:

i. Technical volume shall be limited to five (5) pages and shall be prepared and submitted in Microsoft Word file format (cover page does not count towards the 5 page limit).

ii. Cost/Business volume is limited to one (1) page for the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) and shall be prepared and submitted in Microsoft Excel file format with formulas included.

iii. Paper Size – 8.5 inch x 11 inch

iv. Margins – one-inch on each side

v. Font - Calibri 11+ point font or equivalent to include tables, diagrams, and charts.

vi. Any other information (e.g. captions, restrictive markings) shall not be smaller than Calibri 10 point font or equivalent.

V. WHITTE PAPER EVALUATION CRITERIA:

a. The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of each white paper to determine its overall merit in response to the Call. White papers that meet both the Technical Merit and Affordability factors will be sent a Request for Proposal.

i. Overall scientific or technical merit:

- Offeror demonstrates innovation.

- Offeror demonstrates knowledge and application of state-of-the-art methods and/or technologies.

- Problem statement, objectives and deliverables are clearly defined.

- Objectives and expected results are anchored by theory, analysis, or data.

- Assumptions are logical, reasonable, and appropriate.

ii. Affordability:

- Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate

1. Appropriate for the expected benefit.

2. Sufficient funding is available.

b. White papers will be evaluated and categorized as follows:

i. Best Value: Scientifically and technically sound approach relevant to mission needs and funding available.

ii. Valuable: Scientifically and technically sound approach relevant to mission needs but no funding available.

iii. Not Recommended: Not a scientifically and technically sound approach and/or not relevant to mission needs.

White papers that satisfy both technical merit and affordability will be evaluated as Best Value.

VI. AWARD NOTICES: Offerors will be notified whether their white paper evaluation in writing from the government contract office. A notification of recommendation for award is not to be construed to mean the award of a contract is assured as availability of funds and successful negotiations are prerequisites to any award.

VII. TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT:

Primary: Dr. Benjamin Prince, AFRL/RVBX E-mail: benjamin.prince.2@spaceforce.mil

Alternate: Dr. William Robert Johnston, AFRL/RVBX E-mail: william.johnston.19@spaceforce.mil mailto:benjamin.prince.2@spaceforce.mil mailto:william.johnston.19@spaceforce.mil

VIII. CONTRACTING POINTS OF CONTACT:

Contracting Officer: Isaac Thorp, AFRL/RVKB E-mail: isaac.thorp@spaceforce.mil

Contract Specialist: Ever Orozco Perea AFRL/RVKB E-mail: ever.orozco-perea@spaceforce.mil

IX. ATTACHMENTS

1. Statement of Objectives (SOO)

2. Draft DD Form 1423-1, Contract Data Requirements List (CDRLs)