FRFP Cover Letter - 80GRC026R0010 - APSL.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration John H. Glenn Research Center Lewis Field Cleveland, OH 44135-3191

September 25, 2026

Reply to Attn of: Office of Procurement

TO: All Potential Offerors

SUBJECT: Request for Proposals (RFP) for Aerospace Power Systems Laboratory (APSL), Solicitation No. 80GRC026R0010

You are invited to submit a proposal in response to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC) Aerospace Power Systems Laboratory (APSL) solicitation. The principal purpose of this requirement is to provide a laboratory facility using a two-phase design-build to support the testing and development of power systems with associated site work, infrastructure, and systems. The place of performance is onsite at GRC and offsite at the Contractor’s facilities.

NASA will conduct this acquisition as a full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 236220, and the small business size standard is Insert $45.0M.

This competitive acquisition will result in a two-phase design-build Firm-fixed Price contract with four options. Phase 2 will be awarded through the exercise of options rather than a second solicitation. The contract design is below:

1. Phase 1: Awarded to up to three offerors.

• Submissions Required:

o Technical Approach (both design and construction execution - excluding detailed design and technical information) o Technical Qualifications (both design and construction) o Relevant Experience & Past Performance

• Evaluation Factors: As individual factors, Technical Qualifications are approximately equal to Relevant Experience and Past Performance, both of which are more important than Technical Approach. Price is not a factor.

• Award Guidance: The Phase 1 awardees will have identical contracts issued with a $150,000 stipend for their conceptual design and technical proposal. None of the options will be exercised at the completion of Phase 1.

o Base (CLIN0001) is for Conceptual Design & Technical Proposal awarded.

o Option 1 (CLIN0002) for a Complete Design awarded but unexercised o Option 2 (CLIN0003) for Construction awarded but unexercised o Option 3 (CLIN0004) for Incentive awarded but unexercised o Option 4 (CLIN0005) for Incentive awarded but unexercised

2. Phase 2: Final Award. Exercise Options for the final awardee. The Phase 2 RFP will tentatively be issued to up to three Phase 1 awardees on or about December 21, 2026.

The Phase 1 awardees will be provided time for a site visit, a one-on-one meeting with the requesting authority and contracting officer, and time to submit requests for information.

• Submissions Required:

o Technical Approach (detailed conceptual design and technical information) o Relevant Experience & Past Performance (primarily from Phase 1 submission) o Price

• Evaluation Factors: As individual factors, Technical Approach is more important than Price, which is approximately equal to Relevant Experience and Past Performance.

When combined, Technical Approach and Relevant Experience and Past Performance are significantly more important than Price.

• Award Guidance: The final awardee will have Options 1 and 2 exercised. Options 3 and 4 are dependent upon the awardee’s performance.

o Option 1 (CLIN0002) for a Complete Design awarded o Option 2 (CLIN0003) for Construction awarded o TBD - Option 3 (CLIN0004) for Incentive is performance dependent o TBD - Option 4 (CLIN0005) for Incentive is performance dependent

• Non-Selected Phase 1 Awardees: The up to two Phase 1 awardees, not selected for Phase 2, will invoice for their design stipend and their contracts will be closed with all options unexercised. The Government will retain rights to the Phase 1 design submittal.

The anticipated contract award date is December 16, 2026. The contract will be performed onsite at NASA GRC and offsite at the Contractor’s facilities.

Potential offerors should pay close attention to all solicitation instructions; however, the following requirements list is summarized to assist in proposal development. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and the solicitation terms and conditions and provisions in sections L and M take precedence:

1. Site Visits/Conferences. There is no site visit scheduled for Phase 1. In accordance with 1852.215-77, a Preproposal/Pre-Bid Conference will be held at a time to be determined between Phase 1 award and Phase 2 proposal submission.

2. Be advised, in accordance with provision L4, offerors need to encourage their references to submit their Past Performance Questionnaires directly to the Contracting Officer prior to proposal due date.

3. Offerors are required to have a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code that matches the corporate address submitted with its proposal.

4. Offerors are encouraged to refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.215-1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS–COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION, in particular paragraph (f)(4) which discusses the Government’s right to award a contract without negotiations (except clarifications).

5. This is a full and open solicitation; However, the Phase 2 awardee will be required to submit small business goals.

6. Do not submit any pricing with Phase 1 RFP.

7. Project Labor Agreements are applicable in accordance with Executive Orders.

8. Facilities clearance is required for this acquisition in accordance with GRC 52.237-91.

For proposals submitted as joint ventures (JV), facility clearance must be granted in the name of the JV.

9. Potential offerors should ensure their company is listed in the online databases for the following:

a. System for Award Management

b. U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, VETS-

4212 Reports

c. US Government’s unique entity identifier (UEI)

In order to control and protect sensitive data owned by the Government and its Contractors, NASA policy required all acquisition-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). While the RFP’s Price Volume exhibits are in PDF format, the Offeror’s Price Volume proposal must include completed Price Volume exhibits in Microsoft Office Excel format with working cell formulas. Instructions for converting from PDF format to Excel format can be found in the Insert the provision (if applicable) or other document that includes these instructions. There is no Price factor for Phase 1.

Documents related to this acquisition, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, exhibits, any amendments and links to online reference/technical/bidders library will be attainable electronically through the Government-wide point of entry website at www.SAM.gov. Potential offerors are requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.

NFS 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp- Advocate-Listing.pdf https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf

This RFP does not commit NASA GRC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA GRC to procure or contract for these services. 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.

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation are due no later than October 30, 2026, at 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). Proposals for this solicitation are required to be submitted through NASA’s Enterprise File Sharing and Sync Box (EFSS Box), a FedRAMP Moderate certified platform. Potential offerors, especially those that have not previously submitted a proposal utilizing NASA’s EFSS Box, are encouraged to review the solicitation instruction entitled “Electronic Proposal Delivery - Proposal Marking and Delivery Through NASA’s EFSS Box” which provides instructions related to the submission of proposal via EFSS Box. Offerors are encouraged to check with their corporate IT staff to determine if there are firewall restrictions that would need to be addressed prior to the submission of proposal files through NASA’s EFSS Box.

In accordance with NFS CG 1815.11(i), a “Blackout Notice” has been issued to NASA personnel. All inquiries/communications pertaining to this acquisition must be directed only at the Contracting Officer listed below.

All questions regarding this RFP should be submitted in writing, electronically to John Christel, Contracting Officer, at john.a.christel@nasa.gov on or before October 12, 2026. Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration.

Thank you for your support. We look forward to receiving your proposals.

John A. Christel Contracting Officer