HR001118S0055.pdf

HR001118S0055 SPACE ENVIRONMENT EXPLOITATION (SEE) 1

Broad Agency Announcement Space Environment Exploitation (SEE)

Defense Sciences Office

HR001118S0055

August 1, 2018

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Table of Contents

I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Introduction B. Background C. Program Description/Scope D. Program Structure E. Technical Area Descriptions F. Milestones G. Deliverables H. Government-furnished Property/Equipment/Information I. Other Program Objectives and Considerations

II. Award Information A. General Award Information B. Fundamental Research

III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest C. Cost Sharing/Matching

IV. Application and Submission Information A. Address to Request Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission C. Submission Dates and Times D. Funding Restrictions E. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information A. Evaluation Criteria B. Review and Selection Process C. Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information (FAPIIS)

VI. Award Administration Information A. Selection Notices B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements C. Reporting

VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

A. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) B. Collaborative Efforts/Teaming C. Proposers Day

BAA Attachments:

Attachment A: ABSTRACT SUMMARY SLIDE TEMPLATE Attachment B: ABSTRACT TEMPLATE Attachment C: PROPOSAL SUMMARY SLIDE TEMPLATE Attachment D: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 1 TECHNICAL & MANAGEMENT VOLUME Attachment E: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 2 COST VOLUME Attachment F: PROPOAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 2 COST SUMMARY TEMPLATE Attachment F-2: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 2-COST BREAKDOWN Attachment G: PROPOSAL TEMPLATE VOLUME 3 ADMINISTRATIVE & NATIONAL POLICY VOLUME

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Attachment H: SEE CUI Guide

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PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

Federal Agency Name: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office (DSO)

Funding Opportunity Title: Space Environment Exploitation (SEE)

Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

Funding Opportunity Number: HR001118S0055

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 12.910 Research and Technology Development

Dates (All times listed herein are Eastern Time.)

o Posting Date: August 1, , 2018 o Proposers Day: July 31, 2018. See Section VIII.C.

o Abstract Due Date: August 9, 2018, 4:00 p.m. EST o FAQ Submission Deadline: September 12, 2018, 4:00 p.m. See Section VIII.A.

o Full Proposal Due Date: September 24, 2018, 4:00 p.m. EST

Types of Instruments that May be Awarded: Procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements or other transactions

Agency contacts o Technical POC: Charlton “David” Lewis, II, Program Manager, DARPA/DSO o BAA Email: SEE@darpa.mil o BAA Mailing Address:

DARPA/DSO

ATTN: HR001118S0055

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114 o DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities

Teaming Information: See Section VIII.B for information on teaming opportunities.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): FAQs for this solicitation may be viewed on the DARPA/DSO Opportunities Website. See Section VIII.A for further information.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities?tFilter=&oFilter=2&sort=name

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PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) constitutes a public notice of a competitive funding opportunity as described in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016 as well as 2 CFR § 200.203. Any resultant negotiations and/or awards will follow all laws and regulations applicable to the specific award instrument(s) available under this BAA, e.g., FAR

15.4 for procurement contracts.

A. Introduction The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of high spatial and temporal resolution predictive/assimilative modeling and simulation of the near-earth space environment.

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, prediction, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

B. Background The operational capabilities of current U.S. space-based assets are highly dependent on the space atmospheric environment, which includes the magnetosphere, thermosphere, and particularly the ionosphere. Today’s state of the art ionospheric models lack sufficient spatio-temporal prediction resolution to help drive operational—and tactical—decision making to effectively use, maintain, and deploy space-based capability.

The ionosphere is subject to both human-made and natural perturbations that have the potential to drastically impact the space operational environment. A human-made example is the 2017 launch of a rocket, which created a plasma “hole” 450 km in radius and generated a circular shock acoustic wave 750 km in radius1. The effect of this launch lasted for approximately two

(2) hours and produced an electron density spatial gradient with 10-70% electron density depletion. These transited effects were determined during post-analysis and not predicted by any current model. Examples of natural perturbations range vastly in scale. At the large end of the spatial scale are highly energetic geomagnetic storms and sub storms that couple energy into the polar regions resulting in aurora and sub auroral ionospheric disturbances. At the small end of the spatial scale are less energetic phenomena, such as traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID), sporadic-E, auroral-E, spread-F, F-region blobs, plasma bubbles, scintillation, etc. The span of these phenomena in length and energy can have a significant impact on current Department of Defense (DoD) space-based capability such as HF communications; HF geolocation; GPS operations; over-the-horizon-radar; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations; satellite lifetime; UHF communications; and others.

As the DoD pushes further into the future with rapid space launch, deployable low earth orbit satellite constellations, and precision ISR, forecasting the near-earth space environment will become critical to ensure operation of future capabilities. Regardless of the origin, high

1 Chou et al, Space Weather, Vol. 16 Issue 2, 2018

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resolution prediction of these space environment dynamics over relevant areas of responsibility (AOR) are essential components of space environment situational awareness, especially in distinguishing natural perturbations from human-made perturbations. From a DoD perspective, an area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographical location assigned to a combatant commander such as U.S. Nothern Command (North America AOR) or U.S. European Command (Europe AOR).

The United States Air Force currently uses a global assimilative model to predict and forecast the ionosphere. This capability incorporates an underlying reference model with magnetohydrodynamics equations and observational data2 to predict large-scale ionospheric phenomena. Although useful for climatological purposes, this model lacks sufficient resolution to enable operational or tactical decision making. It is incapable of predicting medium to small-scale phenomena (<1000 km scale length), has limiting computational spatial resolution to capture small-scale phenomena, and does not cover the polar regions. This model also does not predict or track phenomena whose origins are outside of the ionosphere, such as polar magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Leading edge nowcasting models3 have significantly advanced the capability to track the lower portion of the ionosphere, but these models are limited to medium TIDs. Phenomena smaller than this currently cannot be predicted or tracked. Finally, in terms of magnetospheric modelling, kinetic phenomena are often averaged over and show sub-par prediction performance at distances less than 5-6 earth radii.

C. Program Description/Scope Program Goal

The goal of the Space Environment Exploitation (SEE) program is to develop the capability to forecast the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere (M-I-T) environment to provide space environment situational awareness for space assets, help provide information for operational and tactical decision making, and distinguish between human-made and naturally occurring perturbations.

Program Approach and Challenges

SEE will develop a space environment predictive assimilative model that spans from the magnetopause to the lower edge of the ionosphere/thermosphere. There are two main technical challenges. The first is that the current state-of-the-art uses physics models that are under-determined. Specifically, they fail to account for the multi-scaled nature of the space environment, which includes particle/particle, wave/particle, and wave/wave interactions as well as magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere coupling. The second challenge is that the space environment is severely under-sampled and no capability exists to unify the current multiple government and commercially-owned space environment monitoring systems. Pooling this data to a central source would produce information and data relevant for DoD space environment situational awareness and a common space environment operating picture.

2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JA011712 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015RS005890

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Out of Scope

DARPA considers models that are solely climatological in nature or combinations thereof, which only predict long-term averages and disregard small-scale dynamic phenomena, inappropriate for SEE and will be deemed non-responsive.

D. Program Structure The SEE program will encompass two technical areas (TAs) carried out in two phases: Phase I, a 24-month base development period with milestones and midterm, and Phase II, a 12-month integration period with final demonstration. DARPA requires proposals that address both TAs and both phases. The detailed TAs are described in the following sub-sections and will span Phases I and II. Prior to the completion of Phase I, DARPA expects to request updated technical and cost proposals for Phase II. At the conclusion of Phase I and depending on performer’s Phase I results and funding availability, the Government may exercise the option for Phase II. It is at the discretion of the Government to exercise the Phase II option for all, some, or none, of the awardees.

E. Technical Area Descriptions The first technical area (TA1) will develop high resolution coupled space environment models, and the second technical area (TA2) will develop and demonstrate a framework to integrate/assimilate multiple space environment measurement networks as well as develop non-traditional means to observe the space environment. Performers successful in combining and integrating TAs 1 and 2 by the end of SEE shall be able to accurately predict perturbations and disturbances:

At scale lengths as small as 100 km Every hour within a 72-hour window Over an area representative of an operational AOR (e.g. the Artic Region)

The TAs are as follows:

Technical Area 1 – High resolution coupled space environment models: Performers will develop highly fidelity MHD plus particle/particle, wave/particle, and wave/wave interaction models that can nowcast (i.e., quantitatively describe conditions occurring within the next 2 hours) the ionosphere while providing 72-hour forecasted ionospheric disturbances by incorporating the necessary coupling of energy from the magnetosphere/thermosphere and radiative effects. As these couplings are multi-scale in nature (from quantum mechanical light/atomic interactions up to non-linearly generated large wavelength MHD waves) performers should consider computational techniques (such as hybrid particle-in-a-cell/wave-in-a-cell methods, dynamic mesh gridding, unstructured or quasi-uniform spherical grids, etc.) appropriate to multi-scale modeling. Proposers should describe the computational platform(s) needed to run models such as high-performance computers, graphics processing units, tensor processing units, etc. Proposers should provide an estimate of how much computing power and resources are needed for their approach and account for these in the proposal. Proposers should not assume that DARPA will provide additional computational resources not included in the proposal.

Technical Area 2 – Integrated measurement framework and non-traditional observations:

Performers shall develop and demonstrate an online framework that unifies current near-earth

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space environment measurements, observations, and networks for model assimilation and DoD exploitation similar in spirit to NASA’s sun-to-earth Integrated Space Weather Analysis System, iSWA. Examples of sensor networks that could be integrated are the GPS-TEC and digisonde networks operated by NOAA, NASA, USAF, USNO, and various other commercial organizations or experiments such as AMPERE, SuperDARN, SuperMAG, etc. This framework should be extensible so when a new mode or method of observing the near-earth space environment is developed, this new data stream can be easily assimilated. To the greatest extent possible, proposers are encouraged to use the Open Geospatial Consortium standard formats for data.

Although there are many civilian and government near-earth sensing networks, locations where the DoD operates may be contested or denied. Accordingly, proposers should incorporate into their approach novel, non-traditional sensing methods that ideally are inexpensive, exploitive of current and/or future systems, and potentially deployable by expeditionary forces. Potential approaches might include, but are not limited to, cell phone GPS-TEC measurements, riometers, reverse beacon networks, passive lightning detection, and synthetic data supplement via machine learning/artificial intelligence, etc.

Proposers may propose to exploit machine training/learning techniques for choosing what data to best assimilate into first-principle models as well as to virtually or synthetically enhance/produce observational measurements by training on space environment data sets, such as those held by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). In such cases, the proposal should explain how proposed machine training/learning methods will be able to provide the necessary fidelity with the data available.

F. Milestones Phase I (24-months): Development phase with broad milestones/midterms

Below is a projected timeline of milestones. Proposals may vary as necessary with adequate justification.

Technical Area 1 - High resolution coupled space environment models 3 month: End to end derivation of physical equations/models and conceptual architecture/design of computational algorithms/methodologies 15 month: Initial implementation of physical models and algorithms into computer source code (note: code may yet require substantial testing and refinement) 24 month midterm:

o Integration of TA2 data framework into physical models and algorithms utilizing team solution for computation and architecture o Demonstrate in simulation the ability to predict and track phenomenon with scale lengths as small as 100km

Technical Area 2 - Integrated measurement framework and non-traditional observations 3 month: Initial (beta) versions of protocols documentation for integrated measurement framework 6 month: Completion of machine training/learning study to quantify and qualify viability

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of these techniques to near-earth space environment data 15 month: Demonstrate framework GUI, data visualization, assimilation standards, and machine trained algorithms.

24 month midterm:

o Demonstrate the extensible assimilation framework’s ability to process all data sources in t < 15 mins w/minimum of 2 major observation networks integrated and one synthetic source of data (if applicable) o Demonstrate non-traditional methods of observation and data collection

Phase II (12-months): Integration phase with broad milestone/final exam

Technical Area 1 - High resolution coupled space environment models 6 month: Deploy and test on chosen high performance computing architecture 12 month: Predict perturbations and disturbances within:

o Scale lengths as small as 100 km o Every hour within a 72-hour window o Over an area representative of an operational AOR (e.g., the Artic Region) o Additional parameters specific to proposer suggested methodologies

Technical Area 2 - Integrated measurement framework and non-traditional observations 6 month: Deploy and test on chosen high performance computing architecture to include non-traditional sensors or sensing modalities 12 month: Predict perturbations and disturbances within:

o Scale lengths as small as 100 km o Every hour within a 72-hour window o Over an area representative of an operational AOR (e.g., the Artic Region) o Additional parameters specific to proposer suggested methodologies

Furthermore, proposers should include and incorporate events into their proposals that include:

A technical and programmatic strategy that conforms to the entire program schedule and presents an aggressive plan to fully address all program goals, metrics, milestones, and deliverables.

A task structure that is consistent across the proposed schedule, Statement of Work (SOW), and cost volume.

A target start date of March 2019 for planning purposes.

The following meetings and travel in the proposed schedule and costs:

o A two-day Principal Investigator (PI) meeting held approximately every six months with locations split between the East and West Coasts of the United States. For budgeting purposes, plan for seven two-day meetings over the course of 36 months: four meetings in the Washington, D.C. area and three meetings in the San Francisco, CA area.

o Regular teleconference meetings will be scheduled with the Government team for progress reporting as well as problem identification and mitigation.

Proposers should also anticipate at least three site visits per phase by the DARPA Program Manager during which they will have the opportunity to demonstrate progress towards agreed-upon milestones.

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Schedules will be synchronized across performers, as required, and monitored/revised as necessary throughout the program.

G. Deliverables

Performers will be expected to provide at a minimum the following deliverables:

The prime deliverable of SEE will be a final software package with hardware specifications for computation and sensing.

Other negotiated deliverables specific to the objectives of the performer’s efforts. These may include registered reports; computational protocols; publications; intermediate and final versions of software libraries; code; and APIs, including documentation; user manuals; and/or a comprehensive assemblage of design documents, models, modeling data, and results; and any validation data.

Comprehensive quarterly technical reports due within ten days of the end of each quarter to update the DARPA PM on progress made on specific milestones as laid out in the

SOW

A phase completion report submitted within 30 days of the end of each phase, summarizing accomplishments

Reporting as outlined in Section VI.C.

H. Government-furnished Property/Equipment/Information It is anticipated that as the SEE program matures, government furnished information in the form of space environmental data sets and data streams could be provided to help the development of TAs 1 and 2.

I. Other Program Objectives and Considerations

1. Intellectual Property

A key goal of the program is to establish an open, standards-based, multi-source, plug-and-play architecture that allows for interoperability and integration. This includes the ability to add, remove, substitute, and modify software and hardware components. This will facilitate rapid innovation by providing a base for future users or developers of program technologies and deliverables.

Therefore, it is required that all noncommercial software (including source code), software documentation, hardware designs and documentation, and technical data generated by the program be provided as deliverables to the Government, with a minimum of Government Purpose Rights (GPR). See Section VI.B.4 for more details on intellectual property.

2. Data Management Plan (DMP) This BAA requires a Data Management Plan (DMP) be included as part of the proposal submission. DARPA/DSO’s view of what constitutes the scope of applicable data products to be

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covered in a DMP is quite broad, potentially encompassing all digital activity related to a project.

DARPA’s approach to an effective and practical DMP is predicated on the following goal: Data are increasingly the key products of research and engineering endeavors. To ensure the reproducibility of results and the accessibility of program accomplishments to future users, we require proposers document the necessary and sufficient scope of data that may be applicable to this goal. Performers will be expected to document both the proprietary and nonproprietary products of the program, including but not limited to raw unprocessed data, software source code and executables, build scripts, process sequence, programmatic communication and other collaboration activities; rarified, experimental, test and measurement data; design of experiments and simulations; models or simulations (computational or mathematical); recordings of various physical phenomena (including images, videos, sensor data, etc.); access to and use of institutional, organizational or scientific community repositories and archives. DARPA expects that as part of a DMP proposers will delineate their specific data products that are suitable for public release and how they intend to capture and represent this information. In this way, it is DARPA’s intention to enable reproducibility of results and establish (or contribute to) digital collections that can advance this and other scientific fields. Proposals submitted without a DMP may be deemed non-conforming and may not be reviewed. Note that the DMP does not count against the page-limit for Volume 1. A DMP should include enough detail to ensure that the data products generated for use by the Performer and delivered to DARPA (or made public) are adequate for use by an independent third party, both for further exploratory research as well as for reproducibility and verification of the scientific results. As this is an effort that is required to execute the program, DARPA does not expect the existence of a DMP to produce additional cost burden on performers for data management requirements during the period of performance. Data collection shall commence at award. Delivery to DARPA shall commence on or around December 2018 when DARPA’s data repository is expected to be in place. Data will be delivered in a digital format; Recipient format is acceptable. DARPA will provide specific data delivery instructions once they become known.

DARPA may share some or all of the program-generated data with the broader research community as open data (with permission to access, reuse, and redistribute under appropriate licensing terms) to the extent permitted by applicable law and regulations (e.g., privacy, security, rights in data, and export control). The complete scope of program-generated data described above may go considerably beyond the scope of data to be made public. This provision is not meant to require disclosure of otherwise proprietary internal component or process intellectual property. The Recipient shall mark proprietary program-generated data which should not be disclosed to the public without restrictions on use. The Recipient shall identify the restrictions to be applied to such data. Government rights to proprietary program-generated data shall be in accordance with the Agreement Exhibit entitled “Intellectual Property Rights Identification and Assertion List.”

3. Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) To prevent the release of sensitive technical information, certain aspects of the proposed research are considered CUI and require safeguarding or dissemination controls, pursuant to and consistent with applicable law, regulations, and government-wide policies. All performers (prime contractor and subcontractor) must comply with the Controlled Unclassified Information Guide attached to this BAA. The guide will become a part of all awards resulting from this BAA.

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II. Award Information A. General Award Information

DARPA anticipates multiple awards.

The level of funding for individual awards made under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds. Awards will be made to proposers4 whose proposals are determined to be the most advantageous to the Government, all evaluation factors considered. See Section V for further information.

The Government reserves the right to:

select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation;

make awards without discussions with proposers;

conduct discussions with proposers if it is later determined to be necessary;

segregate portions of resulting awards into pre-priced options;

accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award;

fund awards in increments with options for continued work at the end of one or more phases;

request additional documentation once the award instrument has been determined (e.g., representations and certifications); and remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms within a reasonable time or the proposer fails to provide requested additional information in a timely manner.

Proposals identified for negotiation may result in a procurement contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or Other Transaction (OT), depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors.

Proposers looking for innovative, commercial-like contractual arrangements are encouraged to consider requesting Other Transactions. To understand the flexibility and options associated with Other Transactions, consult http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions.

In accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2371b(f), the Government may award a follow-on production contract or Other Transaction (OT) for any OT awarded under this BAA if: (1) that participant in the OT, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT, successfully completed the entire prototype project provided for in the OT, as modified; and (2) the OT provides for the award of a

4 As used throughout this BAA, “proposer” refers to the lead organization on a submission to this BAA. The proposer is responsible for ensuring that all information required by a BAA--from all team members--is submitted in accordance with the BAA. “Awardee” refers to anyone who might receive a prime award from the Government, including recipients of procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or Other Transactions.

“Subawardee” refers to anyone who might receive a subaward from a prime awardee (e.g., subawardee, consultant, etc.).

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions

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follow-on production contract or OT to the participant, or a recognized successor in interest to the OT.

In all cases, the Government contracting officer shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type, regardless of instrument type proposed, and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. DARPA will apply publication or other restrictions, as necessary, if it determines that the research resulting from the proposed effort will present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Any award resulting from such a determination will include a requirement for DARPA permission before publishing any information or results on the program. For more information on publication restrictions, see the section below on Fundamental Research.

B. Fundamental Research

It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 defines fundamental research as follows:

‘Fundamental research’ means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this BAA, the Government expects that program goals as described herein may be met by proposed efforts for (1) fundamental research, (2) non-fundamental research, and/or (3) research that may present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Based on the anticipated type of proposer (e.g., university or industry) and the nature of the solicited work, the Government expects that all awards will include restrictions on the resultant research that will require the awardee to seek DARPA permission before publishing any information or results relative to the program.

Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to determine whether the proposed research shall be considered fundamental. Appropriate clauses will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate. This clause can be found at www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research to be performed by a potential awardee is restricted research, their subawardee’s effort may be fundamental research.

In those cases, it is the awardee’s responsibility to explain in their proposal why its subawardee’s effort is fundamental research.

http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/additional-baa

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III. Eligibility Information A. Eligible Applicants

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal for DARPA’s consideration.

1. Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government Entities

a. FFRDCs

FFRDCs are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions: (1) FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector. (2) FFRDCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization citing the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and their compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement’s terms and conditions. This information is required for FFRDCs proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

b. Government Entities

Government Entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations. Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations. This information is required for Government Entities proposing to be awardees or subawardees.

c. Authority and Eligibility

At the present time, DARPA does not consider 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to be sufficient legal authority to show eligibility. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility. DARPA will consider FFRDC and Government entity eligibility submissions on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

2. Foreign Participation Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances. For classified submissions, this includes mitigating any Foreign Ownership Control and Influence (FOCI) issues prior to

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transmitting the submission to DARPA. Additional information on these subjects can be found at http://www.dss.mil/isp/foci/foci_faqs.html.

B. Organizational Conflicts of Interest

FAR 9.5 Requirements In accordance with FAR 9.5, proposers are required to identify and disclose all facts relevant to potential OCIs involving the proposer’s organization and any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant). Under this Section, the proposer is responsible for providing this disclosure with each proposal submitted to the BAA. The disclosure must include the proposer’s, and as applicable, proposed team member’s OCI mitigation plan. The OCI mitigation plan must include a description of the actions the proposer has taken, or intends to take, to prevent the existence of conflicting roles that might bias the proposer’s judgment and to prevent the proposer from having unfair competitive advantage. The OCI mitigation plan will specifically discuss the disclosed OCI in the context of each of the OCI limitations outlined in FAR 9.505-1 through FAR 9.505-4.

Agency Supplemental OCI Policy In addition, DARPA has a supplemental OCI policy that prohibits contractors/performers from concurrently providing Scientific Engineering Technical Assistance (SETA), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) or similar support services and being a technical performer.

Therefore, as part of the FAR 9.5 disclosure requirement above, a proposer must affirm whether the proposer or any proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) is providing SETA, A&AS, or similar support to any DARPA office(s) under: (a) a current award or subaward; or (b) a past award or subaward that ended within one calendar year prior to the proposal’s submission date.

If SETA, A&AS, or similar support is being or was provided to any DARPA office(s), the proposal must include:

The name of the DARPA office receiving the support;

The prime contract number;

Identification of proposed team member (subawardee, consultant) providing the support; and An OCI mitigation plan in accordance with FAR 9.5.

Government Procedures In accordance with FAR 9.503, 9.504 and 9.506, the Government will evaluate OCI mitigation plans to avoid, neutralize or mitigate potential OCI issues before award and to determine whether it is in the Government’s interest to grant a waiver. The Government will only evaluate OCI mitigation plans for proposals that are determined selectable under the BAA evaluation criteria and funding availability.

The Government may require proposers to provide additional information to assist the Government in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan.

http://www.dss.mil/isp/foci/foci_faqs.html

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If the Government determines that a proposer failed to fully disclose an OCI; or failed to provide the affirmation of DARPA support as described above; or failed to reasonably provide additional information requested by the Government to assist in evaluating the proposer’s OCI mitigation plan, the Government may reject the proposal and withdraw it from consideration for award.

C. Cost Sharing/Matching Cost sharing is not required; however, it will be carefully considered where there is an applicable statutory condition relating to the selected funding instrument (e.g., OTs under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2371).

For more information on potential cost sharing requirements for Other Transactions for Prototype, see http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management#OtherTransactions.

IV. Application and Submission Information Prior to submitting a full proposal, proposers are strongly encouraged to first submit an abstract as described below. This process allows a proposer to ascertain whether the proposed concept is: (1) applicable to the SEE BAA and (2) currently of interest. For the purposes of this BAA, applicability is defined as follows:

The proposed concept is applicable to the technical areas described herein.

The proposed concept is important to DSO’s current investment portfolio.

The proposed concept investigates an innovative approach that enables revolutionary advances, i.e., will not primarily result in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

The proposed work has not already been completed (i.e., the research element is complete but manufacturing/fabrication funds are required).

The proposer has not already received funding or a positive funding decision for the proposed concept (whether from DARPA or another Government agency).

Abstracts and full proposals that are not found to be applicable to the SEE BAA as defined above may be deemed non-conforming5 and removed from consideration. All abstracts and full proposals must provide sufficient information to assess the validity/feasibility of their claims as well as comply with the requirements outlined herein for submission formatting, content and transmission to DARPA. Abstracts and full proposals that fail to do so may be deemed non-conforming and removed from consideration. Proposers will be notified of non-conforming determinations via letter.

A. Address to Request Application Package This document contains all information required to submit a response to this solicitation. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed except as referenced herein. No request for proposal or additional solicitation regarding this opportunity will be issued, nor is additional information available except as provided at the Federal Business Opportunities website

5 “Conforming” is defined as having been submitted in accordance with the requirements outlined herein.

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(http://www.fbo.gov), the Grants.gov website (http://www.grants.gov/), or referenced herein.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Abstract Information

As stated above, proposers are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract in advance of a full proposal to minimize effort and reduce the potential expense of preparing an out of scope proposal. The abstract provides a synopsis of the proposed project by briefly answering the following questions:

What is the proposed work attempting to accomplish or do?

How is it done today, and what are the limitations?

Who will care and what will the impact be if the work is successful?

How much will it cost, and how long will it take?

DARPA will respond to abstracts with a statement as to whether DARPA is interested in the idea. If DARPA does not recommend the proposer submit a full proposal, DARPA will provide feedback to the proposer regarding the rationale for this decision. Regardless of DARPA’s response to an abstract, proposers may submit a full proposal. DARPA will review all conforming full proposals using the published evaluation criteria and without regard to any comments resulting from the review of an abstract.

Proposers should note that a favorable response to an abstract is not a guarantee that a proposal based on the abstract will ultimately be selected for award negotiation.

While it is DARPA policy to attempt to reply to abstracts within thirty calendar days, proposers to this solicitation may anticipate a response within approximately three weeks. These official notifications will be sent via email to the Technical POC and/or Administrative POC identified on the abstract coversheet.

a. Abstract Format All proposers are required to use Attachment A: Abstract Summary Slide Template and Attachment B: Abstract Template provided with this solicitation on www.fbo.gov and hhtp://www.grants.gov. Attachment A Abstract Summary Slide Template described herein must be in .ppt or .pptx format and should be attached as a separate file to the abstract submission.

2. Full Proposal Information Proposals consist of Volume 1: Technical and Management Volume, Volume 2: Cost Volume, and Volume 3: Administrative and National Policy Requirements.

To assist in proposal development, various attachments have been provided along with the BAA posted on http://www.fbo.gov/ (Attachment C: Proposal Summary Slide Template, Attachment D: Proposal Template Volume 1:Technical & Management Volume, Attachment E: Proposal http://www.fbo.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/

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Template Volume 2: Cost Volume, Attachment F: Proposal Template Volume 2 Cost Breakdown Template, Attachment F-2: Proposal Template Volume 2 Cost Breakdown, and Attachment G: Proposal Template Volume 3: Administrative & National Policy Volume).

Full proposals requesting a procurement contract or other transaction (OT) must use the following attachments:

Attachment C Attachment D Attachment E Attachment F Attachment F-2 Attachment G

Full proposals requesting a grant or cooperative agreement must use the following attachments in addition to the Grants.gov application package:

Attachment C Attachment D Attachment F Attachment F-2 Attachment G *Note – Budget Justification should be provided as Section L of the SF 424 Research & Related Budget form provided via Grants.gov. The Budget Justification should include the following information for the recipient and all subawardees: (1) Direct Labor: Detail the total number of persons and their level of commitment for each position listed (in sections A and B), as well as which specific tasks (as described in the SOW) they will support. (2) Equipment (section C) Provide an explanation for listed requested equipment exceeding $5,000, properly justifying their need to meet the objectives of the program. (3) Travel (section D) Provide the purpose of the trip, number of trips, number of days per trip, departure and arrival destinations, number of people, etc. (4) Other Direct Costs (section F). Provide a justification for the items requested and an explanation of how the estimates were obtained.

Proposals not meeting the format prescribed herein may not be reviewed.

a. Full Proposal Format

All proposers are required to use the templates provided as attachments to this solicitation on www.fbo.gov and http://www.grants.gov. Formatting instructions are provided therein.

3. Proprietary Information Proposers are responsible for clearly identifying proprietary information. Submissions containing proprietary information must have the cover page and each page containing such information clearly marked with a label such as “Proprietary” or “Company Proprietary.”

NOTE: “Confidential” is a classification marking used to control the dissemination of U.S.

Government National Security Information as dictated in Executive Order 13526 and should not http://www.grants.gov/

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be used to identify proprietary business information. See Section V.B.1 for additional information.

4. Security Information DARPA anticipates that submissions received under this BAA will be unclassified. However, should a proposer wish to submit classified information, an unclassified email must be sent to the BAA mailbox requesting submission instructions from the DARPA/DSO Program Security Officer (PSO).

Security classification guidance and direction via a Security Classification Guard (SCG) and/or DD Form 254, “DoD Contract Security Classification Specification,” will not be provided at this time, since DARPA is soliciting ideas only. If a determination is made that the award instrument may result in access to classified information, a SCG and/or DD Form 254 will be issued by DARPA and attached as part of the award.

C. Submission Dates and Times Proposers are warned that submission deadlines as outlined herein are in Eastern Time and will be strictly enforced. When planning a response to this solicitation, proposers should take into account that some parts of the submission process may take from one business day to one month to complete (e.g., registering for a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number or Taxpayer Idendification Number (TIN)).

DARPA will acknowledge receipt of complete submissions via email and assign identifying numbers that should be used in all further correspondence regarding those submissions. If no confirmation is received within two business days, please contact the BAA Administrator at SEE@darpa.mil to verify receipt.

1. Abstracts Abstracts must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in Part One: Overview Information. Abstracts received after this time and date may not be reviewed.

2. Full Proposals Full proposal packages--full proposal (Technical and Management Volume, Cost Volume, National and Administrative Requirements) and, as applicable, proprietary subawardee cost proposals, classified appendices to unclassified proposals-- must be submitted per the instructions outlined herein and received by DARPA no later than the due date and time listed in Part One: Overview Information. Proposals received after this time and date may not be reviewed.

D. Funding Restrictions Not applicable.

E. Other Submission Requirements

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1. Unclassified Submission Instructions Proposers must submit all parts of their submission package using the same method; submissions cannot be sent in part by one method and in part by another method nor should duplicate submissions be sent by multiple methods. Email submissions will not be accepted. Failure to comply with the submission procedures outlined herein may result in the submission being deemed non-conforming and withdrawn from consideration.

a. Abstracts DARPA/DSO will employ an electronic upload submission system (https://baa.darpa.mil/) for all UNCLASSIFIED abstracts sent in response to this solicitation. Abstracts must not be submitted via Grants.gov.

First time users of the DARPA BAA Submission website must complete a two-step account creation process. The first step consists of registering for an extranet account by going to the URL listed above and selecting the “Account Request” link. Upon completion of the online form, proposers will receive two separate emails; one will contain a user name and the second will provide a temporary password. Once both emails have been received, the second step requires proposers to go back to the submission website and log in using that user name and password. After accessing the extranet, proposers may then create a user account for the DARPA BAA Submission website by selecting the “Register your Organization” link at the top of the page. Once the user account is created, proposers will be able to see a list of solicitations open for submissions, view submission instructions, and upload/finalize their abstract.

Proposers who already have an account on the DARPA BAA Submission website may simply log in at https://baa.darpa.mil/, select this solicitation from the list of open DARPA solicitations and proceed with their abstract submission. Note: proposers who have created a DARPA BAA Submission website account to submit to another DARPA Technical Office’s solicitations do not need to create a new account to submit to this solicitation.

All abstracts submitted electronically through the DARPA BAA Submission website must meet the following requirements: (1) uploaded as a zip file (.zip or .zipx extension); (2) only contain the document(s) requested herein; (3) only contain unclassified information; and (4) must not exceed 100 MB in size. Only one zip file will be accepted per abstract and abstracts not uploaded as zip files will be rejected by DARPA.

Technical support for the DARPA BAA Submission website is available during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Requests for technical support must be emailed to BAAT_Support@darpa.mil with a copy to SEE@darpa.mil. Questions regarding submission contents, format, deadlines, etc. should be emailed to SEE@darpa.mil. Questions/requests for support sent to any other email address may result in delayed/no response.

Since proposers may encounter heavy traffic on the web server, DARPA discourages waiting until the day abstracts are due to request an account and/or upload the submission.

Note: Proposers submitting an abstract via the DARPA BAA Submission site MUST (1) click the “Finalize” button in order for the submission to upload AND (2) do so with sufficient time for https://baa.darpa.mil/ https://baa.darpa.mil/ mailto:BAAT_Support@darpa.mil

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the upload to complete prior to the deadline.