AST Safety Engineering Support Q&A

The Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation is seeking engineering services through an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for AST Safety Engineering Support under solicitation 693KA9-25-R-00011. The procurement will provide advanced flight safety and system safety support for commercial space launch and reentry operations, including quantitative and qualitative risk analysis, regulatory development, training, tool development, and research on modeling concepts. Key technical areas encompass systems safety, flight safety analysis, engineering topics, and operational support to assist AST in licensing and permitting commercial space activities while protecting public health, safety, property, and national security interests. The contract will utilize a time-and-materials structure with predefined labor categories, requiring contractors to provide labor, travel support, and materials through task orders. The source selection will follow a best-value trade-off approach with technical capability as the most important evaluation factor, followed by price. This is currently a pre-solicitation notice with responses to industry questions being posted, and no response is required at this time.

The procurement does not include any set-aside designations and is open to all qualified contractors. The contract structure includes a base period of one year with four one-year option periods, creating a potential total contract duration of five years. The maximum contract value is to be determined, though the government has established a guaranteed minimum order of $25,000. The procurement requires significant qualifications, particularly for the Project/Program Manager position which demands a Bachelor's degree in engineering, mathematics, or science along with substantial industry experience. The FAA has encouraged interested vendors to add their company information to the Interested Vendors List on SAM.gov to facilitate market research and promote visibility among potential teaming partners, though participation is voluntary and not required for responding to future solicitations. The government files indicate that industry comments have been collected and responded to, with changes to the Draft SIR highlighted for clarity.