DRFP Space Weather Next Lagrange 1 (SW Next) Series Coronagraph (Formulation Study)

All Potential Offerors, (This is a Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP))

You are invited to review and comment on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center’s COR solicitation. The NEXT Mission is a high priority joint undertaking by NASA and the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NEXT Observatory will provide NOAA with the continuity of solar wind data and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) imagery, which is the National Weather Service's highest priority for space weather observations. The COR instrument will be part of the Space Weather NEXT satellite system. The instrument will provide Coronal imagery of the Sun for detection and characterization of the Earth-directed CMEs. 

Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation, including the requirements, schedules, risks, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, any perceived safety, occupational health, security (including information technology security), environmental, export control, and/or other programmatic risk issues associated with performance of the work. 

This competitive acquisition will result in up to 4 firm fixed price contracts; of 8- month duration and a not to exceed amount of $800K each for this definition-phase study.  There will also be a  4- month option with a not to exceed amount of $400K each to include bringing this formulation study closer to a Preliminary Design Review readiness level. The Final Report is due 12 months after contract award. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 336414 and the small business size standard is 1250 employees, respectively.

Potential offerors should ensure its company is listed in the online database(s) for the following:

1. System for award management: https://www.sam.gov/SAM/
2. U.S. Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, VETS-4212 Reports: https://vets4212.dol.gov/vets4212/
3. Date Universal Numbering System (and the transition to the US Government’s unique entity identifier (UEI)): https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/office-of-systems-management/integrated-award-environment-iae/iae-information-kit/unique-entity-identifier-update

The successful offeror must pass an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) clearance before contract award (See FAR 22.805).

The current planned release date for the Final Request for Proposal (RFP) is on or about November 2022, with proposals being due approximately January 2023.

The anticipated contract award date is April 13, 2023, with the same contract effective date. The contract will be performedoffsite at the Contractor’s facilities.

1. NASA has determined that this acquisition may give rise to a potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI).  Offerors should refer to NFS clause 1852.209-71 Limitation of Future Contracting, for a description of the potential conflict(s) and any restrictions on future contracting. 

1. 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 order to control and protect sensitive data owned by the Government and its Contractors, NASA policy requires all acquisition-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).     

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 from the World Wide Web through the Government-wide point of entry website at www.SAM.gov. Potential Offerors are requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.

NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) clause 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable.  The  Ombudsman for this acquisition is Raymond Rubilotta, Associate Director   raymond.j.rubilotta@nasa.gov. 301-286-5867.

This DRFP is not a solicitation and NASA is not requesting proposals.  This DRFP does not commit NASA GSFC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA GSFC to procure or contract for this requirement.  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.

Any comments regarding the DRFP should be submitted electronically in writing, to Kelly R Lytton, Contracting Officer, at Kelly.R.Lytton@nasa.gov, within 14 business daysafter the release of this DRFP. If a respondent believes their comments contain confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive, or business information, those questions/comments shall be marked appropriately.  However, questions that are marked as containing confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive or business information will not be provided a Government response.  The Government will consider all comments received in preparation of the Final RFP.  To the extent a comment leads the Government to revise the acquisition approach or requirements, the change will be reflected in the Final RFP.  Some DRFP questions and comments may receive a posted response to the GPE if the Contracting Officer determines that a response would facilitate additional understanding of the solicitation.  The Government may also respond via the GPE to comments and/or questions received following the issuance of the Final Request for Proposal (RFP).