Request for Proposal Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Sounder (GXS) Instrument Implementation

**Updated to Post Request for Proposal Questions and Responses 02/23/2023** 

You are invited to submit a proposal in response to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Program GeoXO Sounder (GXS) Instrument Implementation  solicitation.

The GXS will be a hyperspectral infrared instrument that is planned to fly on the GeoXO program series of geostationary satellites.  It will provide sounding observations of the western hemisphere for the first time, with critical information on the spatial and temporal gradients of atmospheric temperature and water vapor which will be fed into numerical weather prediction models run by National Weather Service and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, calibrate, test, verify, evaluate, support launch, supply and maintain the instrument Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and support Mission Operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF).  

This competitive acquisition will result in a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) hardware contract, for the development of one (1) Flight Model (FM) FM1, two (2) options for the build of FM2 and FM3 and four (4) options for additional value to perform Engineering Studies, valued at $2M per option.  The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and 5 years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each Flight Model (FM).  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541330 and the small business size standard is $25.5M.

The anticipated contract award and effective date is late August 2023.  The contract will be performed onsite at the Contractor's faclities, and onsite at GSFC and Kennedy Space Flight Center.

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be due no later than March 17, 2023 at 3:00PM EDT. 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.

All questions regarding this Request for Proposal should be submitted in writing, electronically to, Ann Kearney, Contracting Officer at ann.l.kearney@nasa.gov no later than February 21, 2023. Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration.   

You are invited to submit a proposal in response to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Program GeoXO Sounder (GXS) Instrument Implementation  solicitation.

The GXS will be a hyperspectral infrared instrument that is planned to fly on the GeoXO program series of geostationary satellites.  It will provide sounding observations of the western hemisphere for the first time, with critical information on the spatial and temporal gradients of atmospheric temperature and water vapor which will be fed into numerical weather prediction models run by National Weather Service and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, calibrate, test, verify, evaluate, support launch, supply and maintain the instrument Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and support Mission Operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF).  

This competitive acquisition will result in a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) hardware contract, for the development of one (1) Flight Model (FM) FM1, two (2) options for the build of FM2 and FM3 and four (4) options for additional value to perform Engineering Studies, valued at $2M per option.  The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and 5 years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each Flight Model (FM).  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541330 and the small business size standard is $25.5M.

The anticipated contract award and effective date is late August 2023.  The contract will be performed onsite at the Contractor's faclities, and onsite at GSFC and Kennedy Space Flight Center.

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be due no later than March 17, 2023 at 3:00PM EDT. 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.

All questions regarding this Request for Proposal should be submitted in writing, electronically to, Ann Kearney, Contracting Officer at ann.l.kearney@nasa.gov no later than February 21, 2023. Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration.   

You are invited to review and comment on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Program GeoXO Sounder (GXS) Instrument Implementation Draft solicitation.

The GXS will be a hyperspectral infrared instrument that is planned to fly on the GeoXO program series of geostationary satellites. This is a new instrument for the GeoXO Program.  It will provide sounding observations of the western hemisphere for the first time, with critical information on the spatial and temporal gradients of atmospheric temperature and water vapor which will be fed into numerical weather prediction models run by National Weather Service and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, calibrate, test, verify, evaluate, support launch, supply and maintain the instrument Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and support Mission Operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF).  The Statement of Work, Attachment A, describes the scope of the requirement.

Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation, including the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, and perceived safey, 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 a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) hardware contract, for the development of one Flight Model (FM) GXS, and two options for additional FM’s. The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and 5 years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each Flight Model (FM).  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541330 and the small business size standard is $22.5M.

The current planned release date for the Final Request for Proposal is on or about early-mid February 2023 with proposals being due 30 calendar days after RFP release.

The ancitpated contract award and effective date is August 2023.  The contract will be performed onsite at the Contractor's faclities, and onsite at GSFC and Kennedy Space Flight Center.

The following additional information is provided to assist in understanding this acquisition:

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 Clause 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

This DRFP is not a solicitation and NASA GSFC is not requesting proposals.  This DRFP does not commit GSFC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate 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 only electronically in writing, to Ann Kearney, Contracting Officer at ann.l.kearney@nasa.gov no later than January 20, 2023. 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.  

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Program. This new procurement is for the implementation phase of the GeoXO Sounder (GXS) instrument.

The GXS will be a hyperspectral infrared instrument that is planned to fly on the GeoXO program series of geostationary satellites.This is a new instrument for the GeoXO Program.  It will provide sounding observations of the western hemisphere for the first time, with critical information on the spatial and temporal gradients of atmospheric temperature and water vapor which will be fed into numerical weather prediction models run by National Weather Service and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, calibrate, test, verify, evaluate, support launch, supply and maintain the instrument Ground Support Equipment (GSE), and support Mission Operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF).

This procurement will be conducted as a full and open competition. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code and Size Standard are 541330 and $22.5M, respectively.

It is anticipated that this competitive procurement will result in a Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) hardware contract for the development of one flight model GXS, and two options, one for an additional Flight Model GXS and the other option for a FM spare.  The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and 5 years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each Flight Model (FM). The anticipated contract award date is late August 2023.

The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.

This synopsis shall serve as the pre-solicitation notice for the Draft RFP as well as the Final RFP.

The anticipated release of the Draft RFP is on or about mid to late December 2022, and the anticipated release of the Final RFP is late January to early February 2023. Once the Draft RFP is issued, industry will be requested to submit questions in writing by the date specified in the Draft RFP. The Government will not accept proposals in response to the Draft RFP. When the Final RFP is issued, all responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.

The Government anticipates issuing a modification to this synopsis when the Draft RFP and RFP becomes available.

NASA Clause 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

If a solicitation is released, then it and any additional documents will be available on www.Sam.gov. 

Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this website for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). 

All contractual and technical questions must be submitted electronically via email to ann.l.kearney@nasa gov no later than 15 days from posting date. Telephone questions will not be accepted.