iHawk Rackmount Systems and Yearly Maintenance, and Nightstar Tools and Yearly Maintenance

This notice is issued by the NASA/MSFC to solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition.

NASA/MSFC has a requirement for the procurement of 20 Information Technology (IT) software and rackmount system packages (including the NightStar Tools, part numbers: WU1200-LDVF and WU1221-LDV; NightStar Tools yearly maintenance, part number: SW-YM; iHawk rackmount systems, part number: HR000-1R40N-4AZ10; and iHawk yearly maintenance, part number: HWSW-YM). The renewal is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) subscription which includes the hardware “return-to-factory” service with RedHawk Linux software maintenance. The iHawk systems are needed for the build of the initial Emulator supporting Orion testing between MSFC and Lockheed Martin in Denver ITL.  The NightStar software is needed to real-time troubleshoot and detect system overruns or interrupt conflicts in the IATF labs.

This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. The Government may not respond to questions/concerns submitted. The Government will use the information to finalize the RFP as necessary.

Under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 3205(a), as implemented by, and using the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items, in accordance with 41 U.S.C. § 1901, NASA/MSFC intends to issue a sole source contract to acquire the IT Annual Maintenance and NightStar Tools from the Original Manufacturer (OM), Concurrent Real-Time Inc. The OM, Concurrent Real-Time Inc., and sole distributor/supplier of the IT units which include proprietary hardware and software (RedHawk Linux real-time operating system and NightStar Tools) used by NASA for system testing and development. The OM, Concurrent Real-Time Inc., exclusively provides the associated warranties and service agreements to ensure long-term functionality for authorized users. The iHawk systems are needed for the build of the initial Emulator supporting Orion testing between MSFC and Lockheed Martin in Denver ITL.  The NightStar software is needed to real-time troubleshoot and detect system overruns or interrupt conflicts in the IATF labs.

Resale dealers or distributors are not authorized by the OM.

Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort electronically via email Jonathan.t.sanders@nasa.gov, michael.r.thomas@nasa.gov or wade.s.amis@nasa.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. CST on May 23, 2025. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this

acquisition can be found at Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf  or https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf.

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.