LEOS Sounder Request for Information

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Earth Observation System (LEOS) Sounder for Microwave Brightness and Analysis (SMBA)  - Phase A Study

Request for Information

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.

This notice issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) includes a draft Statement of Work (SOW); in addition to draft technical documents to include the Performance Specification Document (PSD), and Instrument Mission Assurance Requirements (IMAR) Document, to solicit responses from vendors interested in bidding on a definition-phase study of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Microwave Sounder instrument. The SOW specifies the requirements for the definition-phase study and design development as part of the Microwave Sounder formulation activities. 

The Sounder will be a Microwave Sounding instrument that is planned to fly on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) LEO Earth Observation System (LEOS) program series of LEO satellites with the first launch planned for 2031. The Sounder will meet, at a minimum, the NASA requirements as defined in the attached SOW, PSD, & IMAR.

The Government anticipates awarding up to four firm fixed price contracts; of 12 months duration and approximately $5M each for this definition-phase study. The Final Report is due 12 months after contract award with the Risk Mitigation Report and Technology Development Report due 11.5 months after contract award.  Any proposed technology development or risk mitigation efforts will be included in this fixed price.

The Government is requesting information on the following (for comments related to a specific requirement, please reference the exact document and requirement #):

• Comments and discussion regarding the feasibility of the Phase A study scope, given the cost and schedule constraints, especially including (but not limited to) the delivery schedule outlined in Section 3.1.6 of the SOW. Please explain any areas deemed not feasible. Please limit the response to this question to no more than 3 pages.
• Feedback on the clarity of the requirements in the SOW, PSD, & IMAR.
• Input to areas of development that would benefit from early effort to improve technology readiness or mitigate development risk. Please limit the response to this section to 5 pages.

In addition to information above, interested firms having the necessary specialized capabilities to meet our requirements outlined in the attached documents should submit a brief capability statement no more than 5 pages indicating the ability to perform all aspects of this effort.

This RFI is for information and planning purposes to allow industry the opportunity to provide feedback on the scope and requirements of the study, to verify reasonableness and feasibility, and to promote competition.

This synopsis 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 this information to finalize the Request for Proposal as necessary.

The Government may hold an Industry Day, which will be one-on-one meetings between the Government and each company to be scheduled after the receipt of all responses. Please include a statement in your response if you are interested in attending a one-on-one meeting.

All responses, comments and/or questions shall be submitted electronically via email to Bruce Tsai at Bruce.B.Tsai@nasa.gov no later than 5:00pm EDT  November 8, 2022. Please reference LEOS Sounder Phase A Study in any response.

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.beta.sam.gov. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Internet site 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.