Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Freefly Astromax

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration seeks to procure a Freefly Astro Max drone platform with two units and associated SL8-Air smart batteries and charger, with proposals due August 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time. The procurement is a Women-Owned Small Business set-aside, foreclosing competition outside that category.

Place of performance and delivery is NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with delivery required 30 days after award. The drone platform must support multiple spectral sensors including Micasense RX dual camera and WIRIS thermal camera for mapping and monitoring harmful algal bloom and ice cover. Technical specifications include unfolded diameter of 55.4 inches, empty weight of 6.8 pounds, maximum payload capacity of 3.3 pounds, and maximum gross takeoff weight of 14.7 pounds. The platform must achieve minimum flight time of 15 minutes under full payload and obtain NOAA airworthiness certification approval for Wide Area Field Operations. The flight controller includes a Cortex-A53 computer with LTE connectivity (North America), multi-band GNSS capability (L1/L2 GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo), and RTK functionality for centimeter-level precision. The 21.6V lithium-ion battery provides 157 Wh capacity with 80 A continuous and 120 A peak current capability. Compliance with NOAA UAS training programs and all regulations under the National Defense Authorization Act and Federal Communications Commission is mandatory. NAICS code 336411, Aircraft Manufacturing; PSC 1550, Unmanned Aircraft. The contracting officer is Michelle Brebnor. Payment is made through the Invoice Processing Platform system.