Safety and Mission Assurance Services (SMAS) II

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) /Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for the Safety and Mission Assurance Services (SMAS) II contract, which is anticipated to support the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) and Stennis Space Center (SSC) requirements and be open for use by other NASA Centers, per MSFC discretion.

The NASA MSFC is seeking capability statements from all interested parties, including all socioeconomic categories of Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI), and members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for SMAS II. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-owned (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses received.

The SMAS II contract is a follow-on to the current Safety and Mission Assurance Services contract No. 80MSFC18C0005. The current SMAS contract has a potential value of $345M over an eight-year period of performance, November 1, 2017, through October 31, 2025, and is a cost-plus-award-fee contract. The current SMAS contract work is planned, organized, directed, and controlled by means of Task Orders (TOs) issued via a Government specified TO management system.

SMAS II services and skills are to be provided across a broad spectrum of safety and mission assurance disciplines. These SMA disciplines include but are not limited to the following: System Safety, Reliability and Maintainability, Software Assurance, Quality Engineering, Quality Assurance, Independent Assessment, Industrial Discipline Support, Industrial Safety Program, and Pressure Systems. The work will typically involve some combination of producing technical products and performing technical oversight and insight tasks, and it will cover a variety of applications such as flight and science missions, research and development and hardware fabrication/test activities.

The work will typically involve: 1) surveillance and analysis of assigned in-house and contracted design, development, manufacturing, and testing activities for both hardware and software utilizing NASA MSFC Safety, Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Assurance (SRM&QA) policies, requirements, and controls; 2) ensuring that management assessment information is provided in a timely manner to the Government to support the decision-making process regarding open problems, hazards, and risks pertaining to accomplishing MSFC's mission; and 3) operation of SMA Management Information Processes.

No solicitation exists and therefore cannot be provided at this time. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.

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

The Government intends to utilize NAICS Code 541715.

Interested firms having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirement described herein should submit a capability statement of no more than ten (10) pages indicating the ability to perform and manage all aspects of the effort. The ten-page submission shall include the provided SMAS II Capability Statement Worksheet. A page is defined as 8.5 inches x 11 inches, Times New Roman font, 12 pt. Any tables or charts included with the capability statement must use a minimum of 10 pt font size.

Additionally, in support of the Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, NASA is seeking to advance equity or remove barriers for members of underserved communities related to this requirement. As defined in the EO, Underserved Communities refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the preceding definition of "equity." Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as  Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

NASA seeks input in the following areas:

1. To support the requirements identified in this request for information (RFI)/sources sought notification, what barriers or opportunities exist to engage subject matter experts from industry and academia and how can those barriers be overcome? How can underserved communities be leveraged?

2. To support the requirements identified in this RFI, what barriers or opportunities exist to partner with subcontractors that employ members of underserved communities, as defined above?

3. What other recommendations would you make to enhance diversity and inclusion?

4. What should be considered to encourage full participation and contribution of organizations and individuals (e.g., outreach efforts and innovative partnerships) in performance of this requirement?

All responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Kelcey Cole, Contracting Officer, kelcey.cole@nasa.gov, no later than 4:00 pm Central Time, Monday, January 8, 2024. Please reference SMAS II Sources Sought in any response.

This synopsis is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation.

NASA intends to publicize a listing of respondents to facilitate teaming arrangements. Should your firm desire not to be included in this listing, clearly indicate this desire in your response.