SCALPSS Vacuum Chamber

NASA's Shared Services Center has issued a Special Notice for a sole source procurement of a SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies) Vacuum Chamber intended for NASA Langley Research Center. The agency intends to award this contract exclusively to Ideal Vacuum Products under commercial item procedures governed by FAR Parts 12 and 13. This procurement falls under NAICS code 334516 for Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing and is classified as a combination and miscellaneous instruments acquisition. The Special Notice serves as advance notification to the contracting community of NASA's intent to proceed with a non-competitive procurement approach for this specialized equipment.

The vacuum chamber is required to support Plume-Surface Interaction experiments and lunar plume surface studies research, with highly specific technical requirements including a 36" cubic chamber design, custom 12" x 12" square stainless steel windows optimized for camera imaging, and compatibility with existing NASA Langley vacuum hardware. Interested organizations have until 7:00 AM Central Standard Time on July 30, 2025, to submit capability statements and qualifications in writing to the primary contracting officer, Shanna Patterson. The government will evaluate these submissions solely to determine whether to conduct the procurement competitively, though the final decision remains at NASA's discretion. NASA has justified the sole source approach based on Ideal Vacuum Products' unique patented window design, cost-competitive pricing, and ability to provide a turnkey solution that reduces assembly complications and schedule delays compared to alternative vendors who would need to assemble various components from multiple sources.