Space Fence Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Contract Acquisition

Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) is posted for Industry comment.  The Government requests that comments are documented using the attached PWS Comment Submission Word Document.  Please submit comments on the draft PWS and additional responses to RFI 1 by 20 Aug 2019, 10:00 AM MT via email to Terri Dyke at terri.dyke@us.af.mil.

Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) is posted for Industry comment.  The Government requests that comments are documented using the attached PWS Comment Submission Word Document.  Please submit comments on the draft PWS and additional responses to RFI 1 by 20 Aug 2019, 10:00 AM MT via email to Terri Dyke at terri.dyke@us.af.mil.

The Government requests responses to RFI 1 General Questions and the first round of questions from industry by 4:30 pm MT on 22 April 2019.  Submit responses and questions via email to Austin Frindt at austin.frindt@us.af.mil and Terri Dyke at terri.dyke@us.af.mil.

Responses to this Source Sought will be used for Market Research purposes. Information submitted will be used by the United States Air Force to facilitate acquisition planning and will not be disclosed outside the agency. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any follow-up information requests. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose other than market research. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this market research.

Space Fence Increment One Operations and Maintenance Contract

The 21st Contracting Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base (PAFB) Colorado seeks potential sources to provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week (24/7) operations and maintenance (O&M) for the newly-constructed Space Fence Increment One. The contemplated O&M contract will consist of two sites:

1) The Space Fence (SF) sensor site located Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) at the U.S. Army Garrison -- Kwajalein Atoll (USAG-KA) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific. The Sensor will be remotely operated at

2) The SF Operations Center (SOC), at the Reagan Test Site Operations Center in Huntsville, Alabama, USA (ROC-H).

The implementation of the Space Fence System will strengthen U.S. space superiority through improved Space Situational Awareness (SSA). Space Fence will improve the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) capability to detect, track and characterize man-made objects in space to support the production of actionable information that can be used at all levels of warfare and range of military operations for planning and execution within the space domain. Space Fence capabilities will provide accurate and timely metric and characterization data to the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) to support maintenance of the satellite catalog, as well as detection and processing of space events.

The Space Fence system will be implemented in two increments. Increment One, currently the only increment contemplated by this contract, is an OCONUS radar site located at USAG-KA and a CONUS SOC to be located at ROC-H. The second increment will involve an OCONUS radar site to be built in late 2021 and is currently not slated to be part of this contract.

The SOC at ROC-H will be in an existing government-leased, commercial facility and will remotely operate the sensor located at Kwajalein.

The SF sensor site at USAG-KA will include requirements for the O&M of the following facilities: transmit array, receive array, common services facility, operations facility, and a liquid cooling system with chillers and calibration towers (2 total). A power plant annex has also been constructed adjacent to the existing power plant to provide primary power to the SF sensor site; however all operations and sustainment for both the existing power plant and the annex will be the responsibility of the Army host and not contemplated to be part of this O&M contract.

SF is an S-band radar and will normally operate autonomously in an uncued surveillance mode, with the capability to tactically support space events and threats. Remote SF radar operations and monitoring from the SOC will support non-autonomous tasks, enable synergistic support to space events and Uncorrelated Target (UCT) processing.

The Space Superiority Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC/SY) will function as the System Program Office (SPO) within the Air Force Program Executive Officer (AFPEO) for Space portfolio and will submit sustainment requirements for Space Fence through the Weapon System Sustainment (WSS) process.

The 21st Space Wing has the Space Fence mission and is responsible for operations and organizational (level 1) maintenance, to be accomplished through this O&M contract.

The Government anticipates that North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 517919 with a Small Business Size Standard of $32.5M will apply; however, no set-aside determination has been made by the Government at this time. The Government is interested in all businesses to include, Large Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Businesses 8(a)s, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, HubZone Businesses, and Women-Owned Small Businesses. The Government requests that interested parties respond to this notice if applicable and identify your small business status to the identified NAICS code.

Interested sources should email their responses to Austin Frindt at austin.frindt@us.af.mil and Terri Dyke at terri.dyke@us.af.mil. Responses will be accepted on a continuous basis.

The following clause applies to this notice:

5352.201-9101 Ombudsman (JUN 2016)

(a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern.

(b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions).

(c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, AFICA/KS SCO, 150 Vandenberg St, Peterson AFB, CO 80914
Phone: 719-554-5300, Fax 719-554-5299, Email: afica.ks.wf@us.af.mil.

Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU/SMC ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431.

(d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency.

(e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer.

(End of clause)

Responses to this Source Sought will be used for Market Research purposes. Information submitted will be used by the United States Air Force to facilitate acquisition planning and will not be disclosed outside the agency. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any follow-up information requests. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose other than market research. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this market research.

Space Fence Increment One Operations and Maintenance Contract

The 21st Contracting Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base (PAFB) Colorado seeks potential sources to provide 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week (24/7) operations and maintenance (O&M) for the newly-constructed Space Fence Increment One. The contemplated O&M contract will consist of two sites:

1) The Space Fence (SF) sensor site located Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) at the U.S. Army Garrison -- Kwajalein Atoll (USAG-KA) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific. The Sensor will be remotely operated at

2) The SF Operations Center (SOC), at the Reagan Test Site Operations Center in Huntsville, Alabama, USA (ROC-H).

The implementation of the Space Fence System will strengthen U.S. space superiority through improved Space Situational Awareness (SSA). Space Fence will improve the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) capability to detect, track and characterize man-made objects in space to support the production of actionable information that can be used at all levels of warfare and range of military operations for planning and execution within the space domain. Space Fence capabilities will provide accurate and timely metric and characterization data to the Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) to support maintenance of the satellite catalog, as well as detection and processing of space events.

The Space Fence system will be implemented in two increments. Increment One, currently the only increment contemplated by this contract, is an OCONUS radar site located at USAG-KA and a CONUS SOC to be located at ROC-H. The second increment will involve an OCONUS radar site to be built in late 2021 and is currently not slated to be part of this contract.

The Space Fence system will operate at the system-high SECRET level. Space Fence radar sites are designated as Protection Level 3 (PL-3), and the SOC is designated PL-4, for physical security requirements.

The SOC at ROC-H will be in an existing government-leased, commercial facility and will remotely operate the sensor located at Kwajalein.

The SF sensor site at USAG-KA will include requirements for the O&M of the following facilities: transmit array, receive array, common services facility, operations facility, and a liquid cooling system with chillers and calibration towers (2 total). A power plant annex has also been constructed adjacent to the existing power plant to provide primary power to the SF sensor site; however all operations and sustainment for both the existing power plant and the annex will be the responsibility of the Army host and not contemplated to be part of this O&M contract.

SF is an S-band radar and will normally operate autonomously in an uncued surveillance mode, with the capability to tactically support space events and threats. Remote SF radar operations and monitoring from the SOC will support non-autonomous tasks, enable synergistic support to space events and Uncorrelated Target (UCT) processing.

The Space Superiority Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC/SY) will function as the System Program Office (SPO) within the Air Force Program Executive Officer (AFPEO) for Space portfolio and will submit sustainment requirements for Space Fence through the Weapon System Sustainment (WSS) process.

The 21st Space Wing has the Space Fence mission and is responsible for operations and organizational (level 1) maintenance, to be accomplished through this O&M contract.

The Government anticipates that North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 517919 with a Small Business Size Standard of $32.5M will apply; however, no set-aside determination has been made by the Government at this time. The Government is interested in all businesses to include, Large Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Businesses 8(a)s, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, HubZone Businesses, and Women-Owned Small Businesses. The Government requests that interested parties respond to this notice if applicable and identify your small business status to the identified NAICS code.

Interested sources should email their responses to Austin Frindt at austin.frindt@us.af.mil and Terri Dyke at terri.dyke@us.af.mil. Responses will be accepted on a continuous basis.

The following clause applies to this notice:

5352.201-9101 Ombudsman (JUN 2016)

(a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern.

(b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions).

(c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, AFICA/KS SCO, 150 Vandenberg St, Peterson AFB, CO 80914
Phone: 719-554-5300, Fax 719-554-5299, Email: afica.ks.wf@us.af.mil.

Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU/SMC ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431.

(d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency.

(e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer.

(End of clause)