Hq Electronic Systems Center, Directorate of Contracting, R&D Contracting Division (ESC/PKR), 104 Barksdale St, Hanscom AFB MA 01731-1806

A -- SMALL ONBOARD ENVIRONMENTAL DIAGNOSTIC SENSORS (SOBEDS) PACKAGE SOL PL/GPS-PRDA-95-01 POC Ms Iris M. Durden, Contracting Officer, 617-377-2907; Mr Carl T. Bechet, Contract Specialist, 617-377-4894; Major Mark D. Confer, Technical Contact, 617-377-2433. Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA) entitled, ''Small Onboard Environmental Diagnostic Sensors (SOBEDS) Package'', PRDA PL/GPS-95-01. The Space Physics Division of the Geophysics Directorate of the Phillips Laboratory seeks research and development sources to provide diverse, innovative and creative approaches to design, develop, fabricate, test, and deliver individual state-of-the-art protoflight sensor units for integration into a SOBEDS package. The Air Force and DoD require such a package to be easily incorporated as a standard instrument complement or as a monitoring system on operational and scientific satellites. The SOBEDS package will consist of an integrated suite of miniaturized sensors (detectors), optimized for low weight, volume, and manpower consumption, and a microprocessor-controlled central processing unit with a single spacecraft data/command interface. This PRDA addresses only the design, development, fabrication, test and delivery of the protoflight sensors. Many Air Force systems are developed without adequate consideration of the space-environment hazards they must survive. Understanding of the low, medium, and geosynchronous Earth-orbit space environment is essential in order to conduct successful space operations. Because many space-induced anomalies cannot be engineered out through existing technology, on-orbit upsets and failures will continue to occur. Impacts to operational space assets will become more significant, especially as onboard systems are miniaturized to reduce power and weight and to lower launch costs and expedite access to space. Space environmental interaction effects become increasingly important to electronics as components are downsized using hybridization technology. The required efforts will lead to the development of protoflight, miniaturized onboard diagnostic sensors to better define hazardous space environmental conditions and the resulting effects on advanced space components and systems. The approach is to develop an integrated suite of miniaturized, low-power instrumentation (sensors) to measure the relevant hazard-producing particle populations and associated in situ magnetic fields. The major task under this Announcement is the design, development, fabrication, flight-qualification testing, and delivery of the individual miniaturized sensors for integration with the SOBEDS package. Responders to the PRDA will be expected to address only this task, but may propose on all, some, or one of the sensor units. The low-power, -weight and -telemetry requirements of SOBEDS will make it an ideal diagnostic package to be flown on flight qualification spacecraft. SOBEDS will provide improved specification of: (1) spectral measurements for electrons (100 keV - 30 MeV); (2) spectral measurements for protons (1 - 300 MeV); (3) dosimeter measurements for electrons (200 keV - 10 MeV) and for protons, alphas, and heavier ions (10-100 MeV/nucleon), with a range of thresholds which can be set prior to launch; and (4) measurements of the vector magnetic field (+/-2 degrees) which help determine particle population dynamics. Any magnetometer must be body-mounted since booms will not be included in the SOBEDS package. Results of this research and development will be transitioned into improved design guidelines and engineering criteria for DoD space system design engineers. Contract will typically have three phases: (I) Proof-of-Concept - Design and develop breadboard electronics and sensorhead(s) to detect the appropriate particles and/or magnetic field. (II) Implementation - Fabricate, test and deliver protoflight sensor unit(s). (III) Final Report - Describe work done; prepare and provide requirement documentation and data. The selection of one or more sources for contract award will be based on a scientific and engineering evaluation of your responses (technical content and cost as it relates to technical effort) to determine the relative merit of the technical approach taken in response to this announcement. New creative solutions to the technical problems presented by the Air Force are of primary interest. Selection for contract award will be based on the following evaluation factors: (a) Overall scientific and technical merits, innovativeness and reasonableness of the proposal plan; (b) the offeror's capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques, or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the proposed objectives; (c) the qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the proposed principal investigator, team leader, and other key personnel who are critical to achievement of the proposed objectives; (d) the offeror's record of past and present performance; and (e) the cost/price reasonableness and realism proposed. No further evaluation criteria will be used in source selection. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. Responses must provide new or unique concepts, ideas, or approaches in order to qualify for evaluation and consideration for award. Proposals shall be submitted in two (2) parts: Volume 1, Technical/Scientific Description, and Volume 2, Cost Information. The Technical/Scientific Description should not exceed twenty-five (25), single-sided, single-spaced, 10- to 12- point font size, typed pages (excluding covers, indexes, and resumes) on 8 1/2'' x 11'' bond paper. (Caution: The Government will not review more than the page limitation). There is no page limitation on the Cost Proposal. Forward six (6) copies of each proposal to ESC/PKR (Attn: Mr Carl T. Bechet, Building 1520, 104 Barksdale St, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-1806. Proposals submitted using electronic media will not be accepted. Responders should consider instructions contained in the PL BAA Brochure dated Feb 94, Part III - Proposals Instructions, copies of which are available by contacting the Contracting Specialist listed above. The cost of preparing a proposal in response to a PRDA is not considered an allowable direct charge to the resulting contract or any other contract. It is, however, an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost specified in FAR 31.205-18. The Air Force reserves the right to select for award any, all or none of the responses received in response to this announcement depending on the quality, uniqueness of proposed ideas, and availability of funds and to negotiate changes to costs/prices and work proposed. Firms responding should indicate if they are qualified as socially or economically disadvantaged. Offerors are requested to provide a name and telephone number of point of contact. An Ombudsman has been appointed to hear concerns from offerors or potential offerors during the proposal development phase of this acquisition. The purpose of the Ombudsman is not to diminish the authority of the program director or contracting officer, but to communicate offeror concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendatons to the appropriate government personnel. When requested, the Ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The Ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals or in the source selection process. Interested parties may contact Colonel Thomas J. Mackey at 617-377-5106. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have previously been brought to the attention of the program manager and/or the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. The date of receipt of proposals may be amended to provide for subsequent submission proposal dates. Offerors are further cautioned that only contracting officers are legally authorized to commit the government. Responses should reference PRDA #PL/GPS-PRDA-95-01. Questions of a technical nature may be referred to Major Mark D. Confer, PL/GPS, 617-377-2433. Contractual and cost response format questions should be referred to the Contract Specialist, Mr Carl T. Bechet, 617-377-4894, or the Contracting Officer, Ms Iris M. Durden, 617-377-2907. Firms responding to this announcement may obtain a Project Statement which includes background information on ''Small Onboard Environmental Diagnostic Sensors (SOBEDS) Package'' by contacting the Contract Specialist listed above. . Government estimate for effort required is approximately 2-4 Manyears per year for single or multiyear contract awards; period of performance not to exceed thirty-three months plus three (3) months for final report. Work is anticipated to begin early in the 4th quarter of FY95. Closing date for submission of responses is thirty (30) days from the publication of this notice. (0031)

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