National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 214.5, Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771

18 -- FOLLOW-ON SMALL EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE SERVICES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF INDUSTRY BRIEFING POC Mary Stevens, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-344-4962, Facsimile 301- 344-4925, E-Mail Mary.V.Stevens.1@gsfc.nasa.gov. Sources are sought for a follow-on procurement for Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services. NASA seeks to utilize a launch services acquisition strategy that allows the Agency to take advantage of all reasonable sources of domestic commercial launch services while ensuring that taxpayer funded spacecraft are not exposed to excessive risk. A briefing to industry on the findings and recommendations of the NASA Commercial Launch Services Review Team will be held from 8:30 - 11:00 a.m. on June 18, 1996 at NASA Headquarters, 300 ''E'' Street SW, Washington, DC (Room 5H36). The briefing will provide background information pertaining to the qualification criteria to be included in the solicitation. Inquiries on the meeting and notification of planned attendance should be directed to Ms. Karen Poniatowski at 202-358-2469. The Small Expendable Launch Vehicle (SELV) II procurement will represent the first acquisition of launch services, for NASA, which incorporates a mission assurance qualification requirement. The details of the qualification requirement will be incorporated in the draft solicitation. Briefly, in recognition of the nature of the scientific, earth observing and technology missions planned for launch under the SELVS II contract(s), NASA has determined that these missions cannot accept the risk associated with first flight of an undemonstrated launch system. Additionally, successful offerors will be required to obtain certification of compliance with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 and successful completion of a NASA Engineering Quality Assessment. NASA is seeking expressions of interest from industry regarding their qualifications and capability to provide launch services for U.S. Government-sponsored spacecraft. The launch service will include launch vehicle hardware, launch operations, mission analysis, a formal review process, range support, analytical and physical spacecraft integration, and any efforts related to obtaining Government supplies, services, equipment or facilities and any modifications thereto. The contractor shall be responsible for contracting with Government agencies for any items they propose to obtain from them. The range of missions to be supported include the following: Mission A - Insertion Apse (km) = 500 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km), 500 +/- 90, Inclination (deg) = 28 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 385, Payload Envelope = TBD, Mission B - Insertion Apse (km) = 500 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km) = 500 +/- 90, Inclination (deg) = 65 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 330, Payload Envelope = TBD, Mission C - Insertion Apse (km) = 244 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km) = 3,500 +/- 150, Inclination (deg) = 76 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 220, Payload Envelope = TBD, Mission D - Insertion Apse (km) = 500 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km) = 500 +/- 90, Inclination (deg) = 90 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 275, Payload Envelope = TBD, Mission E - Insertion Apse (km) = 705 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km) = 705 +/- 90, Inclination (deg) = 98.2 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 300, Payload Envelope = TBD, Mission F - Insertion Apse (km) = 529 +/- 20, Non-Insertion Apse (km) = 529 +/- 90, Inclination (deg) = 97.5 +/- 0.20, Argument of Perigee (deg) = TBD +/- 5, Spacecraft Mass (kg) = 380, Payload Envelope = TBD. Note: Altitudes specified are relative to the equatorial radius of the earth. The government seeks to award multiple contracts. The intent is to minimize reliance on a single launch vehicle for these launch services and to promote competition to the maximum extent possible. Conceptually, these contracts would be similar to indefinite quantity contracts with priced standard and non-standard services. A minimum guarantee for each contract would be established. Acquisition of individual launch services would be based on the Contractor's ability to meet the Government's needs from a cost and technical standpoint. As a mission becomes known, the Contracting Officer will notify the selected Contractors of the potential mission and provide specific information on the mission along with a Request for Proposal. Proposals shall be based on contract standard and non-standard service Statement of Work requirements as well as any elements unique to the mission. Pricing would be based on basic contract standard and non-standard firm fixed prices as well as pricing for any mission unique requirements. The determination of which contractor is awarded the mission would be based on price and other criteria to be established and included in the RFP. Examples include ability to meet spacecraft requirements, ability to launch within a specified timeframe, and performance history. It is also envisioned that these contracts would contain provisions that allow the government, as a result of cause, to unilaterally reassign an awarded mission to another contractor. It is NASA's intent to exclusively use launch service contracts to meet all future NASA launch service requirements in this payload class. In the event that multiple contracts are not awarded, NASA reserves the right to co-manifest small class payloads utilizing larger launch vehicles. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center anticipates issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) in the summer of this year with a contract award(s) targeted for 1st quarter 1997. The RFP is anticipated to seek firm fixed prices for standard and non-standard services for up to an 8 year ordering period with launch services to be provided approximately 18 - 24 months from placement of an order for an individual mission. This procurement will include a Small Disadvantaged Business Goal. This competition will be limited to launch vehicles manufactured in the United States. Parties possessing the capability to launch any or all of the mission types described above are invited to respond to this synopsis and are requested to submit a capability statement discussing relevant experience with expendable launch vehicles (ELV's) and indicate whether you would be interested as a prime contractor, team member, or subcontractor. This statement shall be no more than 10 pages, and shall describe: a. relevant experience with launch vehicles and scientific/technology payloads, integration, and launch site facilities, b. launch vehicles built or under contract, c. launch vehicles and accompanying payloads actually launched, d. status of launch vehicle development work and anticipated launch date, e. launch vehicles in inventory or under development that will satisfy the SELV performance requirements (i.e. payload mass/volume capability, orbital requirements, etc.), f. the reliability of the launch vehicle being considered to meet SELV requirements, g. the overall corporate ability in terms of workforce size, equipment, facilities, and overall experience. Offerors are also invited to comment on the Governments' requirement and/or procurement approach and provide any information that they feel the Government should consider prior to releasing the draft solicitation. Interested parties should submit capability statements to Mary Stevens, Contracting Officer, Code 214.5, NASA/GSFC. Faxed or E-Mail statements will be accepted at (301) 344-8629 or Mary.V.Stevens.1@gsfc.nasa.gov, respectively. Capability statements in response to this notification are requested within 10 business days of publication of the synopsis. In the near future, GSFC plans to issue a draft solicitation for comment. Upon release of the draft solicitation, we will schedule one-on-one meetings with interested parties. Notification of availability of the draft RFP will be published in the Commerce Business Daily. The draft RFP will be available on the World Wide Web. (0162)

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