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A -- NATIONAL POLAR ORBITING OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SYSTEM (NPOESS) DRAFT RFP RELEASE & INDUSTRY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT SOL F04701-96-R-0012 POC Technical Information: LtCol Raymond M. Leong, (310)336-4414. Contracting Officer: William S. Trombetta, (310)336-4460. The Government will release for industry review and comment a draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) for NPOESS Sensor Payload & Algorithm Development on 18 Nov 96 via the SMC Home Page (http://www.laafb.af.mil/SMC/PK/NPOESS/rfp.htm). The DRFP will be available for downloading as MS Word for Windows documents (version 6.0). Industry participation is strongly encouraged to challenge any element of the DRFP with the understanding that responses are voluntary and that the Government is neither negotiating nor calling for offers during this process. Potential offerors are advised that the Government reserves the right to incorporate suggested changes into the final RFP without identifying the submitter or obtaining approval. In conjunction with release of DRFP, the NPOESS Integrated Program Office (IPO) will host an Industry Day briefing on 21 Nov 96 to discuss the DRFP and the program's current acquisition strategy. This briefing will be conducted from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the NOAA Conference Center, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Interested participants should register by submitting visits requests to Ms. Theresa Allen, IPO/ADA, (301) 427-2084, ext. 120. The IPO facsimile is (301) 427-2151. These requests should contain the visitor's name, social security number and clearance, company name and address. The briefing will be unclassified. The IPO requests that interested offerors limit their attendees to three persons per organization. The IPO is installing a server that offerors will be able to use to submit DRFP comments and to access the contents of the NPOESS bidders' library. The server is expected to be operational by mid-November. This server is for the use of NPOESS offerors only and will not be available to the public. Offerors must contact the IPO to set up access accounts. For access, contact Lt Robert Lew, IPO/OL-1, at (310) 336-4031, or Mr. Charles Briggs, SMC/CIKC, at (310) 336-4950. Offerors are encouraged to establish accounts as soon as possible to reduce the potential for delays in accessing data when the server becomes operational. 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 Manager or the Contracting Officer, but to communicate offeror concerns, issues, disagreements and recommendation 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 nor in the source selection process. The Ombudsman, Mr. Les Bordelon, can be reached at (310) 363-3818. (0319)

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