Space and Missle Systems Center/ TELS, 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE Kirtland AFB NM 87117-5776

A -- A-SPACECRAFT/GROUND STATIONS/EXPERIMENT INTEGRATION/LAUNCH SUPPORT/ON-ORBIT SUPPORT POC Odette Denman, 505/846-9147/Contracting Officer. The Air Force seeks to acquire one small space vehicle with possible options for follow-on, similar capability space vehicles for missions supporting Tri-Service Experiment Mission 6 (TSX-6). In these projects, DoD experiments are placed into orbit on free-flying light-weight spacecraft. Scope is to design, fabricate, assemble, and test the space vehicle using industry-accepted "best practices." The contractor will integrate the experiments onto a small space vehicle bus, support integration of the space vehicle to the launch vehicle, and provide post launch support. Appropriate analyses and definition are required to determine the most efficient manner to configure the DoD experiments and space vehicle for this mission. Spacecraft will be built using as a minimum the Class C guidelines as defined in DOD-HDBK-343 (USAF), as tailored to meet the anticipated space vehicle operational orbital life of three years with a five year goal. The Contractor must design the space vehicle to be compatible with the following range of tentative requirements: 1) Orbit Altitude: Circular at 450 +/- 50 nmi, 2) Orbit Eccentricity: 0.000 to 0.013, 3) Inclination: nominal 90 degrees, possible range from 82 degrees to sun synchronous, 4) Experiment Payload Weight: Up to 160 lb, 5) Experiment Volume: Up to 2 cu ft inside spacecraft bus, 10 cu ft external to spacecraft, 6) Experiment Power Requirement: Up to 224 W peak, 65W OAP, 7) Communication: Provide up to three user-friendly, window menu autonomous ground stations for complete command, control, and status of the space vehicle. Both the spacecraft and ground station must have store and forward capability of up to 2 Mbytes downlink (health and experiment data), receive and store up to 1 Mbytes uplink (commands), 8) Attitude Knowledge: 0.5 degrees RMS 3-sigma knowledge, 9) Attitude Control: 3-axis Stabilized maintained within 1.5 degrees RMS 3-sigma pointing accuracy, 10) Probable need for small kick motor, 11) Adaptable for launch on small boosters, e.g., Air Force Small Launch Vehicle (Pegasus XL), OSC Taurus, Conestoga, LMLV, etc. Projected launch configuration is as a secondary payload on an OSC Taurus with an extended third stage. The period of performance shall be the time required to produce a space vehicle, launch that space vehicle, and support its initial on-orbit checkout and handover operations. The contract is anticipated to be Firm Fixed Price with an On-Orbit Incentive Fee and is intended to be awarded by July 1997. Small businesses meeting the above requirements must submit a written statement of capabilities (SOC) in each of the above areas IAW Note 25. Large businesses are not required to submit a SOC but should provide a point of contact. The SOC should include the contract number, name, address, and telephone number of the Contracting Officer for contracts under which similar work was performed, should include a point of contact, and should be limited to 20 pages. The SOC must contain the following specific information: 1) Demonstrated experience in designing, building, and operating small space vehicles, 2) Personnel qualifications and experience in engineering and program management, 3) Design, assembly, and test facilities or easy access to these facilities (to include environmental test and clean rooms), and computer support, 4) Experience in autonomous space vehicle tracking, command, control, communication, and data handling, 5) Possession of approved industrial security facilities capable of handling classified DoD information and equipment. The Government anticipates making one award with possible future options for this effort. The resultant contract may contain an organizational conflict of interest clause and an associate contractor clause. Initial launch capability is anticipated to be 24 months from authorization to proceed. The Government reserves the right to set this acquisition, or portions thereof, aside for small businesses, 8(a) firms, historically black colleges or universities, and minority institutions. If you are interested only in subcontracting possibilities, please indicate this clearly in your submission. Replies to this synopsis must reference RFP Number F29601-97-R0004 and must be received within 30 days of publication of this announcement. Submit only unclassified information. Offeror must have a Secret facility clearance prior to contract award. For this proposed acquisition, the definitions in FAR 19.001 and small business size standard for SIC 8711, size standard $20M apply. Small businesses must submit a SOC to Odette Denman (SMC/TEL PCO), 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE, Bldg 413 Room 114, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5776. Foreign owned firms are advised they will not be allowed to participate as the prime contractor. The research and test data produced under a resultant contract may contain Military Critical Technology List (MCTL) information whose export is restricted by the Export Control Act (Title 22, U.S. Sec 2751, et seq.) or the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (Title 50, U.S.C., App. 2401 et seq.). Only those companies who are on the Certified Contractors Access List (CCAL) may receive such information. Request certification and registration from the Defense Logistics Service Center (DLSC), Federal Center, 74 North Washington, Battle Creek, MI 49016-3412 as soon as possible. Draft Source Selection documents will be available on the internet at www.plk.af.mil, PL Contracting Office Bulletin Board, Quick FTP Repository, "Go to the RFP Menu." We strongly encourage prospective offerors to review these documents and provide feedback to the program office. A Briefing for Industry and one-on-one meetings with prospective offerors may be held. For issues requiring clarification, contact Capt Kevin Mundorff at (505) 846-0888 or via e-mail at mundorkw@plk.af.mil. 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 contractor concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations 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 are invited to call Col James Ledbetter, PL/CV, at (505) 846-4964. The Ombudsman should only be contacted with issues or problems that have been previously brought to the attention of the contracting officer and could not be satisfactorily resolved at that level. See Note 26. 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