NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BE

18 -- DEVELOPMENT OF A DEORBIT PROPULSION STAGE FOR THE X-38 TEST SPACECRAFT AND OPTIONAL PRODUCTION OF DEORBIT PROPULSION STAGES FOR OPERATIONAL CREW RETURN VEHICLES SOL 9-BE13-40-7-15P POC Jeffrey W. Johnson, Contract Specialist, Phone (281) 483-1862, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email jjohnso2@ems.jsc.nasa.gov -- Yolande B. Harden, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-9953, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email yharden@ems.jsc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/date.html#9-BE13-40-7-15P. E-MAIL: Jeffrey W. Johnson, jjohnso2@ems.jsc.nasa.gov. NASA/JSC plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Development of a Deorbit Propulsion Stage (DPS) for the X-38 spacecraft. The X-38 is a technology demonstration program for a lifting body spacecraft which has the capability to evolve into the operational crew return vehicle (CRV) for the Space Station. The X-38 shall be carried into orbit via the Ariane V or the Space Shuttle Orbiter and a DPS shall be required to maintain on-orbit attitude control and perform the deorbit maneuver. The stage shall be jettisoned immediately following the deorbit maneuver. Command and control of the DPS shall be provided by systems onboard the X-38 spacecraft. The DPS shall consist of a deorbit propulsion module (DM) and a set of structural adapters. The structural adapters shall connect the X-38 spacecraft to the launch vehicle and shall be designed to transfer the launch induced loads from the launch vehicle to the X-38 spacecraft. The DM shall be contained inside of the structural adapters and shall not carry these loads. The structural adapters shall also include separation systems as required to separate from the launch vehicle and the X-38 spacecraft respectively. The DM consists of a propulsion system, primary and secondary structure, thermal control and electrical subsystems as required to satisfy the mission requirements. The basic contractual effort requires design, development, and test of a DPS for the orbital test mission (X-38) as well as support at NASA/JSC for integrated functional testing and support at launch site for vehicle integration. Detailed design of the operational CRV DPS is also included in the basic contractual effort. Optional contractual effort shall consist of one option for fabrication and test of a second X-38 DPS for extended integrated vehicle ground testing, as well as a second option for design update, development, and production of up to five (5) deorbit propulsion stages for the operational CRV program. The design of the DPS shall include low cost, low development risk hardwareto the greatest extent possible. Vendors who have demonstrated ability to design, fabricate and test low cost spacecraft propulsion and integrated spacecraft systems are preferred. See Numbered Note 26. The anticipated release date of RFP 9-BE13-40-7-15P is on or about April 4, 1997 with an anticipated proposal due date of on or about May 5, 1997. A draft version of the RFP shall be released for industry comment on or about March 14, 1997 with comments due back 14 calendar days after draft RFP release. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Note "B". The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in ASCII or RTF format and will reside on a World-Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The WWW address, or URL, of the NASA/JSC Business Opportunities page is http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/class.html. Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Hard copies may be obtained from the identified point of contact; however, the closing date for the hard copy received shall be the same as the solicitation, inclusive of any amendments, released on the Internet. Any referenced numbered notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nnotes.htm. (0063)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0208 19970306\18-0001.SOL)