National Reconnaissance Office, 14675 Lee Road, Chantilly, VA 20151-1715

18 -- WIDE AREA AUGMENTATION SYSTEM (WAAS) SPACE SEGMENT SERVICE DUE 020698 POC Ms. Lynn P. Zagrod, (703) 808-2675; Capt Chris Shank (703)808-1537 THE PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) is to obtain information from industry on their ability to develop a satellite architecture for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Space Segment. The Federal Aviation Administration's WAAS program office and the National Reconnaissance Office, Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate, under the auspices of the Air Force have entered into a joint concept exploratory phase to provide space segment service for the WAAS program. The FAA's previously released RFI, "Satellite Messaging and Ranging Service", October 1995, provided the initial basis for this satellite concept exploration phase. The joint FAA/AF/NRO IPT is interested in obtaining information from industry on their ability to deploy satellite(s) (Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) or another orbit that will meet the requirements discussed below) with transponder services at the Global Position System (GPS) Link 1 (L1) frequency (1575.42 MHz) and one other fixed L-band frequency. Satellite launch services and on-orbit command and control for the WAAS Space Segment Service is also needed. This capability would become part of the FAA's WAAS which will augment the GPS navigation data by providing signal integrity, accuracy enhancements, and additional ranging sources to ground, sea, air and space users with appropriate integrated-GPS/WAAS receivers. The following further defines the requirements for this RFI: (1) This capability could include the addition of a payload on an existing, planned satellite where the WAAS payload would be added and given assurance of priority, or could be a new satellite for the specific purpose of transmitting the L1 and one other fixed L-band frequency, or could be a combination of existing and new satellites with delivery of the service on-orbit; (2) The data sent in the GPS L1 and one other fixed L-band frequency will be used for two purposes: (a) Sending WAAS messages with formats defined in FAA-E-2892B Appendix 2, and (b) Providing a GPS-like ranging function by generating the GPS-like signal onboard the satellite(s) as opposed to generating/controlling the signal on the ground; (3) The National Airspace coverage requirements are provided in FAA-E-2892B; (4) Satellite status telemetry and satellite command and control information would be provided to the WAAS Wide-area Master Stations (WMSs); (5) The necessary launch services, satellite operations, maintenance and logistics support information should be addressed; (6) The FAA plans to lease the above capability under a level funding line of $35-50M per year beginning in FY02 through FY09 (subject to the agency's multi-year funding authority); (7) All future potential dates over the next several years are of interest. Scheduled initial operational capability for these services is NLT October 2001. For end-to-end WAAS verification and validation purposes, at least one satellite for the WAAS Space Segment is required to be on-orbit by January 2001 to augment the on-orbit Inmarsat constellation; and (8) The existing, planned or new satellite(s) with WAAS payload(s) will support end-state requirements specified in FAA-E-2892B through FY09. Each response to this RFI shall contain the following: (1) Address how each of the eight requirements above will be met; (2) Include a proposed system design with estimated costs, schedule, and management information, and (3) Outline past experience in these areas. The following provides the format and delivery guidelines for this RFI: (1) Security level of all responses shall be unclassified; (2) Responses should be limited to 20 pages in describing technical and management objectives with the first page being the Executive Summary. Page limits shall exclude any blank pages, title page, table of contents, and any list of illustrations. The RFI should be submitted in a single, loose-leaf binder with individual pages unbound to facilitate removal; (3) Cost and schedule information may be of unlimited length; (4) Responses should be on 8 1/2" x 11" paper of single-spaced text no smaller than 12 point Times Roman font; and (5) Responses will be accepted at NRO/ASTD (Capt Chris Shank), Room 14D33B, National Reconnaissance Office, 14675 Lee Road, Chantilly, VA 20151-1715 by hand-carried or postal delivery. Hand-carried deliveries of RFI responses must be received no later than 1500 EDT on 6 February 1998. Postal delivery is acceptable if the postmark indicates a date no later than 6 February 1998. Five (5) hardcopy reproductions of the RFI response are requested. In addition to the hard copies, provide a softcopy of the RFI response in Microsoft Word 6.0 on a 3.5" floppy disk. The Government does not intend to issue a Sources Sought Notice in the Commerce Business Daily for any subsequent acquisition. In addition to the above, respondents are invited to provide up to 10 pages of information demonstrating their capability to serve as a prime contractor under any subsequent contractual arrangement. (0008)

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