DOT/RSPA/VOLPE National Transportation Systems Center, 55 Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142

B -- SPACE TRANSPORTATION SOL DTRS57-98-R-00010 POC Kathleen Foley, Contract Specialist, FAX (617) 494-3024 WEB: Volpe Center Acquisition Division Home Page, http://www.volpe.dot.gov/procure/index.html. E-MAIL: Contract Specialist, foley@volpe1.dot.gov. The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis a contract with the Aerospace Corporation for analyses of the risks associated with each phase of commercial space reentry operations. Because the components, subsystems, and systems employed for safe reentry will need to survive phases other than reentry, such as the harsh launch and landing environments and the orbital environment, these phases will be included in the analyses. The planning and technical analyses will cover all safety aspects of reentry, launch, and landing. Issues related to specific concept designs, system reuse, manufacturing, and maintenance could be included in the required analyses. The contract scope also includes providing aid to the development of regulations and regulatory options, and to support regulatory analysis, for example through cost benefit analysis, and to perform independent validation and verification of commercial launch/reentry organizations compliance. The Aerospace Corporation as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) is the only known organization with the requisite qualifications to provide both technical support and independent validation and verification studies for reentry-related research to prepare to initiate the rulemaking process. Interested parties are invited to submit two copies of demonstrated recent experience in: 1. Reentry regulation issues and risk assessment areas which include: Pre-launch and launch operations that could impact reentry systems; on-orbit and de-orbit environments which may cause damage to reentry systems where the failure of subsystems may jeopardize reentry; the entry interface where vehicle breakup can occur because of inadequate vehicle design or explosion; the terminal area where vehicle breakup can be caused by inadequate vehicle design or explosion, and where sonic booms may be an issue and toxics may be released; the approach and landing of the vehicle where such issues as parachute failure, rotor system failure and communication failure must be considered which could expose the public to health and safety hazards; and post landing operations where failure to clear the landing site could cause collision with an incoming vehicle and may expose the public to greater health and safety hazards than expected. 2.Risk assessment analyses, planning, requirements development and allocation, modeling and simulation methodologies to improve transportation safety and planning and support the development of appropriate public policy including technical assistance in the development of regulations for the commercial use of space. 3.Interested parties must be able to provide evidence they have on hand the expertise in all areas of space transportation for immediate work on a task order type indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. 4.Interested parties must also show evidence that they are capable of providing independent validation and verification to help insure independent advice on the licensing of private firms that wish to engage in space transportation. It is to be noted that the use of and protection of proprietary data from firms wishing to be licensed for space transportation will be involved. This information shall be submitted to the Contract Specialist cited above within 15 days from the published date of this notice in the Commerce Business Daily. Responses to Items 1 to 4 cannot exceed five (5) pages in total. No contract award will be made on the basis of offers/submittals received in response to this synopsis since this notice is not a request for offers/proposals. Responses must reference RFP No. DTRS57-98-R-00010. For information concerning this acquisition, contact the contracting official listed above. The following notice is for informational purposes for Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises: The Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), has a program to assist minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises to acquire short-term working capital assistance for transportation-related contracts. Loans are available under the DOT Short Term Lending Program (STLP) at prime interest rates to provide accounts receivable financing. The maximum line of credit is $500,000. For further information and applicable forms concerning the STLP, please call the OSDBU at (800) 532-1169. (0092)

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