NASA/Lewis Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135

A -- MINIATURE RESISTOJET THRUSTER DEVELOPMENT SOL RFO3-105315 DUE 071098 POC Gary A. Golinski, Contracting Officer, Phone (216) 433-2790, Fax (216) 433-2480, Email Gary.A.Golinski@lerc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/LeRC/date.html#RFO3-105315. E-MAIL: Gary A. Golinski, Gary.A.Golinski@lerc.nasa.gov. This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This notice is being issued as a Request for Offer (RFO) The provisions and clauses in the RFO are those in effect through FAC 97-11. The SIC code and the small business size standard for this procurement are 8731 and respectively. The offeror shall state in their offer their size status for this procurement. All qualified responsible business sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. Delivery to LeRC is required within 360 days ARO. Delivery shall be FOB Destination. The DPAS rating for this procurement is DO-C9. Offers for the items(s) described above may be mailed to the undersigned by the date/time specified above and include, solicitation number, FOB destination to this Center, proposed delivery schedule, discount/payment terms, warranty duration (if applicable), taxpayer identification number (TIN), identification of any special commercial terms, and be signed by an authorized company representative. Offerors are encouraged to use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items form found at URL: http://procure.arc.nasa.gov/Acq/Standard_Forms/Index.html to submit a offer. If the end product(s) offered is other than domestic end product(s) as defined in the clause entitled "Buy American Act -- Supplies," the offeror shall so state and shall list the country of origin. FAR 52.212-5 is applicable. Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing no later than 7/8/98. Offers are due by close of business 4:30, June 10, 1998 to the identified bid distribution office, marked with this solicitation number. Award will be made to that responsible offeror whose offer meets all the requirements of the Statement of Work,whose proprosed price is determined to be the lowest overall cost to the government, whose past performance record in related development is satisfactory and whose proposal is determined to be the best value to the government. Best value will be determined by weighing the price against performance in the Best Value Criterea. Selection and award will be in accordance with FAR 52.212-2 with the following value characteristics: 1. Capability to perform at a power level not to exceed 53 Watts. 2. Capability to perform at specific impulse levels exceeding 199 seconds on ammonia and 59 seconds on xenon calculated using isentropic gas expansion from the proposer's expected plenum temperature. 3. Mass of integral valve and thruster not to exceed 100 grams. 4. Capability to manufacture and space flight qualify propulsion system components. Technical acceptability will be determined by information submitted by the offeror providing a description in sufficient detail to show that the product offered meets the Government's requirement. It is critical that offerors provide adequate detail to allow evaluation of their offer. Offerors must include completed copies of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items with their offer. These may be obtained via the internet at URL: http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/msfc/pub/reps_certs/midrange/. These representations and certifications will be incorporated by reference in any resultant contract. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Internet Note "B". Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this site and/or the CBD for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of this combination synopsis/solicitation and amendments (if any). Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nnotes.htm. Miniature Resistojet Thruster Development Introduction The purpose of this procurement is to rapidly develop miniature resistojet technology for application to next generation micro satellite systems and to develop an industrial source for the technology. The effort shall include assessments of both the potential markets and the state-of-the-art. An R&T program to establish feasibility shall be carried out followed by developement and validation of both flight-representative, and flight hardware. The effort shall be planned to emphasize rapid development of a flight-ready system at minimum cost. Nature of the Procurement NASA plans to establish a two phase research and development effort in the area of miniature resistojet system development. The second phase shall be optional depending on Contractor progress and the availability of funds. The first phase shall consist of a system definition followed by an R&T effort to demonstrate the critical technologies required for successful system development in a flight-representative system. The second phase (Option 1), shall consist of the fabrication and qualification of flight systems and delivery of flight hardware. Each of the two phases (Basic Effort, Option 1) is expected to consist of multiple tasks including test definition, hardware design and fabrication, endurance testing, data evaluation, and reporting. Each phase is estimated to be performed over 12 months. Scope of Work The Contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, facilities, equipment, services and materials to conduct a program in Miniature Resistojet Thruster Development. The Contractor shall identify a target mission and the system specifications required for this target application. The Contractor shall develop and verify system components, including the resistojet, power processor, and propellant system, capable of meeting mission requirements. Integration issues, including thermal control, electrical, and propellant feed, shall be identified and addressed. Finally, the Contractor shall fabricate, qualify, and deliver a flight-ready resistojet system. Thruster shall be compatible with both ammonia and xenon propellants. Government testbeds may be used for evaluation if required to facilitate rapid, economic testing. Basic Effort (Phase I) The objectives of this task are 1) to perform a market assessment to determine potential applications for miniature resistojet thrusters and critical resistojet system requirements related to these applications, and 2) to determine the state-of-art of technologies critical to the development of miniature resistojet systems. 1.1 The Contractor shall perform a market assessment to determine the system requirements for potential missions that would be enhanced or enabled through the use of miniature resistojet thrusters. System performance, packaging, and integration requirements shall be included in the effort. Based on the market assessment, the Contractor shall choose a target mission and define a set of resistojet system specifications (performance, flight qualification envelopes, and interfaces) to capture the target mission requirements. The product of this subtask shall be known as Subtask 1.1 Specifications and shall be submitted to the NASA Project Manager (PM) within 30 days of the effective date of this contract. The PM will approve the Subtask 1.1 Specifications or specify required changes within 5 working days. 1.2 The Contractor shall review literature, related experience, and other sources of information to develop an accurate assessment of the state-of-the-art assessment of technologies critical to resistojet thuster system development. The assessment shall include but not be limited to the thruster, power processing unit, and the propellant deliver system. Task 1.2 shall run concurrently with the Task 1.1 effort. The product of this subtask shall be known as the Subtask 1.2 Assessment, and the Contractor shall be submitted to the PM within 30 days of the effective date of the contract. Task 2. Critical Technology Demonstration The objective of this task is to develop and demonstrate a miniature resistojet thruster system capable of meeting the subtask 1.1 Specifications. The effort shall include demonstration of the feasibility and practicality of the critical technologies identified in Subtask 1.2. To the extent possible, this task may run concurrently with the Task 1 effort. 2.1 The Contractor shall develop a preliminary system design for a miniature resistojet thruster system to be used for the demonstration of the critical technologies identified in Subtask 1.2. The system shall be as flight-like as is practical with regard to system interfaces and integration with modularity built in only to facilitate the rapid, economic testing of critical system components. The product of this subtask shall be known as the Subtask 2.1 System Design and Contractor shall submit the Subtask 2.1 System Design to the NASA Project Manager (PM) within 60 days of the effective date of this contract. The PM will approve the design or specify required changes within 5 working days. 2.2 The Contractor shall developa Test Program Plan to demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the critical technologies identified in Subtask 1.2. The Test Program Plan shall include both life and realiability validations and a detailed evaluation of integration requirements. The product of this subtask shall be known as the Subtask 2.2 Test Program Plan. The Contractor shall submit the Subtask 2.2 Test Progam Plan to the NASA Project Manager (PM) within 60 days of the effective date of this contract. The PM will approve the design or specify required changes within 5 working days. 2.3 The Contractor shall perform the Test Program developed in Subtask 2.2 upon approval of the NASA Project Manager. The Contractor shall submit the results of the Test Program to the NASA Program Manager (PM) within 4 months of the completion of Subtask 2.2. Government testbeds may be used if required to facilitate the rapid, economic testing. Task 3. Reporting Throughout the length of the contract, the Contractor shall provide timely reporting of critical programmatic, financial, technical issues, and summary progress in the format described in "Reports of Work", section F. Option 1 (Phase II) Task 4. Market Reassessment and Flight-ready System Design 4.1 The Contractor shall reassess the market for a miniature resistojet thruster to determine a specific mission target for miniature resistojet system development. The effort shall focus on modifications, if any, to the Subtask 1.1 Specifications deemed necessary to maximize the expectations for micro resistojet thruster technology acceptance. The product of this subtask shall be known as the Subtask 4.1 Specifications and shall be submitted to the PM within 10 days of the start of Option 1. The PM will approve or specify changes within 5 working days. 4.2 Based on the data obtained in the Basic Effort effort, the Contractor shall generate a flight system design capable of meeting the Subtask 4.1 Specifications. The product of this task shall be called the Subtask 4.2 Flight System Design and shall be submitted to the PM within 30 days of the completion of the Subtask 4.1 effort. The PM will approve the Subtask 4.2 Flight Sytem Design or specify required changes within 5 working days. Task 5. Flight -ready System Fabrication, and Qualification Program Definition 5.1 The Contractor shall fabricate the flight-ready thruster system, including the thruster, power processor, and propellant supply system, designed in Subtask 4.2 within 3 months of initiation of the Option 1 effort. 5.2 The Contractor shall generate an experimental qualification program, and the associated work plan, designed to demonstrate the resistojet system s flight-readiness. The plan shall be submitted to the PM within 2 months of initiation of the Option 1 effort. Approval or required changes shall be transmitted within 5 working days of submission of the test plan. Task 6. Qualification Program The Contractor shall carry out the test plan approved in Subtask 5.2. This task shall be completed within 6 months of the completion of the Task 5 effort. Posted 07/02/98. (0183)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0005 19980707\A-0005.SOL)