A -- WATER-BASED PROPULSION FOR SPACE

Notice Date

February 26, 2001

Contracting Office

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contract Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22203-1714

ZIP Code

22203-1714

Solicitation Number

BAA 01-23

Response Due

April 12, 2001

Point of Contact

Technical: Dr. Robert L. Rosenfeld, DARPA/TTO, Fax: (703) 696-8401; Contractual: Algeria K. Tate, DARPA/CMO, Fax: (703) 696-2208

E-Mail Address

BAA01-23@darpa.mil (BAA01-23@darpa.mil)

Description

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND GOALS: Under the Orbital Express Program, DARPA is developing systems for routine robotic refurbishment and on-orbit refueling of spacecraft. To leverage that effort, DARPA is seeking to enable the use of water as the replaceable fluid, based on its potential as a simple, non-hazardous, energy efficient propellant. DARPA anticipates that a spacecraft water-based propulsion system will consist of a water storage tank; high Isp electric thrusters using water vapor or constituent gases as propellant; an electrolyzer; separate water, hydrogen and oxygen storage tanks; and higher thrust hydrogen-oxygen combustion thrusters. To be effective, DARPA believes that the system must also function as an electrical energy storage system based on a regenerative fuel cell subsystem using either separate or unitized fuel cell and electrolyzer stacks. DARPA is seeking with this BAA to develop the innovative technologies and system concepts of the regenerative fuel cell subsystem for water-based propulsion systems for military missions. For purposes of this BAA the regenerative fuel cell subsystem includes the stack or stacks, all associated structural, control, thermal control, and fluid-handling components except the storage tanks. DARPA further seeks to demonstrate the validity of the technologies and concepts through rigorous test and evaluation, to be performed on prototype terrestrial brassboard systems at either government or contractor facilities. By so doing, DARPA expects to significantly decrease the risk, time, and cost to further develop and to qualify a complete water-based propulsion system for application in space. TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS: DARPA expects that the research and demonstrations will address the major technical issues. Offerors should identify the major issues of their own proposed concepts, but DARPA expects offerors to be concerned with energy conversion efficiency, system weight, operating life, failure modes, and recurring costs to manufacture space qualified systems. Offerors should be concerned with leakage and gas permeation at high pressure, separation of water from its constituent gases at zero-g, and thermal management within a spacecraft environment. Other technical issues include determination of the optimum pressure for storage of hydrogen and oxygen gases; the weight-efficiency tradeoff in fuel cell and electrolyzer design; selection of separate or unitized fuel cell and electrolyzer stacks; modularity approach to handle a range of sizes; and the choice between components that are optimized for water-based propulsion in space and components that are or will be economical and proven to be reliable for other applications. Additional technical issues to consider are the integration of the regenerative fuel cell subsystem into the total water-based propulsion system and future efforts required to develop and qualify the system for application in space. DARPA believes that the smallest spacecraft practical for refueling will operate at a few hundreds of Watts or greater continuous electric power level and that the largest satellites will operate at power levels of 10kW or greater. DARPA further envisions that the hydrogen and oxygen will be stored as gases under high pressure and that the electrolyzer will generate the storage pressure. High gas pressure, probably significantly over 7 MPa (1000 psi), will be required to minimize the tank volume and weight. While the weight of the regenerative fuel cell subsystem is important, it is likely to be far less than the weight of the water, gases, and tanks. For the most likely mission profiles, the electrolyzer will be required to generate gases much more rapidly for storage for the thrusters than for the fuel cell. PROGRAM SCOPE: DARPA is planning to make one or more awards for this program. The work is to be performed in two phases over a period of approximately 30 months. The first phase will last 12 months. The second phase will start upon conclusion of the first phase and will last 18 months. For each award, the second phase will be optional. At or near the conclusion of the first phase DARPA will select the effort or efforts to be funded for the second phase. Proposals should address both phases. DARPA plans to make approximately $10M available for this program, $5M for the first phase and $5M for the second phase. Successful efforts may result in further development, collateral efforts to develop other elements of a water-based propulsion system, demonstrations in space, and/or incorporation in future satellite systems. However, neither DARPA nor any other part of DOD has yet planned or budgeted for any such follow-on procurement. OFFERORS: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals; however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation because of the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research in water-based propulsion technology for space. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Evaluation of proposals will be accomplished through a technical review using the following criteria, listed in descending order of importance: 1) Overall scientific and technical merit including degree of innovation, understanding of the technical and operational issues, and experimental approach. 2) Potential contribution and relevance to the goals of the BAA. 3) Offeror's capabilities and related experience, including qualifications and achievements of all team members and their key personnel, their capability to carry out further development and production, and the adequacy of the facilities and equipment to be used for the proposed effort. 4) Offeror's plans to carry out the work. 5) Cost realism. PROPOSAL FORMAT: Each proposal shall consist of two volumes, Volume I -- Technical and Management, and Volume II -- Cost. Volume I shall consist of a Cover Sheet and three sections. Volume II shall consist of a Cover Sheet and two sections. All pages shall be printed on 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper with type not smaller than 12 point. The maximum total length of Sections I and II of Volume I is forty (40) pages including all figures, tables, and charts. There is no page limitation applicable to Volume II. An offeror shall submit an original and five (5) copies of the proposal and an official who is authorized to commit the offeror shall transmit the proposal. An offeror may submit more than one proposal. Volume I -- Technical and Management. Cover Sheet. The Cover Sheet shall identify the BAA number; proposal title; offeror's number (if any); lead organization submitting the proposal; type of business (large, small, educational institution, other not-for-profit or non-profit, etc.); other team members (if applicable) and their types of business; technical points of contact; and administrative points of contact. Section I -- Summary of Proposal. This section shall provide a summary of Section II. Section II -- Detailed Proposal Information. This section shall provide a detailed discussion of the proposed work to enable an in-depth review of all technical and management issues. This section shall address the risks, approach, and payoffs of the proposed research. Where the proposed effort consists of multiple portions that could reasonably be partitioned for purposes of funding, these should be identified as options with separate Statements of Work and cost estimates for each. Efforts under the second phase of this program must be identified as options. In a manner of the offeror's choosing, this Section should provide: (1) A description of the intended results of the proposed work for each phase or option of the effort and the expected benefits compared to the current state-of-the-art and alternative approaches. (2) A detailed description of the technical issues, the proposed approach, its basis, and a comparison with other ongoing research showing both the advantages and disadvantages. (3) Innovative claims for the proposed research including all proprietary claims to results, prototypes, intellectual property, or systems supporting and/or necessary for the use of the research, results, and/or prototype. If there are no proprietary claims, this should be stated. (4) A statement of Work (SOW) for each phase or option that describes the scope of the effort, the specific tasks to be performed, the milestones, and the schedule for the effort. (5) A schedule of the estimated cost for each major task in each phase or option of the effort and a schedule of the proposed company cost share. (6) A description of the proposed approach to management of the project including an organization chart showing reporting relationships, statements of the responsibilities of the team members, and the teaming strategy. (7) A description of the experience and capabilities of the offeror, each team member, and key personnel; a description of their capability to carry out further development and production; and a description of the facilities and equipment that would be used for the proposed effort. (8) A list of the deliverables associated with the proposed research. (9) A description of plans and capabilities to accomplish technology transition and commercialization. Section III -- This Section should contain all affirmations relative to DARPA's Organizational Conflict of Interest requirements (see below). In addition, this section may provide a bibliography of relevant technical papers and research notes (published and unpublished) which document the technical ideas upon which the proposal is based. This section may also include such papers, however, DARPA is under no obligation to review and evaluate the papers. Volume II -- Cost. Cover Sheet. The Cover Sheet shall identify the name and address of the offeror (include zip code); name, title, and telephone number of the offeror's business point of contact; recommended award instrument; place(s) and period(s) of performance; total proposed cost, separated by basic award and option(s) (if any); name, address, and telephone number of the offeror's cognizant Defense Contract Management Command (DCMC) administration office (if known); and name, address, and telephone number of the offeror's cognizant Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) audit office (if known). Section I -- Detailed Cost Breakdown. This section shall include: (1) total program cost broken down by major cost items (direct labor, subcontracts, materials, other direct costs, overhead charges, etc.) for each major program task for each phase or option. (2) An itemization of major subcontracts and equipment purchases. (3) A summary showing by month the total projected cost, cost share by the offeror, and Government funding requirements. (4) A description of cost estimating methods. (5) The source, nature, and amount of any cost sharing. Section II -- Supporting Cost and Pricing Information. This section shall include supporting cost and pricing information in sufficient detail to substantiate the summary cost estimates in Section I of the cost proposal. Costs for subcontracts having 20% or more of the value of the work must be substantiated to the same level of detail as the costs of the offeror. Offerors that intend to include classified information or data as part of their proposals shall, in advance of providing their proposals to DARPA, contact DARPA for guidance. AWARDS: Awards under this BAA will be made to responsible offerors on the basis of the evaluation criteria above and program balance to provide best value to the Government. Awards will be subject to the availability of funds. Award instruments may take the form of a procurement contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or technology investment agreement, depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, and other factors. If warranted, portions of resulting awards may be segregated into pre-priced options. The Government reserves the right to 1) select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received, and 2) incrementally fund any award instrument. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Awards made under this BAA are subject to the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5, Organizational Conflict of Interest. All offerors and proposed subcontractors must affirmatively state whether they are supporting any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the offeror supports and identify the prime contract number. Affirmations shall be furnished at the time of proposal submission, and the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest, as that term is defined in FAR 9.501, must be disclosed. This disclosure shall include a description of the action the offeror has taken, or proposes to take, to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflict. If the offeror believes that no such conflict exists, then the offeror shall so state in the affirmation. NON-GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL: All proprietary material should be clearly marked and will be held in strict confidence. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, proposals may be handled, for administrative purposes only, by SRS Technologies, Inc., of Arlington, VA, a support contractor, which is bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. Input on technical aspects of the proposals may be solicited by DARPA from non-Government consultants and experts who are bound by appropriate non-disclosure requirements. Non-Government technical consultants will not have access to proposals that are labeled by the offerors as "GOVERNMENT ONLY." Evaluations and selections under this BAA will be made only by Government personnel. ADMINISTRATION: In order to be considered for an award, a proposal must be received by DARPA at the address identified below on or before 1600 local time, Thursday, April 12, 2001. Proposals received after the closing date of this BAA will not be reviewed or evaluated. As soon as the proposal evaluation is completed, offerors will be notified that 1) the proposal has been selected, and the program will be funded, or 2) the proposal has been selected, pending availability of funds, or 3) the proposal has not been selected. Proposals that are selected, pending the availability of funds, will be considered eligible for award within one (1) year after the closing of this BAA. Unless otherwise advised by the offeror at the time of submission, non-selected proposals will be destroyed; however, one copy of non-selected proposals may be retained for file purposes. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: During 1999 DARPA funded a study of the water-based propulsion concept by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Upon request DARPA will provide a copy of the final report of that study to qualified offerors for their information. The missions analyzed, technical assumptions, and recommendations of the report do not all represent current DARPA intentions with respect to this Water-Based Propulsion for Space announcement. Upon request DARPA will also provide a copy of the paper, "The DARPA Orbital Express Program: Effecting a Revolution in Space-Based Systems" to offerors for their information. DARPA will reply to questions relating to this BAA and will make the replies available to prospective bidders. All correspondence including questions, requests for access to the replies to the questions, and requests for the reports mentioned above regarding this solicitation should be directed to one of the addresses below. DARPA prefers to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding this BAA. However, proposals must be submitted on paper. The addresses for this BAA are: E-Mail: BAA01-23@darpa.mil; Fax: DARPA, TTO, ATTN: BAA 01-23, 703-696-8401; Mail: DARPA, TTO, ATTN: BAA 01-23, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. This BAA can be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ in the "solicitations" area.

Web Link

http://www.darpa.mil/ (http://www.darpa.mil/)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010228/ASOL003.HTM (W-057 SN50E6E2)