NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION USA Tender

Nasa Gsfc Is Seeking Capability Statements From All Interested Parties, Including All Socioeconomic Categories Of Small Businesses And Historically Black Colleges And Universities (hbcu)/minority Institutions (mi), And Members Of The Underserved Communities As Defined By Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, For The Purposes Of Determining The Appropriate Level Of Competition And/or Small Business Subcontracting Goals For The Lisa Main Oscillator (mo) Acquisition. The Government Reserves The Right To Consider A Small, 8(a), Women-owned (wosb), Service Disabled Veteran (sd-vosb), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (edwosb) Or Hubzone Business Set-aside Based On Responses Received. Lisa Is A European Space Agency (esa)-led Mission Consisting Of Three (3) Spacecraft (s/c) That Are Separated By 2.5 Million Kilometers In An Earth-trailing Orbit. The Three (3) S/c Will Relay Laser Beams Back And Forth Between The Different S/c And The Signals Will Be Combined To Search For Gravitational Wave Signatures Coming From Distortions Of Spacetime. Gravitational Waves Are Created During Events Such As Supermassive Black Hole Mergers, Collisions Between Two Black Holes That Are Millions, Or Even Billions, Of Times Bigger Than Our Sun, And From Other Distant Systems Including Smaller, Stellar Mass Black Holes Orbiting Supermassive Black Holes. Gravitational Waves Are A Powerful New Probe Of The Universe That Uses Gravity Instead Of Light To Take Measure Of Dynamic Astrophysical Phenomena. Part Of Nasa Gsfc’s Contributions To The Lisa Mission With Esa Is To Supply The Laser Heads (lh) For The Mission. The Mo Under The Current Gsfc Lh Main Oscillator Power Amplifier (mopa) Architecture Design Provides The Low Power Stable Laser Source To Seed The Power Amplifier (pa) To Reach The Lh Output Power Requirements. The Mo Is A Diode Laser Pumped Nd:yag Based Solid State Laser With Polarization Maintaining Fiber As Output For Interfacing With The Power Amplifier Inside The Lh. The Lh-emitted Laser Light Is Used To Form Three Sets Of Optical Interferometers Between S/c For Measuring Picometer-level Length Changes Over 2.5-million Km With The Low Received Power. This Acquisition Is For The Design, Fabrication, Alignment, Testing, Performance Verification And Validation (v&v), And Delivery Of Twelve (12) Engineering Model (em), Twelve (12) Qualification Model (qm), Fifty (50) Flight Models (fm), Twenty (20) Flight Spare (fs) Assembled Main Oscillators And Twenty (20) Flight Spare Main Oscillator Unassembled Kits, And Post-delivery Support For The Lh Integration And Testing At The Tbd Lh Vendor Facility Per Rfi-nasa-gsfc-lisa-laser, Released On 16 February 2024. Nasa Gsfc Is Expecting That The Vendor Shall Perform All Environmental Tests And Performance V&v Prior To Delivery. no Solicitation Exists; Therefore, Do Not Request A Copy Of The Solicitation. If A Solicitation Is Released, It Will Be Synopsized On Sam.gov. Interested Firms Are Responsible For Monitoring This Website For The Release Of Any Solicitation Or Synopsis. interested Firms That Possess The Capability To Meet The Above Requirement As Described In The Attached Draft Statement Of Work (sow) Are Encouraged To Submit A Capability Statement Of No More Than 20 Pages, Using No Less Than 12-point Times New Roman Font, Indicating The Ability To Perform All Aspects Of The Effort. In Addition To Submitting A Capability Statement, Please Answer The Following Questions For Informational Purposes: 1. What Are The Biggest Programmatic, Technical, And/or Logistical Challenges For Your Company In Producing The Various Mo Models And Quantities For The Lisa Program As Stated In This Rfi? 2. What Supply Chain Issues, If Any, Do Your Company Foresee? 3. Your Company Is Invited To Provide Informal Information And Recommendations For Fashioning This Proposed Acquisition. Recommendation Areas May Include The Type Of Contract, Anticipated Contract Terms & Conditions, Incentives, Variations In Delivery Schedule, Price And/or Cost Proposal Support, And Any Other Areas That Your Company Believes Is Relevant For The Government To Achieve Its Stated Objective. Your Company May Opine Regarding What Portion Of The Work Could Be Set-aside For Small Businesses If All The Required Work Cannot Be Provided By A Small Business. Details To Support Any Recommendations For Partial Small Business Set-asides Should Be Included. 4. What Can Nasa Gsfc Specifically Do To Promote Competition For This Requirement? 5. Please Provide A Description Of Heritage Spaceborne Or Airborne Hardware Similar To Lisa In Terms Of Production Volume. 6. What Facilities And Resources Are Available To Support And Meet The Production Volume, Environmental Testing (tvac, Shock/vibration, Etc.) And Performance Verification Of The Lisa Mo? 7. Lisa Is Going To Be A Multi-contract Effort With Integration Done By Nasa At Gsfc And/or Nasa At Esa. Please Provide Examples Of Previous Interactions With Other Us Or Foreign Agencies During Instrument Level Integration And Testing. all Responses Shall Be Submitted Electronically Via Email To Contracting Officer Christopher King At Christopher.w.king@nasa.gov And Lisa Study Manager Terence Doiron At Terence.a.doiron@nasa.gov No Later Than 12:00pm Eastern On September 6, 2024. Nasa Gsfc Requests Any Questions Or Comments About This Rfi Be Submitted To The Same Point Of Contacts Listed Above No Later Than 12:00pm Eastern On August 28, 2024. this Synopsis Is For Information And Planning Purposes Only And Is Not To Be Construed As A Commitment By The Government Nor Will The Government Pay For Information Solicited. Respondents Will Not Be Notified Of The Results Of The Evaluation. Respondents Deemed Fully Qualified Will Be Considered In Any Resultant Solicitation For The Requirement. nasa Intends To Publicize A Listing Of Respondents In Order To Facilitate Teaming Arrangements. Should Your Firm Desire Not To Be Included In This Listing, Clearly Indicate This Desire In Your Response.