Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition Program (CSDAP)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Headquarters (HQ) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. NASA/HQ 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), for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Woman-owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses received. NASA is committed to relying on the maximum practical extent on U.S. commercial remote sensing capabilities and is fully compliant with the 2003 U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Policy. The commercial data must be purchased from a U.S. provider and data must be based on U.S. technologies and satellites. The objective of the CSDA Program is to identify, evaluate and acquire data from commercial sources that support NASA's Earth science research and application activities (https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science). Commercially acquired data may provide a cost-effective means to augment and/or complement the suite of Earth Observations acquired by NASA and other US government agencies and by international partners and agencies. Emphasis is placed on data acquired by satellite constellations, affording the means of complementing NASA acquired data with higher resolutions, increased temporal frequency or other novel capabilities in support of existing and future Earth science and application activities. Participation in this Request for Information (RFI) provides an opportunity to - on-ramp vendors with new or significantly enhanced capabilities to enter the next evaluation phase of the CSDA Program. The scientific evaluation phase of the commercial data is expected to take approximately 12-18 months from start of the contract award. NASA may enter into a longer-term agreement for continued access to data pending a favorable evaluation and availability of funds. Further, it is recommended that vendors selected during the previous data buys do not resubmit to this RFI unless they have developed new data products (or data products based on new instruments) that were not available to NASA at the time the contracts were signed. It is anticipated that the next on-ramp opportunity (on-ramp #4) will be issued in 12-18 months. For this program, NASA desires to procure one or more data sets/information products and associated meta-data (documentation, access routines, precision orbits, basic characterization information, calibration and other necessary information) based on Earth observations derived from Earth-orbiting, satellite constellations designed and operated by non-governmental entities, particularly the private sector. NASA intends to provide the purchased data sets to separately selected NASA-funded researchers who will be supported to examine and analyze the dataset(s) to help determine the utility of the constellation-based products for advancing NASA's research and applications development goals. NASA will collaborate with other U.S. Government agencies and partners during the evaluation phase. To facilitate standard scientific collaborations, NASA will be seeking end user license agreements (EULAs) to enable broad levels of dissemination and shareability of the commercial data with the US government agencies and partners. There will be a set of license tiers (i.e., EULA tiers) associated with any contract vehicle that may be signed with data providers for an initial purchase to allow evaluation and/or subsequent purchases. NASA requires the ability to uplift from more restrictive licenses to less restrictive licenses without renegotiation of awards (See Scientific Non-Commercial Use License section below). If selected for the on-ramp opportunity, the offeror shall deliver Earth-relevant data products obtained from operating commercial satellite constellations, associated metadata and ancillary information (see below details on minimum constellation size). Data, including associated metadata, are needed for the purpose of technical assessment and assimilation into current algorithms and models to determine the viability of these data to augment existing research and application investigations. Support is expected from the vendor on best practices for accessing and using data to address issues that may be encountered in the course of accessing and using the data. At the time of the RFI submittal, the offeror shall demonstrate that it has an operating constellation of satellites. An operational constellation shall be comprised of a minimum of two or more low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites or at least one in higher orbits including medium Earth orbit (MEO), highly eccentric orbit (HEO) or geostationary orbit (GEO). The two LEO satellites must support consistent global or continental coverage (e.g., with identical or nearly identical instruments). The operating satellites must have been launched, commissioned, and routinely be collecting data by the deadline of the capability statements submittal in response to the RFI. Additionally, the offeror shall provide the following information: Description of the instrument(s) used in the data acquisition and their sampling characteristics. Detailed description of pre-launch instrument characterization and calibration as well as on-board calibration and stability metrics. Detailed plans for future satellites. Launch date(s), commissioning information and anticipated lifetime. Scientific Non-Commercial Use License: NASA has determined a necessity for NASA and other U.S. Government agencies to acquire minimum rights to Data for any and all Data procured under any agreement to support intended Scientific Non-Commercial Use. At a minimum, the U.S. Government and related entities shall have the ability to share and use Data for Scientific Use including but not limited to inclusion in scientific and technical articles and publishing academic or similar works. The minimum data rights apply to all phases of the CSDA Program. Please see below the summary of the EULAs intended for the CSDA Program. The EULAs in their entirety are attached to this RFI for informational purposes only. Authorized User Community U.S. Federal Government including: U.S. State/Local/Tribal Government; Contractors and Grantees associated with Government Agency: Type of EULA: U.S.G. U.S. Federal Government, Foreign Civil Partners: Type of EULA: U.S.G. PLUS and U.S.G. Public Release: Type of EULA: Public Release, U.S.G. PLUS and U.S.G. All interested offerors having existing satellite-based Earth observation constellations generating data products for potential purchase by NASA's Earth Science Division should submit a capability statement of 10 pages or less indicating the ability to perform/meet all aspects of the effort described herein, and specific information related to the quality, sustainability, and suitability of the data products. Responses shall also include the following: Company name and address; Business size classification; Information demonstrating technical capability and description of the data, including supporting dataset quality information. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541990; this industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in the provision of professional, scientific, or technical services. Estimated award date for these BPAs is August 2021. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in beta.SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. Point of Contact for Technical and Programmatic questions shall be directed to Kevin Murphy via email at Kevin.J.Murphy@nasa.gov. This requirement is considered to be commercial and is anticipated to be procured using Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Parts 12 and 13.5. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes 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 qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement. The responses from this RFI will be shared with interested parties of the Government. All responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Rhea Frazier at Rhea.P.Frazier@nasa.gov in either Microsoft Word or ADOBE PDF format no later than 4:00 PM EST January 2, 2021. Attachments: EULA Tiers: Public Release EULA U.S. Government Plus EULA U.S. Government EULA