GeoCarb Access to Space (GCATS)

Synopsis of Proposed Contract Action GeoCarb Access to Space (GCATS) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for GeoCarb Access to Space (GCATS) Mission. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (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 GCATS Mission. 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. GeoCarb is an Earth Venture Mission 2 (EVM-2) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) selected mission within the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program, with project management responsibility at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The ESSP Program Office (ESSPPO) is located at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and is responsible for overall program management and GeoCarb Access to Space (ATS) activity. The ESSP Program reports to the Earth Science Division (ESD) within the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters. GeoCarb is classified as a Category 3 (per NPR 7120.5E, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements) Class D mission (per NPR 8705.4, Risk Classification for NASA Payloads). The GeoCarb Mission entered Phase C, Final Design and Fabrication, in January 2020, with instrument delivery planned for no later than March 2023. The University of Oklahoma (OU) is under contract with NASA to provide the Principal Investigator (PI), mission science requirements, science operations center, applications leadership, GeoCarb instrument, and host/spacecraft management. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Civil Space (CS) and Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) is under a subcontract to OU for instrument/payload development, integration support with host, and instrument operations center. The GeoCarb instrument is designed to measure carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and solar induced fluorescence (SIF) from geostationary orbit (GEO). GeoCarb will join an international constellation of greenhouse gas observing satellites and draws deeply on heritage from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2). More information on the GeoCarb mission science can be found at http://www.ou.edu/geocarb. The overall needs for GeoCarb ATS are envisioned to include: spacecraft; observatory integration and test; command uplink from the industry-provided Mission Operations Center (MOC); downlink of GeoCarb engineering and science telemetry to the industry-allocated Ground Station(s); delivery of error-checked GeoCarb data to various mission partners; and all related tasks and support needed during the planned GeoCarb Mission (i.e., launch support, in-orbit check-out, and three years of mission operations). 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. NASA envisions a solicitation release in the second quarter of calendar year 2022 and contract award by the end of calendar year 2022. Further, instrument vibration testing and instrument thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing is planned for Summer 2022, with instrument delivery planned for no later than March 2023. NASA is interested in ATS opportunities that minimize a potential instrument storage period and support a launch date no later than end of calendar year 2024. Launch services are anticipated to be procured separately under the NASA Launch Service Provider (LSP) VADR Contract, targeting the launch date identified above. The following documents are attached to assist industry in responding to this request: Draft Statement of Work Draft Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) Draft Mission Assurance Requirements (MAR) Additionally, NASA requests firms include a notional schedule of spacecraft readiness to meet the launch date identified above, using an Authority to Proceed based on a contract award date by the end of calendar year 2022. Any concerns, risks or limitations in meeting this schedule should also be identified in the response. NASA also requests that all large business respondents identify any anticipated Small Business Subcontracting Goals by completing the following table in the response to this notice. Small Business Category Anticipated Goal Percentage Small Business Woman-Owned Small Business Veteran-Owned Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Historically Underutilized Business Zone concerns Historically Black Colleges and Universities Minority Serving Institutions NASA requests responses no later than 4:00 p.m. on 28 February 2022. Responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Michelle Crawford (michelle.l.crawford@nasa.gov). Phone calls will not be accepted. The subject line of the submission should be - Sources Sought Response for GCATS and attachments should be in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or PDF format. The total page count of all files should not be greater than seven (7) pages (no less than 12-point font, except in any figure captions), and should contain the following information: Name of submitter and contact information, phone number, email address, and address of firm Identification of business size under anticipated NAICS code 336414 CAGE code/DUNS number Small Business Subcontracting Goals identification (see table above) Notional schedule and identification of risks Industry comments and identification of risks on the attached requirements documents in this notice, referencing by document, paragraph number, sentence number and/or figure. Rough Order of Magnitude estimate of execution costs based on approach to meeting the attached requirement. Identification of current cost accounting system status (approved, in review, etc.) Additionally, in support of the Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, NASA is seeking to advance equity or remove barriers for members of underserved communities related to this requirement. As defined in the EO, Underserved Communities refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the preceding definition of "equity." Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. NASA seeks input in the following areas: 1. To support the requirements identified in this request for information (RFI)/sources sought notification, what barriers or opportunities exist to engage subject matter experts from industry and academia and how can those barriers be overcome? How can underserved communities be leveraged? 2. To support the requirements identified in this RFI, what barriers or opportunities exist to partner with subcontractors that employ members of underserved communities, as defined above? 3. What other recommendations would you make to enhance diversity and inclusion? 4. What should be considered to encourage full participation and contribution of organizations and individuals (e.g., outreach efforts and innovative partnerships) in performance of this requirement?