NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Partnership Opportunity for the Heliophysics Technology Demonstration Mission of Opportunity Concept, Smallsat Propulsion System

Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Heliophysics Technology Demonstration Mission of Opportunity Concept Smallsat Propulsion System 1.0 INTRODUCTION/SCOPE NASA released on August 6, 2018 the Announcement of Opportunity (AO), Heliophysics Technology Demonstration SALMON-3 Program Element Appendix (PEA-L), NNH18ZDA009J (hereafter referred to as the - Tech Demo AO NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is developing a mission concept to be proposed in response to this Tech Demo AO. The purpose of issuing this Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) is to select a teaming partner to support the proposal effort. The mission comprises systems that necessitate the use of a smallsat propulsion system. The mission concept development effort is currently in Phase A. This phase follows the successful selection of our Step 1 proposal in 2019. The next step in the proposal process is a 9-month mission concept study culminating in a Concept Study Report, which is the Step 2 proposal, and a Site Visit. The following schedule should be used as a basis for responses to this opportunity: Partnership Opportunity Document released March 27, 2020 Responses due April 10, 2020 Partner Selection announced April 16, 2020 Mission Concept Study Report due June 5, 2020 Selection announced December 2020 Launch Readiness August 2024 1.1 COST Total cost and cost credibility are important issues for the proposed mission. The cost cap for this AO is $65 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 dollars. There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the portion of this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the submission of the Concept Study Report to the Tech Demo AO. Funding will be available for subsequent phases should the candidate mission concept be competitively selected for those additional phases. 1.2 DESIRED MISSION SERVICES GSFC is interested in formally selecting a partner to provide the following products and services for the mission: A modular propulsion system suitable for use on a smallsat Total impulse > 2000 N-sec Dry Mass < 5 kg Power required < 60 Watts Thrust > 40 mN All interested parties are required to respond to this POD in accordance with Section 3 below. 1.3 PROPOSAL SUPPORT It is expected that the selected POD respondent will provide support using their own resources to develop the proposal for the smallsat propulsion system. Partner responsibilities include collaborating with the Principal Investigator (PI) and other proposal team members to establish the technical description for the use of the propulsion system in the mission operations. The period of performance for this phase of proposal support is expected to last approximately 5 months, starting in April 2020. The partner will be requested to support the Study, the writing of the Mission Concept Study Report. If the mission is selected for development, launch, and operations (Phases B-F), the partner will be funded for delivering a modular propulsion system. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last approximately 2 years, starting early 2021. These dates and times may change depending on selection timelines and budget allocations or phasing. The respondent to this POD shall state the timeframe in which their services will be available and the extent to which the respondent can meet the timeline requirements set forth above. 2.0 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS GSFC is looking for a modular propulsion system for use in the technology demonstration which can be integrated to a spacecraft panel, and subsequently be integrated to the spacecraft. A detailed specification document is available by request from the POC listed in Section 5. 3.0 POD RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS, FORMAT, AND SELECTION CRITERIA 3.1 INSTRUCTIONS The respondent shall: Demonstrate that the propulsion system fulfills the technical performance and interface characteristics described in Section 2 of this POD. Describe the approach for supporting the Phase A Mission Concept Study (Step 2 proposal), the Phase A Site Visit at a WFF location, and mission development, including the level of support that the partner plans to make available for each activity. Provide an estimated Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost (in FY2021 dollars) from Step 2 selection (Phase B) onward for all support activities. The response shall include a brief discussion of the uncertainty in the cost estimate. Demonstrate understanding and flight experience in the design, fabrication, integration and testing of a spacecraft propulsion subsystem/module. Identify assumed mission and system requirements for the propulsion subsystem/module and a response to addressing those requirements. Highlight particularly critical or challenging areas for the design of the propulsion subsystem/module. Provide a technical summary/description of the proposed propulsion subsystem/module including relevant heritage. Describe what types of capabilities and cost benefits the propulsion subsystem/module provides for the intended mission. Identify fabrication and testing facilities that will be required to support development and test of the propulsion subsystem/module. Provide any recommended potential study topics related to the propulsion subsystem/module. 3.2 FORMAT The response to this partnership opportunity is limited to 30 pages in not less than 12-point font. Excluded from the page count are the cover letter, title pages, table of contents, and acronym list. Partners may attach additional appendices that further describe their capabilities, although GSFC is under no obligation to include the contents of such appendices in the evaluation of the offer package. The entire offer package, including any cover letter, title pages, and other supporting material, shall be formatted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file delivered to the E-mail address below. 4.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND CRITERIA Evaluations will be performed independently for each mission concept. The evaluation team will use the following factors in selection and award: Technical Approach (30%). Offerors will be evaluated on their ability to meet the technical requirements given in Section 2. This includes demonstrated understanding of the requirements and proposed approach to meet those requirements, while providing a design that minimizes mass and volume of the propulsion system. Cost (30%). Offerors will be evaluated on their overall cost and on the reasonableness of cost and schedule estimates. Relevant Experience and Past Performance (40%). 5.0 POINT OF CONTACT: Questions about this POD should be directed to Tonjua Hines-Watts (Phone: 301-286-0555, Email: tonjua.m.hines-watts@nasa.gov). 6.0 FINAL DUE DATE OF POD RESPONSE The response to the POC is due no later than 5 p.m. ET on the - Responses due date given above in Section 1.0. The electronic PDF document shall be sent to Tonjua Hines-Watts (Phone: 301-286-0555, Email: tonjua.m.hines-watts@nasa.gov). It is the responsibility of potential respondents to monitor the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS), GSFC Procurement Site (beta.sam.gov) for information concerning this POD.