Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Heliophysics Medium Explorer (MIDEX) Concept Spacecraft and On-Orbit Support

Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Heliophysics Medium Explorer (MIDEX) Concept Spacecraft and On-Orbit Support datedOctober 2, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PAGE 1.0 Introduction/Scope 3 1.1 Cost 3 1.2 Desired Mission Services 4 1.3 Proposal Support 4 2.0 Launch vehicle 5 2.1 Launch Vehicle 5 2.2 Launch Readiness Date 5 3.0 Technical Requirements 5 3.1 Mission 5 4.0 POD Response Instructions, Format, and Selection Criteria 7 4.1 Notice of Interest 7 4.2 Instructions 8 4.3 Format 8 5.0 Evaluation Factors and Criteria 9 6.0 Point of Contact: 9 7.0 Final Due Date of POD Response 9 8.0 Acronyms 10 TO BE SUPPLIED UPON REQUEST Key Science Objectives 9.0 Payload Overview 10.0 Key Spacecraft Requirements: 11.0 Timeline ? 1.0 INTRODUCTION/SCOPE This partnership opportunity is in anticipation of a possible response to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO), 2018 Medium Explorer (MIDEX) element of the Heliophysics Explorers Program. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is developing a mission concept to be proposed for this AO. The partnership opportunity is being issued to select a teaming partner to provide the spacecraft, science-payload-to-spacecraft integration support, integration support for the spacecraft to launch vehicle, and spacecraft operations. NASA is expected to provide launch vehicle services for MIDEX missions under this AO. This phase ends with a Step-1 proposal that will be due 3 months after the AO is released. If the proposal is selected for implementation, the mission will proceed into Phase A, per NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 7120.5E (e.g. http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/main_lib.html). If selected for a Phase A study, the partner is expected to assist NASA to further develop the design and develop the Step-2 Concept Study Report. Limited funds will be made available to the partner in Phase A through a Firm Fixed Price contract. The following schedule should be used as a basis for responses to this opportunity: Partnership Opportunity Document released October 2, 2018 Notice of Interest October 8, 2018 Responses due October 16, 2018 Partner Selection announced October 23, 2018 Helio MIDEX Draft AO Released ~late 2018 Helio MIDEX AO Released ~early 2019 Proposal submittal in response to MIDEX AO ~middle 2019 Phase A Selection(s) Announced ~late 2019 Concept Study Reports due ~late 2020 Selection(s) Announced ~2021 Launch Readiness date ~2025 The dates above are estimates based on current expectations for the AO release timeline and prior MIDEX mission proposal guidelines. More precise dates should be available in the Draft AO. 1.1 COST The assumed cost cap for this AO is ~$200 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 dollars. This cost includes the instrument, mission science, the spacecraft, management, safety & mission assurance, integration & testing, science-payload-to-spacecraft integration support, integration support for the spacecraft to launch vehicle, and spacecraft operations, as well as required contingency (25% or greater reserves on Phases A-D). This cost does not include launch services. Reserves will be held at the Project level, and not with the partner. There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the portion of this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the Step-1 proposal to the MIDEX AO. Funding will be available for subsequent phases (including Phase A) should the candidate mission concept be competitively selected for those additional phases. If selected, the spacecraft partner will continue to assist GSFC in Phase A with continuation of the concept design and Step-2 Concept Study Report (CSR). Phase A funding provided by NASA will be allocated by GSFC amongst partners at the discretion of the Principal Investigator (PI), and GSFC will fund and issue a Firm Fixed Price contract for the spacecraft partner's assistance in Phase A. GSFC has the expectation that the spacecraft partner will also contribute bidding and proposal funds for their effort in Phase A. 1.2 DESIRED MISSION SERVICES GSFC is interested in formally establishing a partner to provide the following services for this mission: hosting of the science payload on a Sun-pointed low-Earth-orbiting spacecraft, systems design, science-payload-to-spacecraft integration support, spacecraft-to-launch-vehicle integration support, and spacecraft operations. The partner can be additionally responsible for instrument systems integration and testing and/or the Mission Operations Center, although neither is required. If included, the cost should be identified as options. The science instruments will be provided by GSFC for accommodation. All interested parties are required to respond to this POD in accordance with Section 4 below. 1.3 PROPOSAL SUPPORT It is expected that the selected POD respondent will provide support using their own resources to help develop the required MIDEX proposal elements in response to the MIDEX AO in the areas of a well-defined and documented spacecraft, instrument accommodations, systems design, (optional) instrument systems integration and testing, instrument to spacecraft integration support, integration support for the spacecraft to launch vehicle, and spacecraft operations. The partner will be expected to write or assist in the writing of portions of the Step-1 proposal relevant to their responsibilities. Furthermore, the partner will meet with the Principal Investigator (PI) and other proposal team members to help define the end-to-end performance requirements, including providing well-defined interfaces to the spacecraft in the form of draft Interface Control Documents (ICDs), to define the system architecture, to identify study topics, and to predict flight performance. This will include cost estimation for mission phases. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last approximately 6 months, starting in ~October 2018. If the mission is selected for development and launch (Phases B-F), the partner will be responsible for the design and development of the spacecraft, instrument accommodations and integration support, integration support for the spacecraft to launch vehicle, spacecraft operations, and (optional) instrument systems integration and testing. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last approximately 5 years (~3 years development and ~2 years operation), starting in 2021. These dates and times are subject to change depending on selection timelines and budget allocations or phasing. 2.0 LAUNCH VEHICLE 2.1 LAUNCH VEHICLE NASA will provide launch vehicle (LV) services for this MIDEX AO. The offered services are expected to be the same as those detailed for the 2016 Astrophysics MIDEX AO (see https://explorers.larc.nasa.gov/APMIDEX2016/MIDEX/pdf_files/MIDEX_2016ELVSummaryInfo_RevC_2-7-18.pdf). 2.2 LAUNCH READINESS DATE The vendor must commit to meeting the launch readiness date expected in the MIDEX AO of 2025. However, a shorter development time and earlier launch date is acceptable and encouraged. 3.0 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS This concept will be managed by the GSFC in partnership with the chosen partner who will host the instrument on a spacecraft which uses high-heritage subsystems and proven, well-tested engineering design. Proven launch-to-space heritage must be demonstrated in the submission in response to this POD. Mechanical, electrical, and thermal interfaces must be well defined by providing the GSFC team with draft ICDs - post partnership selection - that the GSFC team can use to show maturity of the MIDEX design and design interfaces to the spacecraft. This mission is expected to be classified as a Category 2 mission (per NPR 7120.5E) with a Class C payload (per NPR 8705.4) (see http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/main_lib.html). 3.1 MISSION 3.1.1 General The Sun-pointed payload shall be accommodated on a spacecraft placed into an Earth orbit of approximately 600 km altitude. The orbit should minimize radiation exposure. The preferred orbit will have an inclination of less than 35, though higher-inclination orbits may be considered to facilitate data downlink. The spacecraft must be of an End-of-Mission demisable design with re-entry less than 25 years after the end of the mission, or 30 years after launch, whichever is earlier. The fully integrated observatory should fit within the anticipated payload fairing (see Section 2.1). The location and methodology for (optional) Payload-level Integration & Test (Payload I&T), Observatory-level Integration & Test (Observatory I&T), support for mission operations, and transmission of instrument data to GSFC shall be described in the response. A Mission Operations Center element may be included in the response but is not required. Options should be identified and broken-out from the total cost. The payload consists of multiple instruments, all of which observe the Sun and whose pointings must be co-aligned. One of the instruments has an instrument component that must be deployed at the end of an extendable boom. The boom is not considered part of the spacecraft, but rather part of the instrument package. The boom is deployed once on-orbit, after spacecraft initialization. Figure 1: Observatory configuration after boom deployment. The spacecraft bus is presumed to contain both Element 1 of Instrument Package 1 and the entirety of Instrument Package 2, though other configurations can be considered. 3.1.2 Lifetime The mission has a minimum 24 month on-orbit operating time, with the possibility of an extended mission of at least 24 months. 3.1.3 Volume The observatory volume must fit within the anticipated payload fairing (see Section 2.1). At launch the total instrument volume is approximately 3.75 m3. After launch, the payload boom will expand in length to ~14 m; the boom length will not vary once set. Approximate volume of the instrument components at the deployed end of the boom is 1.25 m3. 3.1.4 Mass The instrument has a maximum expected mass of ~250 kg. The total instrument mass is distributed so that ~75% of the mass is located at element 1 and ~20% is located at element 2. The boom structure and associated harness accounts for the remaining mass. 3.1.5 Power The spacecraft shall provide peak power of NTE 400 W when the instruments are observing. The power usage for the instrument will be less than 200 W when not observing the Sun, including heater power. The spacecraft shall provide DC power between 24-32 V throughout the mission. 3.1.6 Thermal Thermal control for the instruments will be a passive system with multi-layer insulation (MLI), radiators, and heaters. Since the Observatory is nominally Sun-pointed, radiation surfaces can placed in locations with minimal to zero exposure to sunlight. 3.1.7 Data The spacecraft shall provide a data interface to the payload capable of both sending commands to the payload and receiving data from the payload. The preferred data interface between the spacecraft and the payload has not been defined. Interfaces that can be supported by the spacecraft shall be described in the response to this POD. The primary storage for science data is within the science payload, and data is sent to the spacecraft as needed to support downlinks by the spacecraft. The payload's nominal data rate is ~200 Gigabytes per day, and the peak rate is ~400 Gigabytes per day. Full data recovery is assumed, but more selective downlink strategies are being considered. The data-handling interface must support the transport and temporary storage of data for downlink. A NASA Near-Earth Network (NEN) compatible Ka-band data downlink subsystem is assumed, but other solutions can be proposed. There is no stringent requirement on data latency. 3.1.8 Attitude Control The spacecraft must support pointing the Observatory at the Sun with a selectable pitch and yaw offset from the center of the Sun (up to ~1 degree for operations and up to ~7 degrees for calibration) and a selectable roll orientation. Observatory-level pitch/yaw pointing control must be to ~1 arcminute and pointing knowledge to <1 arcsecond. The Observatory-pointing knowledge is provided by the science payload. Observatory-level roll control and knowledge must be to ~100 arcsec. The spacecraft shall satisfy appropriate sub-allocations so that the Observatory-level control requirements are satisfied. Instrument Package 2 is sensitive to spacecraft jitter at frequencies >0.1 Hz, so responses should describe approaches to minimize platform jitter. 4.0 POD RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS, FORMAT, AND SELECTION CRITERIA 4.1 NOTICE OF INTEREST Potential respondents are asked to contact GSFC with a Notice of Interest (intentionally not called a notice of intent) for the mission concept described here. This Notice of Interest does not create an obligation to respond to the POD, but allows the GSFC team to disseminate additional details to provide answers to questions from potential partners. Notice of Interest respondents will receive a document containing additional details, which can be used to facilitate a focused response to the partnership opportunity. These details are competition sensitive and are not to be shared beyond the necessary persons to prepare a full response. Respondents may send questions to the GSFC point of contact (POC) listed below. All questions and answers will be made available to all those who respond to the Notice of Interest. The identity of the source of the questions shall be held confidential. Questions and answers that contain information unique to a respondent's proprietary approach will not be shared if they are identified as such. Notice of Interest shall be sent to the POC listed in Section 6.0 via email with - Notice of Interest' in the subject line, a simple sentence or two expressing interest and an email address to send further information by the COB on October 8, 2018. 4.2 INSTRUCTIONS The respondent shall provide the following: - A description of the spacecraft and services to be considered and the demonstrated flight heritage of the spacecraft. - Demonstrate understanding and flight experience in the design, fabrication, integration, and testing of the spacecraft system proposed. Provide well-defined spacecraft engineering drawings for mechanical, thermal, and electrical interfaces. Describe the spacecraft and define the spacecraft-to-instrument interfaces. Provide information on the maturity of these interfaces and indicate if the latest configuration has flight heritage and demonstrated on-orbit performance. - Describe spacecraft capabilities as they apply to the requirements given in Section 3. - Provide the on-orbit consecutive lifetime capability of the proposed spacecraft (planned and demonstrated). - Identify the technical maturity/qualification of the proposed spacecraft and operations concept. If the spacecraft has not already demonstrated the required technical maturity/qualification, the respondent shall describe how these items will be demonstrated, including a timeline for this demonstration. This qualification will not be funded under this effort. - Describe the approach for supporting the proposal and the mission development, including the level of support that the partner plans to make available for each activity and the names of those individuals who will actively participate in the writing of the proposal. - Provide a brief statement of work defining participation in the proposal. - Provide an estimated cost from initial selection (Phase A) onward for all spacecraft activities including mission design, integration and testing, and spacecraft operations, including proposed contract type (FFP, CPIF, CPAF, etc.). The response shall include a breakdown and justification for the estimated cost as a function of time and category as well as a brief discussion of the uncertainty in the cost estimate. 4.3 FORMAT Responses shall be provided in a slide format (e.g., PowerPoint) and may be up to 30 slides. 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. Additional appendices may be in a separate document and, if so, only one version is required. The entire offer package, including any cover letter, title pages, and other supporting material, shall be provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file delivered to the email address in Section 6.0. Each partner will be contacted after submission to schedule a telecon or face-to-face walk-through of their material. 5.0 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: 1. Technical Approach (35%). Offerors will be evaluated on their ability to meet the payload technical requirements given in Section 3. This includes demonstrated understanding of the requirements and proposed approach to meet those requirements. The evaluation will emphasize the technical approach proposed for the ACS solution. 2. Cost (30%). Offerors will be evaluated on their overall cost and on the reasonableness of cost and schedule estimates. The evaluation of the cost will include a comparison against analogous costs of past, similar-class missions. Offerors can identify any mission requirements that are cost drivers and describe opportunities for cost savings resulting from relaxed requirements. 3. Relevant Experience and Past Performance (35%). The evaluation will emphasize demonstrated experience with similar missions. 6.0 POINT OF CONTACT (POC): Questions about this POD should be directed to Deborah Amato (Phone: 301-286-6834 , Email: deborah.a.amato@nasa.gov) and rosa.e.acevedo@nasa.gov. 7.0 FINAL DUE DATE OF POD RESPONSE The response to the POC is due no later than 5 p.m. EDT on October 16, 2018. The electronic PDF document shall be sent to the POC at the above email address. It is the responsibility of potential respondents to monitor the Federal Business Opportunities website (Fed Biz Opps) for information concerning this POD: https://www.fbo.gov ? 8.0 ACRONYMS ACS Attitude Control System AO Announcement of Opportunity CPAF Cost Plus Award Fee CPIF Cost Plus Incentive Fee CSR Concept Study Report DC Direct Current EDT Eastern Daylight Time FFP Firm Fixed Price FY Fiscal Year GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center I&T Integration & Test ICD Interface Control Document LV Launch Vehicle MIDEX Medium Explorer MLI Multi-Layer Insulation NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NEN Near-Earth Network NPR NASA Procedural Requirement NTE Not To Exceed PDF Portable Document Format PI Principal Investigator POC Point of Contact POD Partnership Opportunity Document RY Real Year