Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for Deep Space Navigation Support

Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) for Deep Space Navigation Support dated February 2016 1.0 Introduction and Scope This partnership opportunity is for a NASA Planetary Mission Opportunity in 2017. NASA's GSFC is seeking partners for spaceflight mission development for potential proposals to this opportunity. GSFC mission teams will be submitting proposals to the New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity (AO) anticipated to be released January 2017. This opportunity will be a two-step process, with the step 1 proposal response being primarily focused on the scientific merit and technical feasibility of the proposed mission and its associated scientific investigation. The initial submissions will then be down-selected after formal peer review and the resultant subset of proposals will be funded to provide Phase A mission Concept Study Reports (CSR). During Phase A (Step 2), proposals will be expanded and refined to detail the entire end-to-end life cycle concept, with greater attention to engineering implementation, cost, and schedule. The time frame for the solicitation is anticipated to be: Release of final AO.............................January 2017 (target) Pre-proposal conference........................~3 weeks after final AO release Proposals due .................................~90 days after AO release Selection for competitive Phase A studies.......November 2017 (target) Concept study reports due.......................October 2018 (target) Down-selection .................................May 2019 (target) KDP B ..........................................August 2019 (target) Launch readiness date ..........................2024 This partnership opportunity is being issued to interested and qualified teaming partners to help prepare the concept for Step 1 proposal submittal, CSR preparation and submittal, and to provide navigation support should the concept be selected for flight. For this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the initial submission, there will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners. Funding will be available for Phase A and subsequent phases should the investigation be approved to continue through the mission-defined gates for flight. NASA's GSFC reserves the option to not select any teaming partners under this POD offering on the basis of materials received. 2.0 Technical Description NASA's GSFC is interested in partnering with an organization with relevant experience to provide outer body spacecraft trajectory development and small body orbital mechanics analysis and provide recommendations to the mission science and engineering teams regarding spacecraft guidance and navigation system design 3.0 Pre-selection Support 3.1 Initial Proposal Support (Step 1) SOW: It is expected that the selected respondent will provide support using their own resources (no exchange of funds) to help develop and write the mission proposal in response to the solicitations in the area of mission navigation. This will involve meeting with the scientists and the overall mission engineering team: (a) to help define the end-to-end performance; (b) to identify study topics; and (c) to predict performance. This will include cost estimation for all mission phases. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last until submission of the initial proposal. 3.2 Phase A Study and CSR Support (Step 2) SOW: If the mission is selected for a Phase A study, the proposal team will receive funding to conduct a Phase A study and submit a detailed CSR to NASA. The navigation partner may request a portion of this funding to continue proposal support during the CSR duration. The respondent will be expected to support CSR development including cost estimation during this period. The period of performance for this interval is detailed in the above timelines. POD Response Instructions for Pre-Selection Support The respondent shall: 1) Demonstrate understanding and experience in the development of navigation solutions 2) Identify potential study topics related to navigation and mission design 3) Indicate the level of resources to be allocated for the proposal phase - Discuss skills that will be provided 4) Identify planetary missions for which the respondent has previously provided support for proposal writing in the area of navigation support. 4.0 Development Support SOW: Following CSR submittal, if the mission is selected for development and launch, the respondent will support the mission trajectory and navigation effort. The period of performance for this interval is expected to last through Phase E of the mission. POD Response Instructions for Development Support The respondent shall: 1) Describe the level of experience with developing outer body spacecraft trajectory solutions and small body orbital mechanics analysis. 2) Identify available design and modeling capabilities required to support development of the navigation solutions. 3) Identify relevant missions the respondent has successfully supported in a navigation role. 4) Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate and timeline for the scope of the expected effort. This ROM will not be considered a binding commitment, but will serve as a consideration during the partnership evaluation. 5.0 General Instructions for POD Response Potential respondents are asked to contact the GSFC team with a Notice Of Interest (intentionally not called a notice of intent). This Notice of Interest does not create an obligation to respond to the POD, but allows the GSFC team to provide answers to questions from potential partners. After receipt of the NOI, 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 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 below 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. For purposes of this partnership opportunity, the contact is Michael Adams, Michael.L.Adams@nasa.gov, 301.286.2010. Responses to the POD shall: 1) Be in a presentation format that shall not exceed 20 pages. The font size for the text shall be no smaller than 12 point. 2) Address all requirements noted in Sections 3.0 through 6.0 of this document. Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such by NASA's GSFC for the US Government. The respondents shall deliver the requested information in a standard presentation format. Final presentation packages (electronic copy only, Portable Document Format {PDF} recommended) must be received by 5 pm EST, February 19, 2016. Presentations are to be delivered to Michael Adams at the above listed email address. 6.0 Selection Criteria for Awarding Partnership Opportunity The information requested in this Section will allow the evaluators to determine how well the respondents capabilities match and enable the mission. Experience in spaceflight proposal and spaceflight mission development phases are essential for selection. Selection Criteria Proposal/Pre-selection Support (30 points) - Experience (and Team skills) and past performance in proposal phases - Identification of potential study topics - Identification of previous proposal support for similar missions Development Support (70 points) - Relevant experience with developing outer body spacecraft trajectory solutions and small body orbital mechanics analysis. Experience developing similar space flight navigation solutions is a minimum requirement. - Reasonableness of design and modeling capabilities to support the effort. - Identification of previous relevant missions the respondent has successfully supported in a navigation role. - Reasonableness of cost and schedule estimates. 7.0 Acronym List AO Announcement of Opportunity CSR Concept Study Report EST Eastern Standard Time GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOI Notice of Interest POC Point of Contact POD Partnership Opportunity Document ROM Rough Order of Magnitude SOW Statement of Work