Request for Information (RFI) for Rideshare Mission Integration Services

1. SUMMARY The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking information under this Request for Information (RFI) to assess community interest, concepts, and rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost for secondary payload integration services onto Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) rings to be exercised on future Science Mission Directorate (SMD) missions. 2. DEFINITIONS:  Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter – Launch Vehicle adapter ring enabling deployment of secondary payloads.  Secondary Payloads – Payloads that will be carried by an ESPA and meet the requirements of the ESPA interface standards.  Rideshare Payloads (RPL) – For this RFI, Rideshare Payloads are synonymous with Secondary Payloads.  Rideshare Mission – A mission that consists of secondary payloads that can utilize excess launch vehicle capacity and performance and that may or may not include a primary payload.
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 ESPA Integrated Flight System – A fully populated ESPA, including ancillary hardware, ready for shipment to a launch site.  Secondary Payload Integrator or “Integrator” – The Integrator is the organization responsible for the system engineering life cycle to bring together the ESPA ring, Secondary Payloads, Ancillary Hardware, interfacing with the launch vehicle, and verifying that the secondary payloads "do no harm" to the primary spacecraft mission.  ESPA Ancillary Hardware – This consists of, but not limited to, connectors, harnesses, sequencers, fasteners.  ESPA Integrated Flight System Schedule - This schedule is driven by the readiness date of the ESPA Integrated Flight System to include the secondary payloads, ESPA development, and RPL-to-ESPA integration delivery schedules compliant with the launch vehicle integration schedule.
3. BACKGROUND NASA’s Science Mission Directorate seeks to establish Rideshare opportunities utilizing excess capacity for SMD-purchased launch vehicles, both for its PI-led competed missions and its strategic missions. The data from this RFI will assist SMD in determining the most effective approach to acquire secondary payload integration services. The entity performing these integrated services is the “Secondary Payload Integrator” or “Integrator”. There are many types of secondary payload accommodations, but for the purposes of this RFI, responders should focus on integration services for a standard Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) and several variants of an ESPA Grande. The Integrator’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:  Manage the integration of Rideshare Payload (RPL) to ESPA, including mission support: o Manage safety processes and any required licensing, o Conduct Mission Readiness Reviews, o Conduct and support mission specific telecoms and meetings related to mission integration, o Support mission fit checks to ESPA, o Provide NASA (Launch Se