REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Manufacturing of Large Outer Barrel Assembly (OBA) Composite Panels, and Shell Section Assembly

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Manufacturing of Large Outer Barrel Assembly (OBA) Composite Panels, and Shell Section Assembly Request For Information (RFI): The WFIRST Project is considering companies which can manufacture and assemble large scale Graphite Fiber Reinforced (GFR) composite sandwich panel structures for the Shell Section of the OBA. The OBA Shell Section is composed of six (6) large individual Graphite Composite Panels that when bonded together (ie. assembled) make a conical Shell Section. The complete OBA is shown in Figure-2. The YELLOW structure is the Conical Shell Section made up of the 6 individual Panel Sub-assemblies. The individual panels are approximately 2.0 m wide by 2.5 m tall and a consolidated thickness of up to 0.04 m. The purpose of this RFI is to identify potential interest in providing design recommendations as well as both the manufacturing of the 6 individual panels (see drawing package) (OPTION-1) and subsequently the entire bonded assembly of the Shell Section (see CAD STEP file) (OPTION-2). The individual panel manufacturing and the assembly of the entire Shell Section shall be provided as separate quotes (1 and 2). In this RFI, the general descriptions and high level requirements for the OBA are provided in Appendix-A. The Preliminary Panel Drawing package is provided as .pdf files (see Appendix-A for list of file names). This includes the design of the 6 individual panels and associated feature parts as well as the 6 bonded panel sub-assemblies. The CAD STEP of the complete OBA Shell Section Assembly model is provided in .stp file format (see Appendix-A for list of .stp file names). If NASA/GSFC decides to compete this requirement, the competitive procurement process is expected to begin around January 2020. The contract for the Flight OBA manufacturing is schedule to be awarded in June of 2020. The required delivery of the Flight OBA to GSFC is scheduled for March of 2021. Through this RFI, GSFC would like to obtain cost and schedule rough order magnitude (ROM) estimates from potential panel and panel assembly providers. These data are to be used solely for internal budgetary planning purposes and will not be used to pre-select or rank potential suppliers for any future procurement. To consolidate our planning, responses from industry are requested in six (6) weeks from receipt of this RFI, in the form of written estimates for development costs and schedule, assumptions used for cost and schedule estimates including interface and design recommendations/assumptions, and descriptions of capabilities. Recommendations for improved design conducive to easier manufacturability are welcome by the vendor. Responses and Technical or procurement questions should be directed via email to point-of-contact (POC) below. The subject line of the submission should be "RFI for WFIRST. Manufacturing of Large Outer Barrel Assembly (OBA)" and attachments should be in Microsoft WORD, POWERPOINT, or PDF format. The email text must give a POC and provide his/her name, address, telephone/fax numbers, and email address. It is not NASA/GSFC's intent to publicly disclose vendor proprietary information obtained during this solicitation. To the full extent that it is protected pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and other laws and regulations, information identified by a respondent as "Proprietary or Confidential" will be kept confidential. This is for information and planning purposes, to allow industry the opportunity to provide capabilities and desire to work with the project, to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, and to promote competition. While our intent may be to team with industrial partner(s), we are not bound by this RFI to do so. This is a Request for Information/Quotation only. Therefore, this RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract nor will the Government pay for information provided in response to this RFI. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps. It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.