Skyfora StreamSonde dropsondes, Operational and Technical Support Services

The Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is awarding a sole-source, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to Skyfora OY for the procurement of StreamSonde dropsondes and associated operational and technical support services under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901, which permits other than full and open competition for commercial products and services. This five-year IDIQ contract, valued at an estimated $5,500,000, will provide firm fixed price delivery orders for ultralight, dual-band GNSS-equipped dropsondes that collect high-resolution atmospheric data—including pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind—at a 2 Hz sampling rate during NOAA’s aircraft-based tropical cyclone missions, particularly from the WP-3D (P-3) aircraft. The StreamSonde system is uniquely qualified due to its proprietary design, lightweight profile (80–14 grams), and seamless compatibility with NOAA’s Airborne Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) and compliance with WMO TEMP DROP data standards, which no other vendor can replicate. Market research demonstrated no other sources could meet these exact technical requirements, leading to the sole-source justification after a public sources sought notice yielded no responses. Operational support includes system integration, in-the-field test flights, mission participation, training for operators and instructors, and ongoing engineering and software support to ensure uninterrupted mission readiness. Delivery orders will be executed from Florida, the designated place of performance, with inspection and acceptance conducted by NOAA prior to deployment. The contract requires submission of a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and adherence to commercial item procurement regulations, but no specific packaging, preservation, or marking standards—such as MIL-STDs—are specified beyond compliance with WMO and AVAPS. Contract administration is managed by NOAA’s Eastern Acquisition Division in Norfolk, Virginia, with Amy L. McLiverty as the primary point of contact and Jana Kolb as the contracting officer. The contract structure is designed to ensure continuous availability of mission-critical dropsonde technology with no alternative suppliers, and all orders will be priced at firm fixed rates with cost reasonableness assessed against historical pricing and independent government estimates.