Sources Sought for Procurement of Enhancement of NASA Platform for Autonomous Systems (NPAS) for Autonomous Operations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) Office of Procurement (OP) is seeking potential sources from all categories of Large and Small Businesses with the capabilities and experience to provide the requirement described herein. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice, therefore, is to conduct market research to determine potential sources and capabilities of Small Business firms to provide the required services to SSC. SSC wishes to determine if there are Small Business (SB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Certified 8(a) Small Business, HUBZone Small Business (HUBZone), Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) firms with the capabilities and experience to meet the Government's requirement, and the appropriate level of competition and/or Small Business subcontracting goals if applicable. The NAICS Code and Size Standard for this requirement are 541330 and $16.5M, respectively. The work to be performed includes development, enhancement, and improvement of SSC's NASA Platform for Autonomous Systems (NPAS) and NPAS applications to support NASA's ground and space operations. See the draft Statement of Work for more details. Specific Qualifications of Provider Extensive knowledge of the NPAS architecture and implementation (5 or more years). Expertise in utilizing NPAS to develop intelligent, safety critical applications consistent with NASA software development requirements (5 or more years). Experience updating and creating new NPAS domain models and object class libraries to represent devices, components, systems and processes (5 or more years of experience). Experience advancing NPAS architecture to implement hierarchical distributed autonomous operations (5 or more years of experience). Experience advancing NPAS Integrated System Health Management capabilities through management of measurements, configuration, and other health information, including analyzing information associated with history of anomalies (5 or more years of experience). Expertise advancing NPAS capability to interface with data and communication buses (5 or more years of experience). Expertise in the design and development of NPAS User Interfaces (UIs) including, but not limited to, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), Natural Language Processing interfaces (voice), and touch-screen user interfaces (5 or more years of experience). Ability to meet the schedule and do on?site work as needed to achieve goals. Must be eligible to be badged to work locations at any NASA Center, while meeting security and Export Control requirements. The information gathered from this Sources Sought Notice will be used for market research analysis and to determine whether a future procurement may be conducted as a competitive set-aside or issued under full and open competition (unrestricted). The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), SDV, or HUBZone small business set-aside based on responses hereto for this requirement. A determination by the Government not to procure this requirement, based upon responses to this notice or other market research, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Although all comments received will be carefully reviewed and considered for inclusion in any possible later action, the initiators of this request make no commitment to include any particular recommendations. Respondents will NOT be notified of the results of the evaluation of submissions received. This notice should not be construed as a formal Request for Quotation (RFQ) or Proposal (RFP) (solicitation). Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by NASA to form a binding contract. This notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to make a purchase, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited or be held liable for any information obtained. Those companies who wish to express an interest to the notice are asked to submit a written Statement of Capability (SOC) that addresses high-level alternatives; general, market-based approaches; experience in this area; knowledge of the work involved; and professional resources limited to ten (10) pages. Submission of any information in response to this notice is completely voluntary. Responses should be based on the material contained in this notice and any other relevant information the contractor thinks is appropriate. Comments or suggestions relevant to this requirement are welcome and may also be included in the response. Contractors are welcome to submit any additional documentation that may support their ability to comply with the Government's requirement. Responses shall include the company's specific area of interest in this requirement as being either a potential prime contractor, subcontractor, or other. Please also state your business size in accordance to the above NAICS code. The SOC shall not include any proprietary or confidential business or financial information relating to specific companies. Any questions shall also be submitted via e-mail to Jennifer Rolison at Jennifer.R.Rolison@nasa.gov (cc: Charles.J.Heim@nasa.gov ) no later than March 5, 2021 at 3:00 pm local time (Central). Reference the Sources Sought Notice # 80SSC021L0001 in any response. Faxed or telephone correspondence will not be accepted. The government anticipates that a RFP will be issued under Acquisition of Commercial Items and Simplified Acquisition Procedures in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Parts 12 and 13 and any resulting award will be made in the form of a Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Indefinite Quantity Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) contract. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it and any related documents, will only be issued electronically. They would be accessed and downloaded on www.beta.sam.gov. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor these sites for the release of any additional information pertaining to this notice and download their own copy of any resulting solicitation and amendments (if any). NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf.