Spare Cryostats for SMA Cryocoolers

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) intends to award a Sole Source, Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract, under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 13, Simplified Acquisition to: Janis Research Company, 2 Jewel Drive, Wilmington, MA 01887. SAO will procure two (2) Sumitomo CG308SC bare GM-JT cryocooler systems for the Submillimeter Array (SMA) superconducting receivers, which operate at 4.2 K and therefore require a cryogenic cooler to achieve the required temperature of operation. Currently, all of the SMA antennas are equipped with Sumitomo cryocoolers. The units we are purchasing are intended to replace existing units as they wear out and must be identical to the current unit to the minutest detail, starting from the size of the compressor, the type of fitting used by the plumbing, to the construction of the inside. If even one detail shows a difference, it would either be impossible to install into our existing system, or it would require a completely different set of tooling to handle the new unit, which would be a risk to the operation of the SMA. SAO has determined that for another vendor to develop a product identical to the Sumitomo unit would be very costly and delay the receipt of these spares beyond the anticipated need date. Vendors interested in this requirement should submit a complete technical package that provides clear and convincing evidence that they can meet SAO's requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, SAO will consider all responses received by the publication due date of this notice. A determination by SAO whether or not to compete this acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of SAO. Responses must be received on or before June 23, 2010. Send to: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Attention: EJ Dotts, M/S 22, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138-1516, faxed to 617-496-7978 or e-mailed to edotts@cfa.harvard.edu. Anticipated award date is June 28, 2010. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 339999. The Small Business size standard is 500 employee