TWO-STEP BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (Solicitation FA8819-24-R-B003)

FreeSol Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

Space Systems Command (SSC)

Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power (SZ-BC)

Program Executive Office (PEO)

Advanced Technology Transition Branch                                                                  

SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION

The Space System Command (SSC) Advanced Technologies Branch (SSC/SZET-BCET) and Contracting Branch (SSC/SZK) invites innovative technical approach concept papers addressing space and cyber technologies, to enable capabilities to counter emerging space threats.

To enable the concepts espoused in the United States Space Force (USSF) Strategic Intent, investments need to be made and the USSF needs to leverage all sources of innovation, prototyping, and experimentation. In addition, the USSF will explore pathfinders to test assumptions, validate answers, and potentially field ad-hoc solutions.

This effort was designed to help the SF further partner with industry, encourage innovation, and drive down system costs. This BAA champions these initiatives, develops a better understanding of requirements while rapidly addressing the need for integrated space and cyber solutions.

This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is issued under the provisions of paragraph 6.102(d)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Contracts awarded based on responses to this BAA are considered to be the result of full and open competition and in full compliance with the provisions of Public law 98-369, “The Competition in Contracting Act of 1984.”

This is an open, two-step (concept white paper followed by proposal) BAA that will be available for 60 months, through 23 February 2029. Concept papers should be submitted as specified in “Section 3, Part A” of this BAA. The Government will evaluate concept papers against the criteria stated in this announcement. Those Offerors whose concept papers are of interest may be invited to submit a formal proposal following the specifications provided in “Section 3, Part B” of this BAA.  All Offerors submitting concept papers will be contacted by the Government by either (1) notifying them of a request for a formal cost and technical proposal by a specified date, (2) a request to extend the validity of the concept paper until funding can be secured, or (3) informing them that the proposed solution is not of interest to the Government. An invitation to submit a complete technical proposal, which includes a statement of work and a cost proposal, does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a subsequent contract.

Use of Non-Government Advisors: The Government intends to use Government personnel for the White Paper review and evaluation of proposals. The Government reserves the right to use Federally Funded Research and Development Contractors (FFRDC), Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I), Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA), or SSC Acquisition and Financial Support (SAFS) contractors who support SSC to provide technical and acquisition advisory support for evaluations of White Papers and proposals. The current list of organizations includes: Aerospace, MITRE, the System Engineering and Integration (SE&I) contractor Science Applications International (SAIC) and other contractors (e.g. AT&T Incorporated, Booz Allen Hamilton, LinQuest, SES, Stellar Solutions) the SSC Acquisition and Financial Support (SAFS) contractor (Tecolote Research) and Security Support Contractor ManTech International. The list also includes subcontractors to any of these listed organizations that are actively supporting SSC/SZ through these organizations. If those contractors change over the life of the BAA, the Government will advise in writing.

The evaluators and support personnel will be bound by appropriate Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) to protect proprietary and sensitive information. Additional NDAs will not be required; instead, a response to this BAA will be considered an implicit acknowledgement and acceptance of the fact that non-Government advisors will be assisting the Government in this process. Should the Offeror have any objections to specific companies and/or personnel from participating in the evaluation of proposals, written notification shall be provided to the Contracting Officer within ten (10) calendar days prior to the Offeror’s submission of proposals or concept papers. If there is an objection, the specific reason(s) for the objection(s) shall be stated in the written notification, and the specific support contractor of concern shall be identified.

Additionally, the companies providing SE&I, SETA, SAFS, or other technical/acquisition support services to SSC are prohibited from submitting White Papers and proposals in response to this BAA. While these companies may not have an actual conflict with regard to this BAA activity, companies interested in competing for this effort may receive or be inadvertently exposed to information during performance of their contracts that may provide an unfair advantage in the White Paper review process. Further, additional conflicts of interest may arise if the SSC/SZ decides to transition capabilities developed under the BAA activities into operations.

If an Offeror suspects or is aware of a potential Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) or the appearance thereof they shall document the OCI in the concept paper and proposal.  If a potential OCI or appearance thereof exists, the offeror shall submit the mitigation plan in place or to be put in place upon award with the concept paper and proposal.  Awardees shall mitigate OCIs and shall be in compliance with FAR 9.5 – Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest. 

The Government understands that information provided in response to this BAA is presented in confidence and may contain trade secrets, commercial or financial information, and it agrees to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure to the maximum extent permitted or required by:

1. 1. 18 USC 1905 (Trade Secrets Act);
   2. 18 USC 1831 et seq. (Economic Espionage Act);
   3. 5 USC 552(b)(4) (Freedom of Information Act);
   4. Executive Order 12600 (Pre-disclosure Notification Procedures for Confidential Commercial Information); and
   5. Any other statute, regulation, or requirement applicable to Government employees.

Concept papers may be submitted electronically, via the appropriate communication channels (NIPR, SIPR, JWICS, SGN, SIC, etc.), to the Security POC / contracting officer listed below:

Contracting Officer:                                                 Security POC:

Melanie Gipson                                                          Mr. Stephen A. Taylor

NIPR: melanie.gipson@spaceforce,mil                    NIPR: [email protected]                                

Electronic submissions are highly preferred. In the event electronic or verbal submissions are not possible, concept papers in response to this announcement shall be submitted to:

Contracting, SSC/SZK

ATTN: BAA FA8819-24-R-B003

483 N. Aviation Blvd. A-5

El Segundo, CA  90245

Concept papers shall reference the above BAA number in the subject/title of the response. Submissions shall be either PDF files or Microsoft Word Documents. This announcement is effective for five years from date of release. Concept papers may be submitted at any time during this period. The SSC/SZET Advanced Technologies Branch acknowledges that funding constraints may severely limit contract activities but anticipates the ability to execute a limited number of projects through this timeframe.

Funding Information: The anticipated ceiling available for this effort is up to $99M over the BAA’s 5-year active period. The number of contract awards have not been predetermined and will depend on the scope and quality of proposals received. The Government’s requirement for technology maturation across all focus areas will balance the investments appropriately. Any award(s) is subject to the availability of funds and is at the discretion of the Government. The Government may terminate work at any time if it no longer meets Government requirements. The Government may choose to award partial, none, or the full scope of the work proposed.

The Government maintains the right to request a data call which will be published via SAM.gov at any time.  All companies will be permitted to respond to the call, regardless of any previous white paper submissions.

Please contact the Contracting Officer for submission of any potentially SENSITIVE or CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. They will provide an appropriate secure email address at that time.

SECTION 2 - AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST

The objective of the Space Systems Command, Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power (SSC/SZ-BC) Directorate is to develop, deliver, and sustain unrivaled space control capabilities to guarantee space superiority for our nation. The Directorate champions the nation’s space and cyber capabilities, as well as develops acquisition transition paths to support requirements. Proposals utilizing technology with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3 or higher are desired; justify TRL using DoD Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) Guidance.  Topics of interest for this BAA are listed below followed with examples from each of the five topics.   Proposals need not be limited solely to those provided as examples but do need to trace to one of the overarching five topics.

1. Resiliency technologies and techniques that increase survivability of space systems:
   1. Proliferation strategies
   2. Commercial standards and multi-domain reuse
   3. Dataflows and information sharing
   4. Redundancies
   5. Rapid reconstitution
2. Improvements to Space Domain Awareness (SDA) that enhance the knowledge of space objects, status, activities, threats and environment to enable courses of action:
   1. Low cost and resilient ground-based SDA
   2. Low size, weight, & power space-based SDA
   3. Ground/Space space-weather sensors
   4. Optics
3. Innovative abilities to exploit space to its advantage for defensive and offensive counterspace to protect friendly space-related capabilities from attack:
   1. Capability gap studies
   2. Cyber capabilities
   3. Phenomenology (active & passive)
   4. Satellite servicing
4. Efficiencies that promote Battle Management Command Control and Communications (BMC3)
   1. Space data analytic tools for large data sets and networks
   2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation for Space operations
5. Methods for advancing exercises, tests, and training environment:
   1. Ride share opportunities
   2. Innovative solutions across multiple domains
   3. Inter-satellite link for small satellites

SECTION 3 – GUIDELINES FOR PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF CONCEPT PAPERS AND PROPOSALS

This is an open, two-step (concept paper followed by proposal) BAA. The purpose of the concept paper is to minimize stakeholders’ effort if the proposed work is not of interest to the Government. Accordingly, Offerors are encouraged to submit concept papers following the guidelines detailed below (Section 3 Part A). Concept submissions should specifically identify the focused capabilities listed in Section 2 above stating how they are enhancing operationally focused capabilities. All Offerors will receive written response on the submitted concept paper. For concepts which funding has not yet been identified but are applicable to the Government, will receive a request to extend the validity of the submission.

Offerors are encouraged to submit proposals following the guidelines detailed below (Section 3 Part B) after they have submitted a concept paper and have been notified of the Government’s interest in receiving a full proposal. The Government intends to award Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) or Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contracts.

Offerors whose concept papers were not deemed to be of interest are not precluded from submitting other concept papers for consideration. An invitation to submit a complete proposal, which includes a statement of work and a cost proposal, does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a subsequent contract.

Guidelines for All Submissions

1. Offerors are hereby advised that the Government will not pay for any White Paper or full proposal preparation costs resulting from this BAA. The cost of preparing White Papers and full proposals is NOT an allowable direct charge to any resulting contract that may be awarded as a result of this BAA, or any other contract with the Government.
2. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or proposals are not desired.
3. Concept papers and proposals should be created using 8.5 x 11 inch portrait format pages with single spaced Times New Roman 12 point font with 1” margins. Landscape is acceptable for charts and graphs only.
4. Use of a diagram(s) or figure(s) to depict the essence of the proposed solution is strongly encouraged.
5. Multiple concept papers addressing different topic areas may be submitted by the same Offeror, however each concept paper may only address one concept based on the stated Government areas of research interest (Section 2).  Organizations may not submit multiple concept papers addressing the same area of research interest. Submitters may update a current concept paper or proposal at any time during the announcement period. Guidance regarding data calls supersedes restrictions in this paragraph.
6. On the title page of the submission, identify if the Offeror or a proposed sub-contractor is a small business such as 8(a), small disadvantaged business, woman-owned business, HUBZone small business, Veteran-owned business, service disabled veteran owned business, historically black college or university, and/or minority institution.
7. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time during the concept paper evaluation process.
8. Foreign-Owned businesses may be a submitter alone or through some form of teaming arrangement with one or more United States-owned businesses. The ability to obtain a contract may depend on whether the Government information (1) necessitates clearance of the business under a Special Security Agreement and (2) approval of a National Interest Determination (see 10 U.S.C. 2536(b)(1)(A), DoD 5220.22-M, and AFI 31-601) that release of proscribed information to the foreign-owned business shall not harm the national security interests of the United States. Failure to obtain the clearance or denial by the cognizant authority of release of the proscribed information to the foreign-owned business would preclude award of a contract.
9. Submissions shall be shared at the appropriate classification level. Please send to the Security POC or contact via phone for transmission instructions on SIPR / JWICS, questions or additional guidance, if required.
10. All classified material must be handled in accordance with the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) (DoD 5220-22-M) and Industrial Security Regulation (DoD 5220.22-R).
11. Offerors must be able to certify that they have an appropriate facility clearance to meet the security requirements of work proposed, and key personnel must be certified as holding an appropriate security clearance. The security clearance level required for these efforts is up to TS/SCI. Facility Clearance level will be documented in the DD254 of any resultant contract and documents will be classified in accordance with the Security Classification Guides to be provided during the RFP phase, as appropriate.
12. Identification of Partner Agency: Within the concept paper submission an Offeror may identify a Government agency that may be interested in pursuing and funding the concept presented, as long as such concept is within the scope of a BAA (FAR 35.016(a)), within scope of this BAA focus areas listed in Section 2, and not a known requirement of the partnering agency.
13. Identification and listing of all Intellectual Property and/or proprietary data associated with the submission shall be documented in the concept paper and proposal. The Government’s intent is that all development under the BAA will have Government Purpose Rights. The Government encourages the use of Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) including Open Mission Systems/Universal Command and Control Interface (OMS/UCI) to the maximum extent practicable.
14. Required Government Furnished Property (GFP) / Government Furnished Information (GFI) / Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) for the technical approach shall be addressed and documented in the concept paper and proposal.
15. Questions regarding the objectives or preparation of the concept paper or proposal should be addressed to the Contracting Officer.

SECTION 3 PART A: CONCEPT PAPER PREPARATION

(STEP 1 OF THE 2-PART BAA PROCESS)

Submitter’s concept papers shall not exceed ten (10) pages.

Title Page (does not count against 10-page limit)

Company Name, CAGE Number (if applicable), Title, Date, E-Mail Address, Phone, Fax, Organization/Office symbol, and Address.  Identify if the Offeror or a proposed sub-contractor are a small business such as 8(a), small disadvantaged business, woman-owned business, HUBZone small business, Veteran-owned business, service disabled veteran owned business, historically black college or university, and minority institution.

ROM Cost and Schedule Page (does not count against the 10-page limit)

Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) of the cost of the effort proposed in the concept paper. The ROM Cost is for planning purposes only. Provide a top-level schedule.

Technical Approach Section A

Technology Concept – describe the technical approach and procedures of your proposed research. As part of the proposed research, identify the concept’s current TRL as well as a suggested path to mature the TRL of the research. Identify aspects which may be considered proprietary or Scientific and Technical Information.

Technical Approach Section B

Operational Impact – describe how the USSF will be impacted by the deliverable(s) of your contract. If applicable, describe the impact to the joint operational community. Explain the beneficial impacts and quantify them as appropriate. Detail who the operational users of the technology are expected to be.

BASIS FOR CONCEPT PAPER EVALUATION

Concept papers will be evaluated as they are received through a peer review and scientific review process. Individual concept paper evaluations will be based on acceptability or non- acceptability without regard to other submissions received under this announcement. The Government Office will complete coordination and review of concept papers and provide feedback to the submitter within 90 calendar days of receipt. Evaluations are completed unilaterally and are at the complete discretion of the Government evaluators. Concept papers will be evaluated under the following criteria:

1. The degree to which the proposed concept is relevant to space & cyber technologies, including the degree to which it enhances and / or accelerates development.
2. Technical merit of the proposed concept with an emphasis on feasible, achievable, and innovative solutions, and the degree to which a defined transition path or strategy exists.
3. Affordability of the ROM for the proposed concept.
   1. Provide a ROM (Work Breakdown Structure Level 1) cost estimate phased by year. The ROM cost estimate will be used to determine if there are sufficient funds available for the proposed effort. RFP’s will require a full cost proposal.
4. Degree to which the proposed concept schedule is achievable.
5. Degree to which Intellectual Property/Propriety Data restricts implementation of system.

SECTION 3, PART B: PROPOSAL PREPARATION

(STEP 2 OF THE 2-PART BAA PROCESS)

For concept papers that are of interest to the Government the Offeror will receive a Request for Proposal from the Contracting Officer. Proposals as a result of Step 2 of this BAA will be prepared and evaluated IAW FAR 15.

An invitation to submit a complete proposal, which includes a statement of work and a cost proposal, does not assure that the submitting organization will be awarded a subsequent contract.

* A Contracting Officer is the only authorized person with the authority to enter into, administer, modify, or terminate a government contract in accordance with 1.602-1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).