SOURCES SOUGHT
FA8601-21-FRDTG-SS
(Not a Notice of Solicitation)

CubeSAT Attitude and Determination Control System (ADCS) Notice from the United States Air Force, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Instillation Contracting Division, Base Support Contracting Branch at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio:

The Government is seeking capabilities packages from all potential sources, including but not limited to small business (SB), 8(a) participants, HUBZone Small Business, Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) that are capable of providing a CubeSAT ADCS for the Air Force Institute of Technology, located at Wright- Pattersion AFB, Ohio. Firms that respond shall:

1) Specify that offered products meet the specifications provided below; and
2) provide detailed information to show clear technical compliance.

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.

All interested firms shall submit a response to the Primary Point of Contact, Ms. Claire Minniear, demonstrating their capability to provide the below detailed item(s). As stipulated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201, responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation (Request for Proposal) exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. The decision to solicit for a contract will be solely within the Government's discretion.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this acquisition is 336419, Other Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing. Firms responding should indicate socio-economic status (8(a) with Graduation Date, SDVOSB, EDWOSB, WOSB, small business, and/or HUBZone). Respondents are further requested to indicate their status as a foreign-owned/foreign-controlled firm and any contemplated use of foreign national employees on this effort. The Government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a Department of Defense (DoD) contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Please note that the rules governing affiliation and ostensible subcontracting apply when determining size under FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting, as does the Non-Manufacturer Rule if a supply NAICS code is chosen and when applicable. Respondents should consider how the primary tasks identified in this sources sought will be broken out between prime contractor and subcontractors to avoid ostensible subcontracting and address this in their response, if necessary.

Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought is voluntary. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any Government assessments. The Government's assessment of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small business or any particular small business program.

Please be aware that the Government acquisition team is still determining its acquisition strategy, and if it is determined that this acquisition will be set aside for Small Business and/or 8(a) participants, FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting will apply.

CAPABILITIES PACKAGE:
All interested firms shall submit a capabilities package that explicitly demonstrates their capability to provide the required commodities. The capabilities package should be brief and concise, yet clearly demonstrate an ability to meet the stated requirements. The response must not exceed five (5) pages.

All correspondence sent via email shall contain a subject line that reads:

Sources Sought – CubeSAT ADCS

If this subject line is not included, the email may not get through email filters at WPAFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without a subject or with a suspicious subject or attachments. Attachments with files ending in .zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xsls or .xls documents are attached to your email. All other attachments may be deleted.

Responses shall be submitted via email to the following address:

[email protected]

RESPONSES ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 6 June 2021 AT 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Direct all questions concerning this acquisition to Ms. Claire Minniear at [email protected] and include the necessary subject line indicated above.

Minimum Requirements:

This specification lists the minimum requirements to purchase two (2) high precision CubeSat Attitude and Determination Control System (ADCS) and two (2) sets of six integrated coarse sun sensors (CSS) required for proper operations.

General Technical Requirements

1.1 Shall be capable of precise 3-axis attitude control and knowledge.
1.2 Shall have a spacecraft attitude knowledge of ±0.01 degrees (1-sigma), pointing
accuracy of within ±0.1 degrees (1-sigma) for 3-axes, and position knowledge of ±1 meter (1- sigma).
1.3 Shall have an integrated star camera.
1.4 Shall have a small form factor of at most 0.5U.
1.5 Shall have a data interface of RS-422 with a baud rate of 115200bps.
1.6 Shall have a connector and pinout identical to that of the BCT XACT.
1.7 Shall have a capable slew rate of at least 1.0 deg/sec with a 10kg, 6U CubeSat and a
maneuvering acceleration of 1 deg/sec/sec.
1.8 Shall have an external timing mechanism for synchronization.
1.9 Shall have a peak operational power usage of less than 3 watts.
1.10 Two (2) sets of six coarse sun sensors (CSS) shall be able to interface with a BCT
XACT unit
1.10.1 Pyramind Configuration (P/N: 3ASM1712-100)
1.10.2 Required external harness, 12” standard length
1.11 40 hours of Technical Support
1.12 The environmental test ADCS shall be capable of passing NASA GEVs standards to
specifically include shock, separation reliability, TVac, and vibration. The intent of this environmental test ADCS is for conducting environmental tests at AFIT on their vibe table and in their TVac chamber.
1.13 The contractor shall deliver the ADCS to include all user manuals and other applicable
interface control documents.
1.14 The contractor shall deliver the ADCS with flight software that supports simulation,
integration, and customization.