The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, NESDIS Acquisition Division intends to issue a solicitation on an unrestricted basis utilizing the procedures at Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 15 for the award of a cost reimbursement contract for critical expertise for the project entitled "Microwave Imager/Sounder (MIS) Technical Support for Sensor Development and Requirements Specification." The North America Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code is 541710 with a Size Standard of 500 employees. Background: The National Polar-orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is a satellite system used to monitor global environmental conditions, and collect and disseminate data related to: weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and the near-space environment. The NPOESS Integrated Program Office (IPO) organizationally resides within the Department of Commerce, NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). The Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), created the IPO to develop, acquire, manage, and operate the NPOESS satellites. Details on NPOESS can be found at http://npoess.noaa.gov. The NPOESS requirements were developed by the user community and are captured in the NPOESS Integrated Operational Requirements Document (IORD). To achieve its mission, the IPO has undertaken a far-reaching program of sensor development, and satellite transition and evolution to provide complete coverage of environmental conditions for civil, military, and scientific purposes. NPOESS data will be processed into Environmental Data Records (EDRs) for use by a number of operational communities. The IPO's operational effectiveness depends on its ability to keep pace with rapidly developing technologies. To accomplish this, the IPO researches and develops initiatives through its Internal Government Studies (IGS) program. The IGS program consists of teams of scientists and engineers from Government laboratories and centers, Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers, universities, and industry. These teams are tasked to identify and test technologies and techniques, which meet NPOESS requirements and objectives. Requirements: This acquisition will support the following areas of study: (1) Provide detailed review and recommendation of program priorities in the MIS Sensor Data Record (SDR) and EDR qualities and attributes; (2) Provide technical support for MIS sensor specification development and performance analysis; (3) Provide technical support for the development and testing of an on-board calibration subsystem for the MIS sensor; (4) Provide technical support for the development of pre-launch and post-launch characterization, calibration/validation, and test, plans and technologies for end-to-end sensor performance; (5) Develop enhancements and improvements to heritage MIS EDR retrieval algorithms; and (6) Support the Microwave Operational Algorithm Team (MOAT) and Microwave Imager Sounder team meetings. The technical support contracted under this acquisition will continue through the instrument procurement. The contractor will advise the agency during the acquisition phase and development of the sensor. The support will include analysis of design options, technical evaluation with recommendations, and review of technical documentation. Evaluation and Basis for Award: The resultant contract will be for a period of one year commencing on or about September 1, 2007 and will include four 12-month option periods. The Government anticipates the award of a cost reimbursement contract on the basis of best value. All evaluation factors, which will be outlined in the RFP, other than cost or price are significantly more important than cost or price. In the event that the evaluation findings result in substantially equal technical proposals, the price will become more important as a determining factor. Solicitation and Offers: The solicitation for this acquisition will include Commerce Acquisition Regulation 1352.209-70, Restrictions on Future Contracting (MARCH 2000). The solicitation will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunity website, www.fedbizopps.gov, on or about 15 days from the date of this notice and will close 30 days after release of the solicitation. All future information regarding this acquisition, including amendments, will be distributed solely through this website. Hard copies of the solicitation will not be available. Interested firms are responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any) and monitoring the website to ensure that they have the most up-to-date information regarding this acquisition. All responsible sources registered with the Central Contractor's Registration (CCR) at http://www/ccr.gov may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency. Proposal/offers shall be submitted in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the solicitation document. All questions resulting from this notice or the subsequent solicitation document must be submitted in writing via email to
[email protected]. Reference Solicitation No. DG133E-07-RP-0089 in the subject line of your email.