You are invited to review and comment on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) solicitation. The principal purpose of this effort is to support services for a sustained capability that encompasses all phases of mission and project lifecycles for flight programs and projects, especially those involving research and technology development. The new procurement is for structural modifications to include the design, analysis and installation of window, nadir, and zenith structural viewports to the B777-200ER, S/N 32892 to reach Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for science mission and IDIQ task orders. LaRC will serve as the buying office for this procurement.

The potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft Instructions, (Exhibit 1, PWS; Attachment 2, Cost Forms; Section A or Solicitation Provisions, which includes Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Products and Commercial Services and FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Products and Commercial Services as well as the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, any perceived safety, occupational health, security (including information technology security), environmental, and/or other programmatic risk issues associated with performance of work. Potential offerors should identify unnecessary or inefficient requirements and are encouraged to comment on the clarity of the requirements and the Section A Instructions to Offerors and Evaluation Criteria.

This competitive acquisition will result in a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract with the ability to issue Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) task orders. The contract will have a total potential period of performance of two (2) years. The Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) structure is as follows: CLINs 1 – 14 are FFP elements associated with the design, analysis, and fabrication of different types of research portals for the B777; CLIN 15 will be a FFP IDIQ effort that permits the Government to direct changes to the contract or account for unknown maintenance issues or action that arise during the execution of the contract.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 336411, and the small business size standard is 1500 employees, respectively. This acquisition is a total small business set-aside.

Potential offerors should ensure its company is listed in the online database(s) for the following:

1. System for award management: https://www.sam.gov/SAM/
2. U.S Department of Labor Veteran’s Employment and Training Service, VETS-4212 Reports: https://vets4212.dol.gov/vets4212/
3. Date Universal Numbering System (and the transition to the US Government’s unique entity identifier (UEI): https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/office-of-systems-management/integrated-award-enviroment-iae/iae-information-kit/unique-entity-identifier -update

The successful offeror must pass an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) clearance before contract award (See FAR 22.805).

The current planned release date for the Final Request for Proposal (RFP) is on July 31, 2023, with proposals being due September 4, 2023 (approximately 45 calendar days later).

The anticipated contract award date is no later than October 27, 2023, with an effective date of October 27, 2023. The contract will be performed at the contractor facility, with potential to be performed onsite at Langley Research Center. The following additional information is provided to assist in understanding this acquisition:

1. Pre-Solicitation Conference: A pre-solicitation conference/site visit will be held on August 15-16 and August 22-23, at 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m., EDT. The anticipated length of the pre-solicitation conference/site visits will be all day. Transportation will be provided during the site visit, so it is advised that potential offerors arrive on time (Reference Instructions to Offerors Section A.6).
2. Electronic Proposal Delivery - Proposal Marking and Delivery Through NASA’s EFSS Box: Proposals for this solicitation are required to be submitted through NASA’s Enterprise File Sharing and Sync Box (EFSS Box), a FedRAMP Moderate certified platform. Potential offerors, especially those that have not previously submitted a proposal utilizing NASA’s EFSS Box, are encouraged to review the solicitation instruction entitled “Electronic Proposal Delivery - Proposal Marking and Delivery Through NASA’s EFSS Box” which provides instructions related to the submission of proposal via EFSS Box. Offerors are encouraged to check with their corporate IT staff to determine if there are firewall restrictions that would need to be addressed prior to the submission of proposal files through NASA’s EFSS Box. (Reference Instructions to Offerors Section A.11)
3. Additional Areas of Emphasis for Feedback: NASA LaRC seeks feedback on the clarity and content of the following:
   • Volume 1 – Technical Proposal and Technical Considerations (Reference Instructions to Offerors Section A.13)
   • Volume 2 – Past Performance Price (Reference Instructions to Offerors Section A.14)
   • Volume 3 – Price (Reference Instructions to Offerors Section A.15)
   • Exhibit 1– Performance Work Statement

In order to control and protect sensitive data owned by the Government and its Contractors, NASA policy requires all acquisition-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).

Documents related to this acquisition, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, exhibits, any amendments, and links to online reference/technical/bidders library will be attainable electronically from the World Wide Web through the Government-wide point of entry website at www.SAM.gov. Potential Offerors are requested to periodically monitor the websites for updates.

NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) clause 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable. The Ombudsman for this acquisition is provided below.

Contracting Office Address:

NASA/Langley Research Center, Bldg. 2102, Suite 308, M/S 12, Hampton, VA 23681

Point of Contact(s):

Octavia L. Hicks, Contracting Officer, Email: Larc-B777@mail.nasa.gov

Michael J Kruszewski, Contract Specialist, Email: Larc-B777@mail.nasa.gov

Contact Information

Matthew Elder, Supervisory Assistant Research Pilot

Email: matthew.g.elder@nasa.gov

This Draft Instruction to Offerors is not a solicitation and NASA is not requesting quotations. This Draft Instruction to Offerors does not commit NASA to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA to procure or contract for this requirement. This request is not an authorization to proceed and does not authorize payment for any charges incurred by the offeror for performing any of the work called for in this solicitation.

Any comments regarding the Draft Instruction to Offeror should be submitted electronically, to Michael J Kruszewski, at Larc-B777@mail.nasa.gov cc: michael.kruszewski@nasa.gov no later than July 21, 2023, 2:00 p.m., DT. Telephone questions will not be accepted. If a respondent believes their comments contain confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive, or business information, those questions/comments shall be marked appropriately. However, questions that are marked as containing confidential, proprietary, competition sensitive or business information will not be provided a Government response. The Government will consider all comments received in preparation of the Final Request for Quote (RFQ). To the extent a comment leads the Government to revise the acquisition approach or requirements, the change will be reflected in the Final RFQ. Some draft instruction questions and comments may receive a posted response to the GPE if the Contracting Officer determines that a response would facilitate additional understanding of the solicitation. The Government may also respond via the GPE to comments and/or questions received following the issuance of the Final (RFQ.

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