United States - LEMNOS Optical Terminal & Controller Request For Information

Description

Added: Jun 21, 2019 2:08 pm

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is seeking capability statements from all interested parties, including Small, Small Disadvantaged (SDB), 8(a), Woman-owned (WOSB), Veteran Owned (VOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SD-VOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Businesses, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI) for the purposes of market research to explore the ability of industry to meet the Laser-Enhanced Mission Communications Navigation and Operational Services (LEMNOS) needs for an Optical Communication Flight Terminal. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Woman-owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), or HUBZone Business set-aside based on responses hereto.
The mission objectives for the LEMNOS Project are focused on providing optical communication systems for Lunar Human Exploration and science missions from LEO out to Cislunar and L2.  The LEMNOS Project within the Human Exploration and Operation (HEO) Mission Directorate and the Space, Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program Office is developing Optical Communication Flight Terminals. The first terminal, the Orion EM-2 Optical Communications System (O2O), will be integrated into the Orion EM-2 spacecraft, enabling the Orion mission to evaluate the value of optical communications to human space flight. In addition, optical terminals will be provided for follow on Lunar Human Exploration missions. The O2O on EM-2 will demonstrate an operational optical communication link for Orion EM-2 and help to develop the path to a fully operational Optical Communication System.
The LEMNOS capability will provide a data downlink through the Optical Communication Flight Terminal Direct-to-Earth (DTE) to an Earth ground terminal with the complimentary telemetry, command, and data uplink. This capability will service human exploration spacecraft, ground infrastructure, and other lunar space and surface vehicles. It will also be able to provide communication for Earth-orbiting science missions and science missions at Earth-Sun Lagrange 1 (L1) and Lagrange 2 (L2).
The purpose of this RFI is to determine what Optical Terminals and their associated Controllers are currently available in industry at NASA Technology Readiness Level-5 (TRL-5) or above. (See Table 2 from NPR 7123.1B at the end of this document.) The LEMNOS Project is focused on capabilities that can support high speed communications from Low Earth Orbit (LEO), CisLunar, and L1/2 distances. This development effort will also assist in creating a Catalog of Capabilities available for optical communications in a space environment.
NASA is soliciting responses from interested parties in regard to vendor capability and interest related to the Optical Terminals and Controller (OT/C) capability. NASA is seeking capabilities from both large and small businesses for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and small business subcontracting goals for this requirement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response.
This document is for information and planning purposes only and is to allow industry the opportunity to submit responses describing their relevant capabilities for the LEMNOS OT/C requirements.  As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.
Potential offerors are requested to submit information in the form of a Capabilities and Qualifications Statement that includes: (1) Addressing all of the functional areas outlined in the attached draft LEMNOS OT/C Statement of Intent and (2) summarizing relevant past experience.
Companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) (www.sam.gov) to be considered as potential sources. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Your responses will not be returned nor will respondents be notified of the results of the evaluation. The information obtained from industry responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and a future Request for Proposal (if applicable). No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps.  It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.
All written documents shall be in Microsoft Word and shall be no more than 25 pages (8.5"x 11", using not smaller than 12 point Arial font) in length.  A one-page summary shall be included with the capability statement(s), which identifies the company's specific capabilities that are relevant to the requirement. In addition, the summary should also include the following: name and address of company, average annual revenue for past 3 years, number of employees, type of business ownership (i.e., Large Business, Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a) Business, HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, and Veteran-Owned Small Business), affiliate information (parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners, prime contractor (if potential sub) or subcontractors (if potential prime)), and location of the business. The one page summary page will not count against the maximum page limit.
Submit any questions to _________Steve DePalo _________.
Statement of Intent:
It is the intent of the LEMNOS Project Office to survey industry on the capabilities of their Optical Terminal and associated Controller (OT/C) existing or in development, which could meet the requirements for the LEMNOS missions. For the purposes of this Request for Information (RFI) the Optical terminal does not include the modem or High Power Optical Amplifier (HPOA). If your optical terminal includes an integrated modem/HPOA or a modem/HPOA used with your design, include the information in your response.
This Industry Survey Data Package includes the key assumptions and requirements. The key study parameter is, “What OT/C does your organization build, integrate and test that is at a NASA TRL-5 level (or above) that could meet the needs listed in this Statement of Intent? Second, what are the predicted performance parameters (see questions below)?
For planning purposes, GSFC requests the following programmatic data: 1) A ROM cost estimate to assemble and conduct functional/environmental tests of one OT/C. 2) A development schedule (in months) for a single OT/C that includes functional/environmental testing at the unit level. Assume a start date of no earlier than (NET) January 2020 and FY2019 dollars.
Our desire is for an OT/C with the appropriate aperture size to support the wavelength and distances from Table 1.  If your design includes an integrated modem/HPOA, or one used for testing, include associated information. (e.g. data rates, modulation, etc.) The OT/C should be able to establish optical links in a timely manner and maintain those links in the presence of typical spacecraft bus disturbances.
 

Wavelengths

1540 to  1560 nm

 

Aperture Size:

Small

1.0    - 9.9 cm

 

Medium

10.0 – 19.9 cm

 

Large

> 20.0 cm

Max. Range:

LEO Direct to Earth

2000 km

 

LEO Crosslinks

5000 km

 

GEO Direct to Earth

40,000 km

 

Cis-Lunar Links

70,000 km

 

Moon to Earth

411,000 km

 

L2 to Earth

1,500,000 km

Table 1. Optical Scenario Parameters
 
 
OT/C Questions:
1.       How well does your terminal meet the needs stated in Table 1?
2.       What is the Field of Regard (Azimuth and Elevation range of motion)/ Field of View (FOV) of the OT/C?
3.       What is the angular range of the point-ahead (or point-behind) mechanism as referenced to the received beam?
4.       How well are the optical channels (Tx, Rx and Beacon) isolated from each other?
5.       What types of sensors and actuators (e.g. quad cell, stepper motor) are used in the OT/C?
6.       What is the OT/C transmit path loss?
7.       What is the OT/C receive path loss (combination of throughput loss and WFE)?
8.       What is the aperture size of the OT/C?
9.       What is the mass of the OT/C?
10.   What is the Tx power limit of the OT/C? (e.g. before damage to optical coatings)
11.   What type(s) of polarization can the OT/C transmit and receive?
12.   Is the OT/C capable of supporting multiple optical wavelengths (for wavelength division multiplexing)?
13.   What is the power consumption of the OT/C?
 
Controller Unique Questions
1.       What is your experience building electronics boxes used in space?
2.       If environmentally tested, to what levels?
3.       What Controller functions would be handled in an FPGA?
4.       What Controller functions would be handled in a microprocessor?
5.       What electrical interfaces does the Controller have?
6.       What is the mass of the Controller?
7.       What is the power consumption of the Controller?
 
Acquisition and Tracking Questions
1.       Please describe the sequence of events required to establish an optical link. (Describe your acquisition process and parameters.)
2.       What time (3σ) is required to establish an optical link?
3.       What open-loop pointing accuracy (3σ) is achievable?
a.       Note assumptions about pointing budget items not related to the OT/C
4.       What pointing stability (3σ) is achieved during a communication session?
5.       What is the maximum Azimuth/Elevation slew rate
6.       How is a dropped link handled?
 
 
Table 2. Technology Readiness Level Definitions from 7123.1B
 

TRL

Definition

Hardware Description

Software Description

Exit Criteria

1

Basic principles observed and reported.

Scientific knowledge generated underpinning hardware technology concepts/applications.

Scientific knowledge generated underpinning basic properties of software architecture and mathematical formulation.

Peer reviewed publication of research underlying the proposed concept/application.

2

Technology concept and/or application formulated.

Invention begins, practical application is identified but is speculative, no experimental proof or detailed analysis is available to support the conjecture.

Practical application is identified but is speculative, no experimental proof or detailed analysis is available to support the conjecture. Basic properties of algorithms, representations and concepts defined. Basic principles coded. Experiments performed with synthetic data.

Documented description of the application/concept that addresses feasibility and benefit.

3

Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof of concept.

Analytical studies place the technology in an appropriate context and laboratory demonstrations, modeling and simulation validate analytical prediction.

Development of limited functionality to validate critical properties and predictions using non-integrated software components.

Documented analytical/experi-mental results validating predictions of key parameters.

4

Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment.

A low fidelity system/component breadboard is built and operated to demonstrate basic functionality and critical test environments, and associated performance predictions are defined relative to the final operating environment.

Key, functionally critical, software components are integrated, and functionally validated, to establish interoperability and begin architecture development. Relevant Environments defined and performance in this environment predicted.

Documented test performance demonstrating agreement with analytical predictions. Documented definition of relevant environment.

5

Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment.

A medium fidelity system/component brassboard is built and operated to demonstrate overall performance in a simulated operational environment with realistic support elements that demonstrates overall performance in critical areas. Performance predictions are made for subsequent development phases.

End-to-end software elements implemented and interfaced with existing systems/simulations conforming to target environment. End-to-end software system, tested in relevant environment, meeting predicted performance. Operational environment performance predicted. Prototype implementations developed.

Documented test performance demonstrating agreement with analytical predictions. Documented definition of scaling requirements.

6

System/sub-system model or prototype demonstration in an operational environment.

A high fidelity system/component prototype that adequately addresses all critical scaling issues is built and operated in a relevant environment to demonstrate operations under critical environmental conditions.

Prototype implementations of the software demonstrated on full-scale realistic problems. Partially integrate with existing hardware/software systems. Limited documentation available. Engineering feasibility fully demonstrated.
 

Documented test performance demonstrating agreement with analytical predictions.

7

System prototype demonstration in an operational environment.

A high fidelity engineering unit that adequately addresses all critical scaling issues is built and operated in a relevant environment to demonstrate performance in the actual operational environment and platform (ground, airborne, or space).

Prototype software exists having all key functionality available for demonstration and test. Well integrated with operational hardware/software systems demonstrating operational feasibility. Most software bugs removed.
Limited documentation available.

Documented test performance demonstrating agreement with analytical predictions.

8

Actual system completed and "flight qualified" through test and demonstration.

The final product in its final configuration is successfully demonstrated through test and analysis for its intended operational environment and platform (ground, airborne, or space).

All software has been thoroughly debugged and fully integrated with all operational hardware and software systems. All user documentation, training documentation, and maintenance documentation completed. All functionality successfully demonstrated in simulated operational scenarios. Verification and Validation (V&V) completed.

Documented test performance verifying analytical predictions.

9

Actual system flight proven through successful mission operations.

The final product is successfully operated in an actual mission.

All software has been thoroughly debugged and fully integrated with all operational hardware/software systems. All documentation has been completed. Sustaining software engineering support is in place. System has been successfully operated in the operational environment.

Documented mission operational results.

 
Acronyms:
DBPSK - Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying
DTE – Direct-to-Earth
FOV – Field of View
FOR – Field of Regard
FPGA – Field Programmable Gate Array
GEO - Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
HEO - Human Exploration and Operation
HPOA - High Power Optical Amplifier
LEMNOS - Laser-Enhanced Mission Communications Navigation and Operational Services
LEO - Low Earth Orbit
MEO – Medium Earth Orbit
NET – No Earlier Than
O2O – Orion EM-2 Optical Communications System
OT/C – Optical Terminal and Controller
RFI - Request for Information
ROM - Rough Order of Magnitude
SAM - System for Award Management
SCaN - Space, Communications and Navigation
TRL - Technology Readiness Level

Opportunity closing date

22 July 2019

Value of contract

to be confirmed