Navy planning small business R&D contract
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By
Nick Wakeman
The Naval Research Laboratory wants to hire a provider of research-and-development work that focuses on how solar activity impacts satellites and Earth's ionosphere.
The Naval Research Laboratory plans to release a solicitation by Oct. 1 for research-and-development support services for its Space Science Division, with the resulting award reserved entirely for small businesses.
The presolicitation notice describes a cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort contract with a one-year base period and four individual option years. The lab estimates roughly 199,500 labor hours over the life of the contract, covering a mix of labor categories including key personnel.
NRL's Space Science Division conducts R&D related to the atmospheres of the Sun and Earth. This includes solar activity and its effects on the Earth’s ionosphere, upper atmosphere and middle atmosphere.
The division builds instruments that are placed on satellites, rockets and balloons.
Work under the contract is not being considered a commercial requirement and NRL will use a best-value tradeoff source selection process to make the award..
A formal solicitation has not been released yet. The Sam.gov notice states that the agency reserves the right to cancel the acquisition before the solicitation is released.
Interested vendors must be registered in SAM.gov to be eligible for award and they can register as interested parties ahead of the formal posting. Questions and comments on the notice are due by Aug. 25.