Active

Contract Opportunity

SECTION I. DESCRIPTION

Department of the Air Force Mobility COE

Purpose

In 2022, the Secretary of the Air Force established Operational Imperatives (OI) and Cross-Cutting Operational Enablers (COE) as major focus areas for the Department of the Air Force’s (DAF) future budget and programming decisions. The DAF Mobility COE (MCOE) represents a non-traditional approach to closing mobility gaps and addressing mobility challenges relative to the Joint force. The MCOE will set the tone for the DAF’s future and decisions made by senior leaders.

The SML Program Office (AATS/AAA), in coordination with the DAF Mobility COE team, is seeking industry input to identify potential capabilities/technologies/services for development of Combat Space Mobility concepts. Operational and Acquisition leads have been appointed for each OI/COE to perform analysis within an aggressive timeline to generate FY26 POM recommendations for the Secretary by the end of March 2024. This RFI supports the analysis for ONE of the Lines of Effort (LOEs) within the Mobility COE to inform future budget and program decisions. Additional separate RFI’s may be issued in support of other imperatives. Where possible, the DAF would like to understand within your responses how your technology and operational concepts for this imperative could enable, connect, and contribute across a Space Mobility & Logistics architecture. We would also like to understand the scalability and adaptability of your identified concepts.

This is a Request for Information. AATS/AAA seeks vendor capability information in support of the scope and requirements listed in Section II and III. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This RFI constitutes neither a Request for Proposal (RFP), nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. This RFI should not be construed as a commitment by the government for any purpose. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. The government will not reimburse contractors for any cost associated with preparing or submitting a response to this notice. Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS), and contractors serving in the role of Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) will be reviewing data submitted in response to this RFI; respective employees have standard Non-Disclosure Agreements available to the cognizant Government contracting offices.

This RFI will identify technologies to develop, integrate, test, and field new capabilities into the current and future mobility enterprise. The respondents will not constrain current technology readiness levels (TRL) or cost estimates at this time. Respondents will also identify the ability to accelerate technologies that are in various stages of development. The government intends to issue additional RFI's regarding the subject header which may be issued sequentially or concurrently with varying suspense dates. This information will be used to further assist the government's understanding of technologies and solution sets to designed to augment capability gaps.

SECTION II. BACKGROUND/SCOPE

Background

The Joint force must be able to effectively deploy, conduct, and sustain operations against pacing threats in highly contested environments. To accomplish this, future mobility systems must provide a mix of survivable, connected, and agile performance characteristics that reliably provide range, flexible payloads, and unique capabilities in highly contested environments which are critical to operational effectiveness. Potential adversaries will contest the Joint Force’s logistics in any future fight, necessitating an array of mobility capabilities that can survive in operationally relevant numbers, including United States Space Force (USSF) mobility platforms. Moreover, this mix of survivable and agile mobility platforms will need to be capable of supplying the Joint Forces across the continuum of conflict relative to the pacing challenge.

The AATS/AAA and DAF Mobility COE team seeks to accelerate design definition of capabilities, focused on key missions that cannot reliably and effectively be performed by today’s capabilities in a highly contested environment, specifically Point-to-Point orbital and sub-orbital delivery systems. Importantly, the COE team is less interested in incremental solutions resulting in evolving marginal improvement– achieving desired capabilities will require revolutionary and innovative thinking and future concept and capability design.

The Government is identifying sources capable of transporting military equipment and supplies globally in under an hour beginning as early as Government Fiscal Year (GFY) 2026 and is requesting detailed information on each provider’s capabilities, to include when those capabilities will be available, Concept of Operations (CONOPS), business case analysis, and alternate approaches. Vendors that are not able to provide flight-ready capabilities beginning in FY26 are discouraged from responding.

Scope

This RFI seeks to specifically address the operational challenges for Line of Effort (LOE) #4 Combat Space Mobility. This RFI is seeking industry input to identify potential capabilities/technologies/services for integration into the Space Combat Mobility ecosystem. Interested companies shall respond in accordance with (IAW) Section IV of this document. The Government will assess capability statements IAW the requirements set forth in Section III of this RFI notification.

The Department of Defense (DoD) seeks novel commercial solutions that enable responsive and precise terrestrial point-to-point delivery of cargo from and through space in support of national defense objectives. Doing so at scale requires solutions that leverage commercial space launch rockets and launch infrastructure to move a wide variety of cargo where it is needed, when it is needed. This RFI seeks to update and expand the government’s understanding of the space industry’s capabilities with respect to rocket enabled global mobility. This effort builds upon the Space Force’s Rocket Cargo Vanguard Program (https://afresearchlab.com/news/department-of-the-air-force-announces-fourth-vanguard-program/). This RFI seeks a broader set of technology, systems, and associated TTPs to meet the DoD’s mobility mission emerging needs.

SECTION III. CAPABILITY/THREAT-BASED GAPS & MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

NOTE: Document contains redactions made to allow for posting of this public notice. Request access to the controlled attachment to the notice for the complete version of this RFI.

A. LOE Capability-based and Threat-based Gaps

• Operational Problem: The DAF cannot supply US or allied combatants to enable the Joint Force at speed and scale, globally, at the time and place of need, to, near and through contested areas.

o Cannot meet stacked demand requirements during simultaneous OPLAN implementation

o [REDACTED]

o Dependency on fixed infrastructure and forces and equipment prevents operating at speed and scale required

B. Minimum Requirements and Solution Differentiators

Typical capabilities/technologies may involve, but are not limited to, the following:

• Responsiveness: Lead time, in hours or days, for cargo delivery to intended point of delivery, including alert level timelines for launch or on-orbit positioning (lower is better)

• Scalability & Cadence: Ability for sustained, decisive delivery of 30+ tons to global forces (higher cargo amount and deliveries within a given timeframe is better)

• Launch Infrastructure: Ability of current launch sites to support the responsiveness, scalability, and launch cadence, and upgrades needed to support the desired Government capabilities

• Policy and Regulation: Ability of current policy and regulation to support the responsiveness, scalability, and launch cadence, and potential updates needed to support the desired Government capabilities

• Capacity: A variety of mass and volume capacities will be considered (larger is better); Tens to thousands of kilograms and appropriately sized cargo compartment volumes

• [REDACTED]

• Flexibility:

o [REDACTED]

• Precision:

o Include Mission command and control (C2) tools for real-time situational awareness and planning

o [REDACTED]

o Ability to correct for changes in delivery location real-time (higher fidelity better)

• Compatibility:

o Modular components, configurable cargo compartments, and flexible cargo interfaces

o Delivery vehicles providing the greatest flexibility in mass and volume or otherwise suitable for larger servicer or ‘dispenser’ space logistics vehicles

o Real-time data information sharing across the Joint Forces

SECTION IV. INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPONDENTS:

If your company is interested in submitting information related to this acquisition, please note the following timeline and instructions.

Timeline

Information Packages Due: 03 Jan 2024 by 1630 Eastern (Due to time constraints, extensions will not be granted).

All interested contractors must be registered in SAM.gov in order to be eligible for any future award of Government contracts.

Instructions

1. If your company decides to respond to this RFI, please provide “whitepapers” on technology-specific solutions, practices/experience IAW the instructions in Sections V and VI below, and ensure you respond to the questions identified therein. Email typed responses IAW these instructions to:

Lt Col Michael Killings, michael.killings@spaceforce.mil

Maj Rachael Nutting, rachael.nutting.1@spaceforce.mil.

Please use read and delivery receipts.

Please contact the individuals below if a classified response warranted:

Lt Col Michael Killings, michael.killings@spaceforce.mil

Maj Rachael Nutting, rachael.nutting.1@spaceforce.mil

Maj Abigail Sutton, abigail.sutton.2@spaceforce.mil

2.a. Proprietary Information if any is provided, needs to be clearly marked as proprietary, e.g., “Company X Proprietary Information, Reason (Intellectual Property, Competition Sensitive, etc.)” and will be protected in accordance with DoD Instruction 5200.48. Responses sent will not be returned to the provider.

b. To review responses, proprietary information may be given to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) that work for the Aerospace Corporation, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), and contractors serving in the roles of Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) and Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA). Disclosure of PROPIN outside of government channels and their contract is STRICTLY PROHIBITED for SETA, A&AS, and FFRDC support to the government that they have access to.

3. Interested companies shall respond to the questions below, tailored to the requirements on 8.5” x 11” pages with the font no smaller than 10 point. Any supporting literature from your organization must be identified as such and explain what it supports.

4. All responses to be UNCLASSIFIED, however; if additional information is warranted at the CLASSIFIED level, please contact the individuals identified above for further submission instructions. Do NOT transmit classified material to the emails identified.

5. Email UNCLASSIFIED submissions either directly to the POCs listed above or via DoD-Safe.

Any further questions regarding this RFI shall be directed to Lt Col Michael Killings, michael.killings@spaceforce.mil (321-853-0482) and Maj Rachael Nutting, rachael.nutting.1@spaceforce.mil (321-853-7433).

SECTION V. COMPANY INFORMATION

The Government requests a response to the following:

1. Please provide the following business information for your company and for any teaming or joint venture partners:

• Company Name

• Address

• Point of Contact

• CAGE/DUNS Code

• Phone Number

• E-mail Address

• Web Page URL

• The anticipated North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code applicable to this RFI is 336414, Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing, for developing and producing prototypes for complete guided missiles and space vehicles. Based on this NAICS and its size standard, state whether your company is considered:

o Small Business (Yes/No)

o Woman Owned Small Business (Yes/No)

o Native American Owned Concern (Yes/No)

o Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes/No)

o 8(a) Certified (Yes/No)

o HUBZone Certified (Yes/No)

o Veteran Owned Small Business (Yes/No)

o Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (Yes/No)

Additionally, please identify if another NAICS code or PSC code is better suited for this requirement.

SECTION VI. QUESTIONS:

Please provide whitepaper(s) for each proposed solution. Whitepaper(s) shall not exceed five pages in length. Cover pages with company information are not included in the 5-page limit.

1. Summarize your company's experience developing, producing, integrating, testing, launching, deploying, and supporting space mobility point-to-point capabilities.

2. Describe your proposed solution and the specific capabilities/technologies of Section III that your solution is addressing.

3. Describe the TRL level of your systems and components. Provide justification for assessment.

4. Provide performance characteristics. Include cargo capacity, down-mass, estimated timelines for cargo delivery.

5. Describe the architecture and concept of operations for end-to-end delivery of cargo, to include loading/unloading of cargo, locations, and infrastructure requirements.

6. Provide estimated development, integration, and production schedules. Are there any schedule constraints (e.g., long lead, testing facilities, test equipment, etc.)?

7. Does your company plan on teaming with others to meet needs? If so, explain your teaming strategy.

8. Are any of your company’s systems or components currently on orbit or pending launch supporting other Government agencies or space programs?

9. Describe your company’s preferred contracting, business approach and capability/capacity to meet the development and delivery of your concepts in 18-24 months following an Authority to Proceed (ATP), including critical processes and components that enable delivery.

10. What are the estimated overall cost(s)? Please provide details/work breakdown on development, integration, production, and sustainment costs and/or services cost.

11. Are your concepts funded? If not, how much funding would be required to bring it to operational capability?

12. Describe your approach to conducting test and evaluation.

13. Have you identified any challenges related to meeting point-to-point mobility needs? If so, how do you plan on addressing these challenges?

Attachments/Links