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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) is hereby requesting information from potential sources for Commercial Aviation Services for Airborne Science. The Natio... National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) is hereby requesting information from potential sources for Commercial Aviation Services for Airborne Science. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ARC is seeking to gather and assess industry availability and capability to provide Commercial Aviation Services to support NASA Airborne Science from all interested parties, including all socioeconomic categories of Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI), and members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for Commercial Aviation Services for Airborne Science. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-owned (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses received. NASA requires access to modified King Air B-200, A-90 and Dash-9, or similar class aircraft with one or more nadir ports, payload, power, inlets, modified nosecones, window fixtures, externally mounted antennae, and equipment racks suitable for carrying remote sensing instruments to support NASA earth observing missions and sensor development, maturation, and operations for science. Examples of instruments that need to be supported include but are not limited to NASA Ames Research Center MODIS-ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER), the Goddard Space Flight Center Land Vegetation Imaging System (LVIS) and G-Light instruments, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory AVIRIS-NG and AirSWOT instruments. More information on NASA-airborne instruments can be found at https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/instrument/all. The contractor must be able to support the mechanical, electrical, and IT integration of NASA payloads, required power (eg. 28V DC), and space for one or more equipment racks and one or more instrument operators. These instruments also include requirements for external GNSS/Global Positioning System (GPS) antennae, internal 19” racks to secure computers, as well as inertial navigation systems (INS) such as Applanix 510/610 systems. The general aircraft performance requirements being sought are as follows: Medium Altitude, Medium Lift, Medium Speed 3000lb payload; 30,000ft altitude Example NASA B200, A-90, Dash-9 aircraft The contractor must be able to deploy a flight team to a suitable airport and operate for several days to weeks as needed, supplying ground and flight crew as needed to support sustained NASA science operations. All operations must conform to NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR)7900.3D “Aircraft Operations Management” (NPR 7900.3D - main (nasa.gov)), with emphasis on Chapter 10 of that regulation, “which documents NASA's Flight Program Standards for Commercial Aviation Services (CAS) operations as required by the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) Part 102-33, Management of Government Aircraft”, to include periodic external audits. The operator must have an FAA CFR PART 135 certification or equivalent. The following paragraphs summarize those requirements and others but are not meant to replace the guidance contained in this regulation. Each project must undergo an Airworthiness Review as needed, as well as Flight Readiness or Operational Readiness Review before receiving a flight release to operate as a public use aircraft. NASA missions often involve other NASA aircraft, other government agency aircraft, or other contracted aircraft. The contractor is expected to coordinate with other teams both formally, through a NASA Mission Readiness Review if needed, and informally ensure safe and effective operations. All Contractor flight crew and Qualified Non-Crewmembers shall comply with OCHMO-STD-1880.1, NASA Aviation Medical Certification Standards. The capabilities statements submitted in response to this RFI should be very clear on the flight status of the aircraft proposed to support NASA Flight Operations. Please include information on all aircraft modifications and payload accommodations to include: - payload view ports (size, location, orientation, etc.) - inlets for gas sampling, - power supplies, - onboard computing, - telemetry radios, - antennae, - other relevant modifications for science payloads Interested firms having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirement described herein should submit a capability statement of no more than 5 pages indicating the ability to perform all aspects of the effort. Respondents must demonstrate they have the required aircraft, support staff, and FAA Part 135 certificate for operating modified aircraft in support of NASA flight projects. Please advise if the requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101. Additionally, in support of the Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, NASA is seeking to advance equity or remove barriers for members of underserved communities related to this requirement. As defined in the EO, Underserved Communities refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the preceding definition of "equity." Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. NASA seeks input in the following areas: 1. To support the requirements identified in this request for information (RFI)/sources sought notification, what barriers or opportunities exist to engage subject matter experts from industry and academia and how can those barriers be overcome? How can underserved communities be leveraged? 2. To support the requirements identified in this RFI, what barriers or opportunities exist to partner with subcontractors that employ members of underserved communities, as defined above? 3. What other recommendations would you make to enhance diversity and inclusion? 4. What should be considered to encourage full participation and contribution of organizations and individuals (e.g., outreach efforts and innovative partnerships) in performance of this requirement? All responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Joshua Taggart (joshua.d.taggart@nasa.gov) and Cc Noor Khazendar (noor.khazendar@nasa.gov) no later than (July 30, 2024 and 4:00 pm Pacific Time). Please reference Commercial Aviation Services for Airborne Science in any response. This sources sought notice is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. No solicitation is planned at this time, although the collective responses may serve to direct future acquisitions. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized on https://beta.sam.gov . It is the potential offeror’s responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.