ASTRO Virtual Industry Day QandA.pdf

1

Question
Will the slides and recording be available to
the proposers?
What is the relationship between ASTRO and
SILVERSWORD?

Will the TS-SCI requirement flow down to
subcontractors?
What, if any, are the synergies with SOR?
Are there expectations that both sites work
together or completely separately?

Will a list of industry attendees to this
conference be released as well?

Does the Government have a data set
available for use in demonstrations of
capabilities, if not what is the scope of data
to be collected with reference to "space
objects"?

Are there any OCI concerns between this
ASTRO contract and the AMOS BOS
Contract?

Will the lease of the Lipoa Parkway Site be
conducted through the BOS or the ASTRO
contract?

With the expected level of projects, is there
restrictions of personnel on site?

Suggestion: Partnerships may be enabled
and enhanced by releasing the attendees
list.

Will you be holding a site visit?

Answer
Yes, the slides and recording will be available. Not sure if recording file will
be compatible but we will definitely post the slides.
ASTRO is more focused on Operation & Modernizations. SILVERSWORD is
currently on hold but there could be an integration piece that would need
to be coordinated and conducted on the ASTRO contract.

Yes the DD254 will flow down if required.

While there are synergies that are achieved at a technical level, the sites
are pursuing two separate contracts so no work/performance is expected
to happen at SOR via ASTRO contract.

Since this request was made several times throughout the conference (and
no one objected), the list of attendees will be attached to assist in possible
future teaming arrangements.
The Government is not planning on providing any data sets. That said, the
data sets we suggest you refer to are data sets common across the SDA
community. For example, Imagery data, non-resolved data across
broadband, spectral, hyperspectral, hypertemporal, passive RF, thermal,
Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) and Infrared (IR). Also Metric type data sets
which are positional type data sets. Example: Being able to take an
observation and create an orbital state, not just keplairian orbital states
but non-traditional orbital states including cislunar type orbital states. We
may be able to provide a list and some examples in the final RFP but not a
full data set or list of examples.
We have not identified any OCI conflicts as of yet. The BOS contract is a
Base Operations Contract and does not do any deep dives into
experimental equipment mods or upgrades. BOS deals more with roads
maintenance, generator inspections and repairing and installing electrical
panels etc. That said, there are touch points, for example, when new
equipment needs to be installed, the BOS contractor is responsible for the
crane operation or integration into the electrical power panels as they are
certified to conduct these types of activities for the observatory. There will
also be touch points with regards to Base IT Communications and Mission
IT support. In all of these cases the Government will facilitate the
contractors working together. If you are submitting a proposal be
cognizant of the OCI provisions in the RFP. If you have an OCI concern
please identify.
The lease of Lipoa Pkwy do not fall under ASTRO or SILVERSWORD. The
Government handles the lease for the Lipoa Parkway site.

There may be restrictions due to large projects that restricts the number of
personnel on site as well as COVID restrictions or other Safety reasons. In
these cases, we would work with the contractors to prioritize and de-
conflict work schedules. Additionally, there is a safety time restriction of
12 hours for personnel working on the summit. Personnel are only allowed
to work 12 hour shifts on the summit.
The Government will take this suggestion under consideration.

Due to the Pandemic we will not be holding a site visit. We are currently
looking into doing a virtual tour of the site and currently working with
Security and our PA staff to see if it is possible.

What is the expected Acquisition timeline? We are still working updates to the RFP. We expect to release it within the

Will there be office and technical space on
site for the primes and subs and will the
subs be required to have a consistent
presence on the island?

Is the data collected available over classified
networks off-site?

What is the current mechanism for
proposing experiments against strategic
experiments priorities and who ranks and
approves the experiments?
16 Will you be setting up a bidders Library?
Is the Certified Laser Safety Officer a Key
Position? And what are the other listed Key
positions for the contract?

Are AFRL and the Space Force satisfied with
their ability to get the most important
experiments implemented and transitioned?

Are strategic priority documents mentioned
(CTC) available to bidders?
Is the award date calendar year of fiscal year
Feedback of on the draft RFP's is August 2nd
or AUG 6th?
Is there a list of prioritized/desired/planned
modernization projects available or is the
contractor to anticipate the desired mods?

next 3 months. For real-time up-to-date changes please register/check
with SAM.gov to receive notifications of changes regarding ASTRO. We are
planning to tie everything ASTRO related to the same acquisition number
on SAM.gov. This will insure you will not miss any updates to the
Acquisition.
The Government will be providing office and technical space for the prime
contractor. The subs will be handled on a case by case basis and will be
dependent on the prime contractor's needs from the subcontractor
expertise and whether hands on expertise is required or is telework an
option (which will be worked out between the prime and the
subcontractor).
Yes, there is data on various systems including unclassified data in the
Unclass Data Library (UTL). We can look into getting the information out
and what steps are needed to provide access to the data to ALL the
bidders. A clarification is that the data that is out there is radiometrically
calibrated already so we would need to clarify between raw and calibrated
data if there is raw data out there on specific sites.
The Government works with various entities that might want to come in
and propose an experiment. Typically those entities would need a
Government focal point to engage the Government personnel at the site.
Then as far as the strategic priorities go, we are part of AFRL Directed
Energy so there is a strategic plan called the CTC strategic plan which
outlines priorities for the research at the site. We are blended Operations
and R&D. We also get our direction from the Space Force. The process for
approval works through the Government. If it is a large financially funded
project, we take it to the RD tech council to get approval through the
directorate.
Yes, it will be included in the final RFP.
We may look into adding the Laser Safety Officer as a Key Position. In the
second part of the briefing, there is a list of positions currently being
considered as Key positions.

We are never satisfied and want more opportunity to develop and
transition more quickly into the SPGO. Some of those opportunities
include: How can we develop a prototype capability? Standard Operations
and procedures? Better ICD's? etc..
We are planning to include unclass strategic documents in the bidders
library
All the dates are based on the Government fiscal year which begins in
October. The current anticipated award time is Q2 FY22 but that may slip
to the right.
August 6th.

The Government does not have a complete list, however we do have a
dream list. The current acquisition strategy is for a 7 year contract, so the
dream list will change over that timeframe as requirements arise. There
are projects like the LWIR camera replacement, the replacements of the
1.2meter & 1.6meter domes, EOL equipment upgrades, Visiting
experiments coming in, and expansion onto the summit through the STAR
project which will be an array of 1 meter class telescopes. The list is long
and the government will prioritize the projects.

What ODC's do you anticipate?

How will the Government evaluate offerors
technical breadth and depth for the TO 3 if
we only provide the Basis of Estimate (BOE)
for a single project?

Does there have to be four past
performance write-ups from us and from
each of our critical subs?

Will funding other than 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 be
used?

Will you be conducting one and one
meetings with offers?

The Government plans to baseline the ODC's based on past expenditures.
Baseline ODC's will be non-fee baring. We are not expecting offerors to
propose ODCs and provide Bill of Materials (BOMs) as support. This will
help the Government stay on track with the very tight acquisition timeline
for ASTRO.
The requirement for the BOE to establish the Basic-Mission Support Tasker
(B-MST) and "bank" CLIN is separate from the technical evaluation. For TO
3, please review and respond to Sub Factor 1. The response to the
technical sub-factors will provide the Government insight into your
technical capabilities to execute this contract.
Please be sure to adhere to the Past Performance requirements in Section
L and M of the final RFP. Currently, those sections require each
offeror/joint venture member complete a separate FACTS Sheet for four
(4) active or completed contracts (with at least one year of performance
history) in the past five (5) years from the issuance date of the RFP.
Additionally, each critical subcontractor included in the offeror's proposal
is required to submit FACTS Sheets for four (4) of their most recent and
relevant contracts. A critical subcontractor is defined