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A) Market Research

NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for a new Xenon Reprocessing contract.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) GRC is seeking capability statements 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 Xenon Reprocessing contract. 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.

No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of any solicitation or synopsis.

Interested firms having the required capabilities necessary to meet the above requirement described herein should submit a capability statement of no more than ten (10) pages indicating the ability to perform all aspects of the effort.

Required Contents of The Capability Package

Potential vendors should provide the following basic company information:

1. Business Name


2. Location of Reprocessing Facility


3. DUNS Number


4. Business Size


5. Specialized Designations (i.e., 8(a), Women-owned, Veteran-owned)


6. Point-of-Contact Name


7. Point-of-Contact Information (i.e., Telephone Number, Email Address)

Potential vendors should also provide the following information with regard to the specifications below:

1. Show ability to reprocess xenon (i.e., verify and document molecular composition of contents in Government-furnished cylinders, extract, reprocess, refill).


2. Provide the expected measurement uncertainties for the impurities listed in Table 1.


3. Provide information regarding anticipated schedule from receiving contaminated xenon to return of purified xenon.


4. Provide basic pricing data* regarding processing cost to extract and purify the xenon, price per liter of reprocessed xenon, and any associated costs (i.e., cylinder and valve costs, shipping).


5. Provide anticipated xenon consumption for gas analysis and certification.

*This RFI is used solely for information planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by NASA to form a binding contract.

The response should be sent as a single Microsoft Word .docx (or equivalent Adobe Reader .pdf format) and/or Microsoft Excel .xlsx file. Acceptable file types are Microsoft Office Word 2010/2013/2016 and Microsoft Office Excel 2010/2013/2016, or equivalent Adobe Reader .pdf format. Please use 12-point Times New Roman font.

Concise information that specifically addresses the requested information is preferred, especially artifacts and quantitative data that fully respond to each sub-topic.

Please do not include corporate standard marketing factsheets, glossy material, or data.

Potential Respondents are welcome to include links to studies, white papers, and other outside information via citation.

Please advise if the requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101.

All responses shall be submitted electronically via email to Audrey Gonzalez at audrey.r.gonzalez@nasa.gov no later than March 13, 2023, by 4:30PM EST. Please reference 80GRC023XE001 in any response.

This synopsis 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. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement.

NASA intends to publicize a listing of respondents in order to facilitate teaming arrangements. Should your firm desire not to be included in this listing, clearly indicate this desire in your response.

B) Request for Information

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.

This notice is issued by the NASA/GRC to post draft specifications to solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition.

Requirements Background

NASA uses high purity xenon (HP-Xe) gas as a propellent with electric propulsion systems, which are operated in ground test facilities that simulate the space environment. Much of this propellant is captured in cryogenic pumps throughout testing, along with other pumped gases, and then recovered when the testing is complete. Dedicated, oil-free mechanical pumping systems are used to transfer the resulting gas mixture (xenon plus other atmospheric gases) from the test chambers into ambient-pressure storage bladders. This collected gas is then transferred to high pressure gas cylinders for ease of storage and transport.

The Government desires to have this recovered gas mixture purified or exchanged for HP-Xe for future electric propulsion system testing. The cost of either purification or exchange is expected to be much lower than the purchase cost of new HP-Xe.

At this time, the Government anticipates awarding a five-year contract. Over the course of this contract, delivery orders would be issued for individual reprocessing requirements ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Liters at one time. The total estimated requirement for the five-year period is currently around 520,000 Liters. These values are estimates only and subject to change as Government requirements shift.

Specifications:

The Government anticipates providing the Supplier captured xenon in clean, DOT-3AA Size T (49 liter) compressed gas cylinders. Each cylinder shall contain a minimum of 6 kg and maximum of 62 kg of xenon gas mixture. Each cylinder shall be pressurized to no more than 2,000 psi at room temperature.

The purity of the captured gas mixture supplied by the Government may range from 10% to 99.99%, with impurities largely or completely consisting of atmospheric gases, which leak into NASA’s high vacuum test facilities from the ambient environment.

The Supplier shall conduct an analysis of each cylinder’s content upon receipt of the cylinder(s) and provide the test results to the Government before the Suppliers acceptance and further processing of the cylinder contents. The Government retains the right to reject the Supplier’s analysis of the contents of any or all cylinders and require their return, after which the Supplier will return the cylinder to the Government in no more than one (1) month. The xenon loss from the Supplier’s analysis shall not exceed three (3) standard liters per cylinder.

After the Government-supplied cylinders are emptied of recovered xenon gas mixture, they shall be shipped back to the Government.

The Government requires xenon that is high purity, propellant-grade (>99.999% Xe) delivered in clean gas cylinders. The Supplier should assume as the basis for its bid that the Government will request a cylinder size with an internal volume of 44 liters that is nominally 9 inches in diameter and 51 inches tall, although the Government will specify the desired cylinder sizes, types, and quantity of HP-Xe in each cylinder at time of service. Each cylinder shall be labelled with its tare weight and have a minimum of one (1) year remaining on its DOT certification.

Each cylinder shall be fitted with a rare gas valve or a bellows-sealed valve to eliminate stem leakage. The external connection shall be a CGA 580 valve fitting.

The cylinders containing HP-Xe shall become property of the Government.

The measured purity of the HP-Xe returned to the Government shall be ≥ 99.999% and shall meet the requirements for impurities listed in Table 1, Maximum Allowable Impurities (Table 1 attached).

A Certificate of Analysis is required for each cylinder of HP-Xe delivered to the Government. The measured impurities shall meet the requirements specified in Table 1. The analysis shall be conducted using xenon captured directly from each HP-Xe cylinder to be delivered to the Government. Lot impurities or measured impurities prior to any xenon transfer are not valid. The Supplier shall provide their measurement uncertainty for each constituent specified in Table 1 and the basis for the uncertainty.

Each bottle delivered to the Government shall have a Certificate of Analysis including:

• the amount of xenon in liters at standard temperature and pressure determined after gas analysis,


• the actual measured impurity values for that cylinder,


• the measurement uncertainty for each impurity,


• the measured tare weight of the bottle and valve.

A liter will be defined at standard temperature and pressure conditions of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and 29.92 inches of mercury.

Any bottle that fails to comply with the above requirements for measured impurity levels shall be rejected. Any bottle that does not have an accompanying certificate of measured impurity levels for that bottle shall be rejected.

The Government plans to reserve the right to inspect any or all of the work included in a potential contract; this applies to work being completed at the vendor’s processing location.

This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. The Government may not respond to questions/concerns submitted. The Government will use the information to finalize the RFP as necessary.

All comments or questions shall be submitted electronically via email to Audrey Gonzalez at audrey.r.gonzalez@nasa.gov no later than March 6, 2023, by 4:30PM EST. When responding, reference 80GRC023XE001.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/Procurement-Ombuds-Comp-Advocate-Listing.pdf

If a solicitation is released, then it and any additional documents will be available on www.Sam.gov. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this website for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments, if any.

NASA intends to publicize a listing of respondents in order to facilitate teaming arrangements. Should your firm desire not to be included in this listing, clearly indicate this desire in your response.

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