INTRODUCTION A cubesat-scale solar sail propulsion system is being developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to provide propulsion for a 6U interplanetary cubesat to be used for the Near Earth Asteroid Scout (NEAS) project. NASA MSFC desires for the solar sail technology and design being developed for the NEAS mission to be commercially available after the completion and delivery of the flight system hardware in 2018. To further that goal, NASA MSFC seeks to provide the solar sail propulsion system design to interested commercial entities. It is anticipated that there may be follow-on missions using the NEA Scout sail system following successful completion of the NEA Scout project. NEA Scout will fly on the Space Launch System (SLS) Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) mission scheduled for launch in 2018 and is being developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The solar sail will be allocated the mid-2U stowage volume within the 6U spacecraft bus. NEAS will perform a slow flyby of a NEA within approximately two years of launch. The deployed sail area will be approximately 86 square meters and has a tentative mass allocation of 2.5 kg. Once ejected from the SLS, the NEAS will perform systems checkout and then subsequently deploy the solar sail (nominally within 3-4 days after launch). The solar sail will provide the primary source of flight system delta-V. If the spacecraft is still functioning after the asteroid flyby, then an extended mission to visit a different NEA will be considered. Please contact NASA MSFC, following the instructions below, if your organization is interested in being a commercial provider for future solar sail propulsion systems. SOLAR SAIL OVERVIEW The solar sail is based on the technology developed and flown by the NASA NanoSail-D. Four 7.4 m stainless steel Trac booms wrapped on two spools (two overlapping booms per spool) will be deployed by a motor from within the allocated cubesat volume. The booms will pull the sail from its stowed volume as they deploy. The sail material will be 3 micron CP1, an aluminized polyimide that was extensively tested for solar sail applications and used in NASA's 400 square meter solar sail ground demonstrator project. The solar sail will be stowed spooled, rather than z-folded. Processes related to the fabrication of the booms and substrate material will not be provided as these are commercially available piece-parts used as part of the integrated solar sail system. The baseline reflective sail area required to meet the mission's delta-V requirements is 78 square meters. Since part of the sail's surface will have its reflectivity reduced due to structural reinforcement needs, and taking into account that a few small tears in the sail are almost inevitable, the actual deployed sail area will be approximately 86 square meters, providing some propulsive margin. A NEAS illustration is attached to this announcement. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Responses to this NOTICE should be no more than seven pages in length, not including any letters of commitment from sponsoring or partner organizations. Pages in excess of the page limitations for each section will not be evaluated. A page is defined as one (1) sheet 8 1/2 x 11 inches using a minimum of 12-point font size with normal kerning for text and 8-point for graphs. Responses should not include proprietary information. The response shall consist of: Page 1: Cover page including: • Name of organization • Mailing address and phone number of organization • Web site of organization (if applicable) • Name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number of primary officer of the organization • Name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number of organizations point-of-contact for the response (if different from primary officer). Page 2: • Briefly describe your organization, including history, primary activities, interests, capabilities, and financial and personnel resources. Include any experience of the organization that is similar or analogous to solar sail technology and that demonstrates competence, integrity, commitment to safety and ability to work cooperatively in partnering arrangements. • List any current or previous (for the past five years) contracts, grants or agreements between your organization and any federal agencies that exhibit these abilities or that relate to solar sail technology. Please identify customer points of contact with telephone and email contact information. Page 3: • Describe your organization's interest in solar sail technology and for becoming a solar sail provider. • Describe potential growth areas and goals for solar sail technology beyond those of direct potential NASA interests. Pages 4, 5 & 6: • Describe of your organization's proposed approach to commercializing solar sail technology and maintaining the capability to reproduce, fabricate and deliver space-qualified solar sail propulsion systems to future government and commercial customers. • Describe what your company can contribute ‘in-kind' to the NEAS Solar Sail propulsion system that would facilitate its development and future commercial availability.. Page 7: • The U.S. Government requires all manufacturers, exporters, and brokers of defense articles, defense services or related technical data to be compliant with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Describe the ITAR compliance status of your company/organization.. • Indicate whether your company/organization is registered with the US Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. (http://pmddtc.state.gov/registration/index.html) • Indicate whether your company employs any foreign nationals/non-US citizens. All responses to this NOTICE, including signed letters of commitment, must be submitted in a single PDF file as an attachment to an electronic mail message to Belinda Triplett at
[email protected] . Paper submissions will not be reviewed. Please include Notice Reference Number in the subject line of the e-mail.