Special NoticePosted Dec 19, 2024·Original deadline passed (Dec 23). See latest amendment for current deadline.

"PATHFINDER TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR" (PTD) Mission Extension

NASA · NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
541715
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
80ARC025PA001
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
AR11
Place
Moffett Field, CA, USA
Contact
Tiffany Goodwin (tiffany.n.goodwin@nasa.gov)
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CSV Email

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Where this opportunity stands

Every notice posted under solicitation 80ARC025PA001 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Dec 16, 2024
    Special Notice
    Open
  • Dec 19, 2024 · this notice
    Special Notice
Solicitation
None posted
Award
  • Feb 27, 2025
    Award Notice
    Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. · $1.8M
    Open
Other notices
  • Feb 27, 2025
    Justification (Sole Source)
    Open

Next steps for this stage

Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.

  • Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
  • Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
  • Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.

What the notice says

NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) has a requirement for: Extended Mission Operations for the Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) Missions, including PTD-R and PTD-4. Description of Required Items and Services: PTD-R Extended Mission Operations Extend mission operations from the end of the baseline PTD-R mission to spacecraft demise, estimated in January 2027. Tasks include mission operations, flight product generation, real-time operations, fault management, anomaly resolution, and payload characterization. Provide necessary Mission Operations Control facilities, Ground Data System (GDS) in… (show all)

tegration, and command load simulations. Ensure telemetry and payload data are accessible to NASA and/or the Payload Principal Investigator. Deliver an end-of-mission briefing with objectives, metrics, and lessons learned. PTD-4 Extended Mission Operations Extend mission operations for PTD-4 by two months, from December 31, 2024, to February 28, 2025. Support the Alt Energy Experiment, including developing and executing scripts and command loads for spacecraft and payload operations. Conduct nominal imaging operations and periodic on-orbit evaluations. Deliver an end-of-mission briefing summarizing mission accomplishments. Software and Ground System Support Develop and validate flight software (FSW) updates, GNC software changes, and related testing for PTD-R mission requirements. Provide ongoing support for fault detection, isolation, and recovery procedures. Recurring Deliverables Kick-off meeting materials. Bi-weekly status updates. Updated Mission Operations Plans. Extended mission data, including telemetry, imaging data, and GNC data, delivered with less than three days of latency. Quantities and Units of Measure: PTD-R Mission Operations: Extend from ATP (estimated December 15, 2024) through spacecraft demise (estimated January 2027). PTD-4 Mission Operations: Extend by two months, from December 31, 2024, to February 28, 2025. Software updates and ground system support: As needed throughout the mission. Data deliverables: Provided for each operational pass, with telemetry latency < 3 days. Location of Performance: Contractor facilities in Irvine, California. Security Classification: Unclassified. Period of Performance: PTD-R: From ATP (December 15, 2024, estimated) to January 2027, plus one additional month for final reporting. PTD-4: From ATP (December 15, 2024, estimated) to February 28, 2025. NASA/ARC intends to issue a sole source contract to acquire the Extended Mission Operations for the PTD Missions, including PTD-R and PTD-4, from Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. (d/b/a Terran Orbital), under the authority of FAR 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The justification for this sole source acquisition is based on the criteria that only one responsible source can satisfy agency requirements (as per FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)), with the documentation and approval processes following the requirements in FAR 13.501. The justification for lack of competition is as follows: Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. is the original designer, developer, and operator of the Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator spacecraft under contract NNA17BF41C. The required mission operations, ground system compatibility, and software support are integral to the continued operations of PTD-R and PTD-4. Tyvak possesses unique proprietary knowledge, technical expertise, and facilities necessary to fulfill these requirements. Transitioning these operations to another provider would result in significant duplication of costs and unacceptable delays to NASA�s mission objectives, consistent with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2). The Government does intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort electronically via email to Tiffany N. Goodwin (Tiffany.N.Goodwin@nasa.gov) and Joshua D. Taggart (Joshua.D.Taggart@nasa.gov). Seven days after posting. The Statement of Work (SOW) for this acquisition can be requested through the Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this acquisition on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this acquisition on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. 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

Who won similar work

14 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Matched by: Same agency (NASA), same product/service code (PSC) AR11.

Single-winner award sizes (14): middle half $1.0M to $11.4M, median $2.0M; range $238K to $282.2M.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
SIERRA LOBO INC1$282.2MDec 13, 2024
MILLENNIUM ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATION SERVICES, LLC1$58.6MApr 6, 2026
Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Llc1$25.2MSep 11, 2026
Fort Wayne Metals Fort Wayne IN 46809 USA1$14.0MSep 29, 2025
ELECTRA.AERO INC.1$3.5MNov 13, 2024
AURORA FLIGHT SCIENCES CORPORATION1$3.3MNov 13, 2024
JETZERO, INC.1$2.2MNov 13, 2024
Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc.1$1.8MJul 7, 2025
GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP1$1.4MNov 13, 2024
RTX CORPORATION1$1.2MNov 13, 2024

Value counts new single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling (same contract, or the same office, day and amount); that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in. Contract modifications are not new awards and are not added in either. Revenue next to a ticker is the company's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings.

Latest awards

Materiality: one award's value as a share of the winner's revenue over the latest 12 months in its SEC filings (or its last fiscal year, as noted when you point at it). Low under 1%, Medium 1 to 5%, High 5% or more. Many awards are paid over several years, so this overstates a single year's share.

Competitive landscape

For the 8 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.

  • 1 of these past winners lobbied Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) since 2024 (1 filings)
  • 0 of their lobbyists list a past Natl Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) job
  • No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
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Policy around it

Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.

  • 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
  • 16 rules from the department in the last 12 months
  • 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
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Market

For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards. A sale marked 10b5-1 was made under a trading plan set up in advance.

  • 0 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
See who and the source records with Pro

Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.

Companies are matched to tickers by exact name, including the subsidiaries a company lists in its SEC filings. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.