Announcement of Opportunity

Proposals in Space Exploration Science

February 2001

1.1 Objective

The Space Science Branch and the Space Technologies Branch of the Canadian Space Agency announce the opportunity to submit proposals in the field of Space Exploration Science. Two categories exist for submitting proposals: Support Studies and Advanced Studies. Only studies that support the field of Space Exploration Science will be accepted. A limited number of such studies will be supported under the category-specific guidelines described below.

1.2 Eligible Proposals

To be eligible to this AO, proposals shall:

• Be in the field of Space Exploration Science within our Solar System;
• Be either a Support Study or an Advanced Study

Concept Study proposals are not funded as part of this AO. Concept Study proposals in the field of Space Exploration are described here.

Although this is an Announcement to perform science studies, it is recognized that enabling technologies must be developed to meet the scientific requirements of future space missions. The main scientific and technological thrusts of interest are described below.

1.3 Scientific Thrusts

The studies should generally fall within the main scientific thrusts as discussed at community workshops and in reports covering this discipline area. The main scientific thrusts, as currently defined, include, but are not limited to:

• Solid Planetology (Planetary Geology)
• Planetary Atmospheres, Magnetospheres, and Ionospheres
• Solar System Small Bodies
• Exo/Astrobiology
• Life Support Systems
• Terrestrial Analogue Studies of Space Environments

1.4 Technological Thrusts

Proposed studies have to assess the technological needs to support the mission as well as the maturity level of these technologies with clear emphasis on those technology areas proposed for further development. The main technological thrusts, as currently defined, include, but are not limited to:

• Autonomous robotics systems
• Intelligent planning and control systems
• Advanced sensors and navigation systems
• Advanced landing technologies
• Fault tolerant high performance processing
• Radiation shielding
• Propulsion
• Materials
• In situ resource utilisation
• Communications

Main Objective: Support studies have been created in order to support work not necessarily directly linked to a potential flight. Support studies must demonstrate how they benefit the Canadian Space Exploration Science Program in ways such as setting up infrastructure, developing expertise in science or technology with the aim of developing competitiveness on the international scene, proof of concept on the ground, research studies with strong public awareness components, or improving current ground-based facilities and instruments that support existing or planned Space Exploration Science projects.

• The duration for each study will be nominally 12 months, renewable each year for a total of up to 3 years (reviewed annually);
• The maximum level of support for each award will be Can $100,000 per annum, including all overheads where applicable. Lower levels of support, as low as $2000 per project, will also be considered under this category;
• The starting date for each study contract will be nominally
  1 July, 2001.

Contributions from partners to the study (e.g. industrial – government – university – international partnerships) will be viewed positively in the selection process.

An annual review will be required for all studies supported and will determine the continuation of the contract. These reviews will be based on performance and whether the deliverables planned for the following year are attainable and relevant.

The possible outcomes of the reviews will be:

1. full continuation of the contract with or without modifications to the statement of work
2. continuation of the contract in full or in part on a probationary basis
3. cancellation of the contract through a ramp-down stage (normally six months)

Main Objective: Advanced studies will take a well-defined concept or idea and through a multidisciplinary team approach either a) develop it into a potential Space Exploration Science mission, or b) develop a potential Space Exploration Science flight instrument, or c) develop a large-scale collaborative research project aimed at the enhancement of knowledge. An Advanced Study may be a extension of a successful and promising Concept Study, or be selected directly without a Concept Study phase. Phase A studies of potential space flight missions fit into this category, including science instrument prototype development. Some form of international - industry - academic - government collaboration is mandatory.

• The duration for each study will be nominally 3 years (reviewed annually), with the possibility for a two year extension subject to a major review;
• The maximum level of support for each award will be Can $150,000 for the first year, $250,000 for the second year, and $350,000 for the third year, including all overheads where applicable (subsequent years would be supported at similar levels);
• The starting date for each study will be nominally 1 July, 2001.

The criteria for these proposals is scientific excellence and flight opportunity. The studies must be world-class and must indicate flight opportunity, or a strong potential for flight opportunity.

Strong support for the scientific use of the instrumentation/technology must be demonstrated within the Canadian scientific community.

Thestudies should include interdisciplinary teams, comprising both the domains of science and technology. Furthermore, the proposal teams must comprise at least two of the following groups: Academia, Government Department, and Industry. International collaboration will also be viewed positively.

An annual review will be required for all studies supported and will determine the continuation of the contract. These reviews will be based on performance and whether the deliverables planned for the following year are attainable and relevant. A major review will be held at the end of the contract and renewal for an additional two years will be considered at that time. Renewal will depend on the same as for annual reviews (performance, attainable and relevant plans), plus the availability of program funds.

By virtue of the fact that the selected studies will be supported through contracts, direct support of graduate students by the CSA through this competition is not permissible.

The proposal must follow the proposal format as described below. Proposals submitted in response to this AO will not be returned.

4.1 Technology Development

To provide guidance as to the type of Technology Development activities funded under this AO, the NASA defined Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) will be used. This system provides a metric in the sequencing of technology development and evolution.

The Bidders shall identify:

• The current level of the proposed technology; and
• The targeted level at the end of the proposed phase and those for any follow-on phases.

TRL’s 8 and 9 are beyond the scope of this AO.

4.2 Funding/Budget

We encourage receiving proposals that combine this Announcement of Opportunity with other funding opportunities in order to maximize the impact of the study being proposed. If, for example, an international team is being formed in conjunction with an AO from another country, we recommend submitting the same proposal to both programs; however, the parts of the proposal to be supported by CSA funds are to be clearly indicated. Note that funds from CSA can only be used to support Canadian entities as main contractors. At CSA’s discretion, evaluation of such proposals may be carried out by an international review panel and final approval may be dependent on the commitment of support from the partners’ funding agency.

The proposed budget and schedule/milestones for the duration of the study must be provided. Note that an internal review panel will make a ‘go/no go’ assessment of the proposal based on the complexity of the study, the likelihood of success, and the overall financial envelope allocated by the Space Science Branch and the Space Technologies Branch of the Canadian Space Agency for this program before proposals are sent to external referees. Each proposal that passes the internal review may also, at the discretion of the CSA, not be sent to external referees. In all cases, the final selection will be made by the CSA.

This procurement is limited to Canadian goods and Canadian services and it is mandatory that the services value be a minimum of 80% Canadian.

4.3 Proposal Format

The following format must be followed for the proposals being submitted. Additional sections may be added as an appendix. Omitting any section may disqualify the proposal.

1. Title page – includes title of proposal, name and contact information of the principle investigator(s), name of institution(s), date, any other relevant information. Maximum 1 page.
2. Abstract – executive summary suitable for publication on a CSA web page if the proposal is selected for a contract award. Should not include budget information and should be suitable for the general public interested in technical aspects of space science. Maximum 1 page.
3. Background – scientific justification for the proposed work, including references. Maximum 3 pages.
4. Relevance to Space Exploration Science – How is this of benefit to the Canadian Space Exploration Science Program? Maximum 2 pages.
5. Objectives – expected outcome of the proposed work. Maximum 2 pages.
6. Preliminary technological needs assessment – Which technologies are critical to insure mission success? What is the current maturity level of these critical technologies and which are proposed for further development? Maximum 3 pages.
7. Method – How will the objectives be achieved? Address each participant’s responsibilities and attach a resume for each participant (co-investigators) as an appendix. Maximum 5 pages.
8. Schedule and Milestones – What is the expected timeline for the project and how will this progress be measured (list of tasks and deliverables)? Maximum 3 pages.
9. Proposed budget – Clearly indicate all resources to be supported under this contract, and all resources being supported from other sources, if applicable. Provide a breakdown of all costs, including salary, rate, and estimated time per person. Fiscal year breakdown must also be provided (fiscal year is April 1 to March 31). Maximum 3 pages.
10. Supporting documents – NSERC personal data form or equivalent for each team member (co-investigator) MUST be included, as well as a letter of endorsement of the proposal from each team member; other relevant information is optional. No maximum number of pages defined for this section.
11. References – no maximum number of pages defined for this section.
12. Self-evaluation – proposals MUST include a list of the 7 evaluation criteria above, which includes a maximum of 100 words describing a self-evaluation for each criterion. No self-score need be assigned; however, the qualitative self-evaluation must be included as part of the proposal.

All proposals must be complete in the manner described in the Proposal Format section. All aspects of the work, from the development of any hardware or software to the analysis and publication of the results, must be included in the budget and incorporated in the schedule. Thus, elements such as travel to meetings, overhead costs, applicable third party support, transportation, data acquisition, dissemination, and archiving etc. must be included in the proposal.

4.4 Evaluation Criteria

Support Studies and Advanced Studies selection will be based on the following criteria (with approximate weighting) for all categories:

4.5 Proposal Submission

A MANDATORY letter of intent is to be received by CSA by 16:00 EST on March 28, 2001. This letter of intent should be a maximum 2-page abstract of the intended proposal. Within 10 business days of receiving the letter of intent, CSA will notify the potential proposers whether or not they will qualify for the AO being applied to. If the response is negative, the potential proposers will have an opportunity to re-submit a modified letter of intent if they so wish (taking into account the reasons for a negative response, supplied by CSA). The letter of intent will not be used in the evaluation of the eventual proposal. The letter of intent MUST also include a list of 3 recommended reviewers for the proposal. The list can be reviewed/edited by the proposer at the time of submission of the final proposal.

All proposals (Support Studies and Advanced Studies) may address up to 3 years of work, with annual reviews as milestones and annual reports as deliverables (more milestones and deliverables can be included if desired). In the case of Support Studies, second- and third-year renewals should only include similar tasks as in the original year of the work, (development work is not well suited for this category, new tasks should be competed for in a subsequent year’s AO). In the case of Advanced Studies, if an extension is to be considered, an Extension Proposal is to be a deliverable, due 6 months before the end of the contract. In both Support and Advanced Studies, an unfavorable annual review can result in stoppage of the work (go/no-go).

Electronic transmission is the preferred method of submission, although proposals sent by facsimile or regular post will also be accepted. For electronic and facsimile submissions, a single copy of the proposal is sufficient. Hard copy submissions require five copies, at least one of which is unbound. Proposals must use a standard 12-point or greater font size. All submissions must be received by 16:00 EST on April 18, 2001. Late proposals will not be considered.

All proposals must be addressed to:

Dr. David Kendall
Space Science Program
Canadian Space Agency
Postal Address:
P.O. Box 7275
Vanier Postal Station
Ottawa, Ontario  K1L 8E3

Courier address:
100 Sussex Drive
Room 1029
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0R6
Fax: (613) 952-0970 or (613) 941-4294

Electronic submissions: MS Word, WordPerfect or ASCII documents are acceptable, either as mail attachments or via ftp. For email submissions or for questions relating to electronic submission, please use: exploration@space.gc.ca. Please allow three business days for response to these emails.

Personal data forms and supporting letters may be sent separately but must arrive within one week of the proposal deadline.

4.6 Distribution of this AO

This Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is being released to the Space Exploration community only in electronic form. It would thus be appreciated if it could be widely distributed by all recipients to colleagues and other potentially interested parties.

Paper ("hard") copy of this document is also available, on request, from:

Susan Benjamin
Telephone: (613) 990-0788
E-mail: susan.benjamin@space.gc.ca

4.7 Intellectual Property

Proposals will be considered commercially sensitive if requested so by the proposers. Proposals must clearly identify any proprietary information that should not be released other than to internal and external reviewers. Any background intellectual property must be declared at the time of the proposal, but this will not be taken into account in the evaluation process.

4.8 Resultant Contract

Due to the Research and Development nature of the proposed work, any resultant contract which may result from this AO will be subject to the most recent General Conditions Research and Development DSS 9624, as well as the Federal Contractors Program for Employment Equity, a copy of which can be found electronically at http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/sacc. Submission of a proposal acknowledges the Bidder's agreement with the application of the DSS 9624 General Conditions to the contract work. Any resultant contract will be negotiated and issued through Public Works and Government Services Canada(PWGSC).

Any contract resulting from this AO will contain a clause pertaining to communications/public affairs defining contractor responsibilities and authorities. The CSA retains the right to make primary contract announcements. Any subsequent contract-related announcements will be undertaken in cooperation with and subject to the approval of the CSA. Enquiries should be addressed to:

Dr. Alain Berinstain
Telephone: (613) 998-6720
E-mail: alain.berinstain@space.gc.ca