Sources Sought Synopsis: Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) Sites 2 and 3 Rapid Fielding

I. PURPOSE/DESCRIPTION1. This Sources Sought Synopsis is issued in support of the United States Space Force, Space Systems Command, Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power Enterprise Space Domain Awareness Acquisition Delta (USSF/SSC/SZG) solely for information and planning purposes in support of market research being conducted to identify capable potential sources for the Rapid Fielding of Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) Sites 2 and 3. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether it is possible to conduct a competition for this effort. A determination by the Government not to compete based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. This sources sought announcement is not to be construed as a commitment by the Space Force to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. 2. The DARC program is part of a larger effort of moving towards a resilient space enterprise in our nation’s Space

Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities able to deter aggression. The DARC Program of Record effort will build and install a pseudo-monostatic ground-based radar system. It will coherently combine the pseudo-monostatic array of steerable parabolic antennas. The DARC system will affordably field advanced, 24/7, all-weather capabilities in a ground-based radar required to counter emerging threats and to support tactical timelines defined for Strategic Space Defense and for the Space Warfighting Construct. The DARC radar system will provide global coverage for High Value Asset (HVA) clearing (neighborhood watch) frequent revisits supporting persistent custody and provide custody of foreign launch and continuous tracking from launch to geosynchronous orbit including engagement support.3. The DARC Site 1 Rapid Prototype OTA was competed and awarded 22 February 2022. The award was made as an Agreement (OTA #21-12) on SSC’s Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) OTA (FA8814-21-9-0001). The competitive award was made to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Space Systems Sector). The on-going Rapid Prototype is expected to field a full capability INDOPACOM radar site late 2025 or early 2026. Due to mission needs, it is imperative that Site 2 (EUCOM) be operational not later than (NLT) October 2027 and Site 3 (CONUS) be operational NLT Oct 2028. To support these dates, the anticipated award for this Rapid Fielding effort is 1st quarter of Government Fiscal Year 2024. 4. The key Government objectives for the Rapid Fielding of 2 additional DARC Sites include (1) meet the Rapid Fielding Requirements Document (RFRD) requirements on the accelerated fielding timelines identified above for DARC Sites 2 and 3, (2) maximize configuration homogeneity between sites to reduce technical risk and lifecycle costs (RFRD directs same configuration), and (3) maintain Government Reference Architecture (GRA) compliance. The GRA is unchanged since the solicitation process for the DARC Rapid Prototype and is: A global distribution of 3 radar sites (2 and 3 are the scope of this effort),Pseudo-monostatic sparse radio dish array radar at each site,Open Systems Architecture software framework incorporated in compliance with the collaboratively developed OSA Specification,Radar Design: S-band, gimballed radio dish antennas, coherent array technology, andEach site shall be homogeneous in configuration [i.e., all antennas are the same design (except for variances required for integration of the transmit and receive elements) and are from the same manufacturer; all transmit elements are the same design and from the same manufacturer; and all receive elements are the same design and from the same manufacturer].5. At a minimum, contractor responsibilities will include:Designing, delivering, integrating, and testing all hardware and software required to meet the RFRD requirements for Sites 2 and 3 radars,Designing and constructing two (2) radar sites (one in the EUCOM and one in CONUS) that meet the Government requirements,Designing, delivering, integrating, and testing all hardware and software for any modifications needed to the remote Mission Operations Center (MOC) integrated into the Integrated Radar Operations Center (IROC) at Eglin Site C-6.6. The Government is conducting this market research to determine if there are other sources besides the DARC Site 1 Rapid Prototype incumbent, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, that could successfully perform and meet Rapid Fielding requirements for DARC Sites 2 and 3. As stated above, Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether it is possible to conduct a competition for this effort. II. SMALL BUSINESS CONSIDERATION The pertinent NAICS code for this announcement is 334511 (size standard of 1250 average annual employees). Any business, regardless of size, in this area of expertise is encouraged to submit a Statement of Capability (SOC) to demonstrate the ability to meet the requirements listed above to show that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Responses from small and small disadvantaged businesses are highly encouraged and the Government encourages teaming/partnering. Responders to this Source Sought shall indicate whether they are a large business, small business, small-disadvantaged business, 8(a) small business, women-owned small business, HUBZone small business, or service-disabled veteran-owned small business and all applicable North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes. Interested parties desiring to do business with the Space Force shall be registered in the DoD Central Contractor Registry. Respondents must specify if they are a U.S. or foreign owned firm. This acquisition involves data that are subject to export control requirements under the Arms Export Control Act (Department of State) or the Export Administration Regulations (Department of Commerce).III. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS The Statement of Capability (SOC) should contain the following information: company name, address, primary POC, an executive technical summary of capabilities mentioned above, and how the interested party would be able to meet the requirements for the Rapid Fielding of DARC Sites 2 and 3 given that the Sites will need to be engineered and developed in a manner consistent and homogenous with DARC Site 1 design and meet the Operational Acceptance dates of Oct 2027 for Site 2 and Oct 2028 for Site 3. Responses to this synopsis must be received via email to each POC listed below no later than 31 May 2023. Responses must be in an electronic format (MS Word 2003 or newer, or PDF) and must conform to 8.5” X 11” page size, 1” margins, and a type 12 font. Submittals must not exceed 10 pages (single sided) in length. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement or any follow up information requests. Submittals that contain classified materials must be coordinated with either the primary or secondary points of contact. Any interested party in this area of expertise may submit a SOC. The Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of submissions or of the information received, or to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this Sources Sought Synopsis. The Government will not reimburse any cost associated with submitting information in the SOC response to this market research, nor shall any costs be allowed on any Government contract.Primary Point of Contact:Mr. Bradley D. KettlewellContract Specialistssc.szg.darc@spaceforce.mil