Solicitation
Space Environment Technologies and Science (SETS) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Call 004
Department of Defense · Department of the Air Force
AI summaryThe Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) wants research proposals under Call 004 of its Space Environment Technologies and Science Broad Agency Announcement (BAA, an open call for research ideas). The work is software and models for real-time high-frequency (HF) radio propagation and ionospheric simulation, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bidders need a U.S. security clearance of SECRET or higher just to respond. The Air Force expects at least one cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (the Government pays allowed costs plus a set fee) lasting 39 months, with $5,344,753.12 of anticipated funding. The response due date is November 5, 2026, 1:00 PM Mountain (an amendment moved it to Nov 13, 2026, 1:00 PM MST · 3:00 PM Eastern). More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 22, 2026. It moves the due date from Nov 5, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of the version posted Oct 16, 2026. The notice was amended Oct 22, 2026. The due date moved from Nov 5, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026. Check what else changed on SAM.gov. This summary may miss requirements: 1 of 11 attachments weren't read (Atch 3 - Reps and Certs.pdf). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) wants research proposals under Call 004 of its Space Environment Technologies and Science Broad Agency Announcement (BAA, an open call for research ideas). The work is software and models for real-time high-frequency (HF) radio propagation and ionospheric simulation, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bidders need a U.S. security clearance of SECRET or higher just to respond. The Air Force expects at least one cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (the Government pays allowed costs plus a set fee) lasting 39 months, with $5,344,753.12 of anticipated funding. The response due date is November 5, 2026, 1:00 PM Mountain.
Who can bid (4)
- A valid U.S. security clearance of SECRET or higher is needed to respond to this Call
- No foreign nationals, unless approved by the Department of War or the State Department under international personnel exchange agreements
- The principal investigator must be with the firm at the time of award and during the work
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- All organizational conflict of interest (OCI, a conflict that could bias your work) issues must be identified and resolved before award
How to submit: Send proposals to the contracting points of contact in section VI: Contracting Officer Regina Alflen (regina.alflen@spaceforce.mil) and Contract Specialist Angelica Ulibarri (angelica.ulibarri@spaceforce.mil), due November 5, 2026, 1:00 PM Mountain. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (10)
- Serious: SECRET security clearance required to respond. The call may include classified information released only to bidders with a clearance of SECRET or higher, and the award will need a DD Form 254 (the form that sets classified-work security rules); a business without one cannot respond.
- Serious: No foreign nationals unless approved. Foreign nationals cannot be used on this Call without Government approval, and the Contractor's Verification of Proposal asks you to list any permanent residents and foreign nationals with their visas or green cards.
- Worth checking: Closed call under a closed BAA; baseline BAA not read. The call type is closed and the full rules are in the baseline BAA FA9453-23-R-X001, which wasn't read here; check it on SAM.gov to see who may respond.
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- Worth checking: Funds not available yet; award not assured. No award will be made until funds are available, and the Government can cancel before or after the closing date without paying for your proposal costs.
- Worth checking: Science and technology protection review can make a bidder unawardable. Your SF 424 key-person forms and Security Program Questionnaire are reviewed, and the Government may find a bidder unawardable for security risk.
- Worth checking: Detailed cost-type proposal with subcontractor detail. You must send an Excel cost model with formulas and rate support, and fully disclosed proposals from every subcontractor, which is heavy work for a small team.
- Worth checking: Some attachments attached but not read. Attachment 3 (Reps and Certs) was too large to read, and the text of Attachment 8 (SF 424) and Attachment 9 (DD 254 draft) couldn't be read; check those forms on SAM.gov.
- Minor: Response due date extended to November 5, 2026. Amendment 4 moved the response due date from October 29, 2026 (shown beside the new date in the call letter); the answers to submitted questions are now posted by October 22, 2026.
- Minor: Status report frequency differs: monthly or quarterly. The deliverables list monthly status reports, while the sample data item A002 is a quarterly status report; ask the contracting officer which applies.
- Minor: Task lists differ between the call letter and Attachment 1. The call letter lists four tasks while the Statement of Work in Attachment 1 lists five, so price and write to the Attachment 1 tasks and ask if unsure.
Read from the notice and 10 attachments. 1 of 11 not read. Show which files.
- RFP Letter Call 004 Published _ 16Oct26.pdf (read)
- Atch 2 - RFP Cost Proposal Instructions.pdf (read)
- Atch 1 - Call 004 SOW_CLIN Breakdown Final 1Oct26.pdf (read)
- Atch 4 - Contract Data Requirements List.pdf (read)
- Atch 5 - Contractors Verification of Proposal.pdf (read)
- Atch 6 - Data Assertions Table DFARS 252.227-7992.pdf (read)
- Atch 7 - Proposal Adequacy Checklist.pdf (read)
- Atch 9 - DD 254 Draft Call 004.pdf (read)
- Atch10 - Security Program Questionnaire.pdf (read)
- Atch 8 - Standard Form 424.pdf (read)
- Atch 3 - Reps and Certs.pdf: not read (it couldn't be opened): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Task 1: Build tactical decision aids, including the Air Force Coverage Analysis (AFCAP) tool, so it can run real-time over-the-horizon radar simulation for the Space Systems Command (SSC) and other AFRL customers
- Task 2: Develop and integrate models and software tools (SEIM.STRES, OASIS and RIPE) for deployment into SSC enterprise solutions, plus models of ionospheric properties and radar propagation
- Task 3: Assess HF propagation from space environment drivers using remote sensing data, support the High Frequency Propagation Observation Evaluation Toolkit (HF-POET), and build decision aids and warning tools
- Task 4: Verify and validate (test and confirm) the models, tools and warning systems, including techniques that simulate failures of models and tools
- Task 5: Work with partner agencies such as the Military Applications and Space Environment (MASE) program office to transition the technology, and sustain the models and prediction tools
- Present results at briefings and conferences, prepare journal manuscripts for results cleared for public release, and report progress, funding status and contractor-acquired property
- Deliver software and documentation, presentation materials, status reports, financial reports and a final scientific and technical report
- Contract type
- Cost-plus-fixed-fee contract anticipated; the Air Force reserves the right to award the instrument best suited to the research proposed
- Period of performance
- Anticipated 39 months: 36 months of technical performance plus 3 months of final reporting
- Place of performance
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Estimated value
- Anticipated funding for this Call (not per award): $1,437,260.80 in FY 26, $1,441,210.72 in FY 27 and $2,466,281.60 in FY 28, total $5,344,753.12; an estimate only, not a contractual obligation
- Contract vehicle
- Call 004 under the Space Environment Technologies and Science BAA FA9453-23-R-X001 (a closed BAA); one-step call
- How they'll choose
- Peer or scientific review in one step. Proposals are rated Highly Recommended, Selectable or Not Selectable, and before award the Contracting Officer makes a price fair-and-reasonable and cost realism determination. The Government may select all, part or none of the proposals, subject to available funds.
- Offers due
- November 5, 2026, 1:00 PM Mountain (from the version posted Oct 16, 2026; amended since)
- How to submit
- Send proposals to the contracting points of contact in section VI: Contracting Officer Regina Alflen (regina.alflen@spaceforce.mil) and Contract Specialist Angelica Ulibarri (angelica.ulibarri@spaceforce.mil)
- Page limits
- Technical proposal: 30 pages (cover page not counted); Statement of Work: 10 pages, not counted in the 30; Cost/business proposal: no limit, but a goal of under 100 pages
What they'll judge offers on
- Overall Scientific or Technical Merit (first priority): innovation, knowledge and use of state-of-the-art methods; clearly defined problem, objectives and deliverables; objectives anchored by theory, analysis or data; logical, reasonable assumptions
- Relevance to Mission Needs Outlined in the Topic Area Description: proposed effort maps to topic area needs, benefits offset risks, and the proposed cost meets mission needs
- Soundness of the Offeror's Technical Approach: defined, logical and feasible approach; reasonable schedule, delivery speed and resources; measurable and testable results; key staff with the right qualifications
What to include when you submit
- Technical proposal in Microsoft Word: your creative, sound approach, its relevance to the directorate's mission, prior work, and available equipment, data and facilities as attachments
- Include a Statement of Work (SOW) of the technical tasks you propose, with no company proprietary information in it
- Cost/business proposal with separate cost and business sections: resumes of personnel, contract type, any exceptions to terms (with reasons), and a labor-hour breakdown per task
- Send fully disclosed electronic cost spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel with working formulas and a rate table, by contractor fiscal year
- Send subcontracting plans if the effort is expected to exceed $900,000; small businesses are exempt
- Include a completed Standard Form 424 (SF 424) Research and Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) for every senior or key person, and a completed Security Program Questionnaire (Attachment 10)
- List any technical data to be delivered with less than unlimited rights, using the Data Assertions Table (Attachment 6)
- Complete the Contractor's Verification of Proposal (Attachment 5: proposal validity date, principal investigator, foreign nationals and permanent residents, Government property, support from others) and the Proposal Adequacy Checklist (Attachment 7)
- Fully disclosed proposals from all subcontractors are required by the closing date
- If you ask for Government furnished property, list it, the dates needed and the authorization, as the call letter describes
- Format: 8.5 x 11 inch paper, one-inch margins, Calibri 11 point or equivalent (captions and markings no smaller than 10 point)
Not in the notice text
- Attachment 3 (Reps and Certs) is attached but not read (too large), and the SF 424 and DD 254 draft files' text couldn't be read; check them on SAM.gov. The baseline Closed BAA FA9453-23-R-X001 is a separate SAM.gov posting that wasn't read.
- Who may respond under a closed BAA beyond the SECRET clearance rule is not stated in the call letter.
- How many awards or what size each award will be is not stated; the Air Force expects at least one contract, and $5,344,753.12 is the anticipated funding for the whole Call.
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Send proposals to the contracting points of contact in section VI: Contracting Officer Regina Alflen (regina.alflen@spaceforce.mil) and Contract Specialist Angelica Ulibarri (angelica.ulibarri@spaceforce.mil). Check it in the notice before you send anything.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 16, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- FA9453 AFRL RJZ, Kirtland AFB, NM
- Product/service code
- AC12 · National Defense R&D Services; Department of Defense – Military; Applied Research
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541715)
- Versions
8 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 22, 2026 · AmendmentDue Nov 13, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 16, 2026 · Amendment 0004 (this version)Due Nov 5, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 1, 2026 · AmendmentDue Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 1, 2026 · AmendmentDue Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 1, 2026 · AmendmentDue Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 1, 2026 · AmendmentDue Oct 29, 2026
- Oct 1, 2026 · AmendmentDue Oct 29, 2026
- Sep 30, 2026 · SolicitationDue Oct 29, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
Amendment 4 - Update Atch RFP Letter Call 004 Published _ 16Oct26 to the most current version dated 16 Oct 2026. The following summarizs the changes to the document: 1. The proposal due date has been extended until 5 Novemeber 2026. This is updated on page 1 of the pdf as well as section IV, page 7 of the pdf. 2. The answers to submitted questions will now be posted by 22 October 2026. This is updated in section IV, page 7 of the pdf. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 3- Update Atch 1 - Call 004 SOW_CLIN Breakdown to the most current version dated 1 Oct 2026. The only change to this document is formatting and removal of Distro D marking. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 2- Update the Atch 1 to restricted requiring request for access. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amendment 1 - The original uploaded word documents contained permissions that prevented industry for opening them. The files were removed and replaced with PDF versions. No changes were made to the documents or the posting. . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Warfare Directorate (RJ) formally known as Space Vehicles Directorate (RV), Geospace Technologies Division (RJB) Geospace Environment Impacts and Applications Branch (RJBX) is seeking sources capable of supporting the program’s fundamental and advanced research in space and environmental impacts technologies. Additionally, the program is interested in understanding and quantifying the impact of the space environment on Department of War and national security systems and in achieving a capability to specify, predict, mitigate, and exploit the effects of the space environment that can disrupt or degrade operational systems. This Call is specifically requesting potential Offeror(s) to provide interdisciplinary proposals addressing Topic 1 from the Space Environment Technologies and Science (SETS) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Topic area is : 1. Solar, Solar Wind, and Ionospheric Effects The instructions for responding to the Call can be found in the attached RFP Letter Call 004.
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