Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
SPACE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED RESEARCH-FAST-TRACKING INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE (STAR-FISH) ADVANCED RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (ARA) WITH CALLS
Dept of Defense · Dept of the Air Force · Sol. FA9453-21-S-0001
Due in 1259 days
Track this notice by email. We'll email you if it's amended or awarded, and a week and two days before responses are due.
AI summary Beta
The Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate (Kirtland AFB, New Mexico) keeps an open-ended announcement called STAR-FISH for space research, prototyping and testing. It is only a framework: the Air Force posts separate topic-specific Calls over time, and each Call sets its own due date, contract type and length. Nothing can be submitted against this notice itself.
Watch out for
- Cannot be bid on directly. This notice is a framework; offers go in only against separately posted Calls, so a business must watch SAM.gov for the Calls that fit it.
NO WHITE PAPERS AND/OR PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED
- SAM.gov deadline does not match the notice text. SAM.gov shows a response deadline of 2030-03-23 and a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation type, but the notice says it has no offers due date and the announcement says it stays open indefinitely.
there is no offers due date for this STAR-FISH ARA with CALLS.
- Two-step Calls: white paper first, proposal only by invitation. In a two-step Call, only offerors whose white papers are rated Selectable or Highly Recommended get a Request for Proposal, and a proposal sent without a white paper is ineligible, so missing the white paper step shuts a business out.
Selectable/Highly Recommended will be sent a Request for Proposal Letter from the
- Approved accounting system needed for cost-type awards. A small business without a Government-approved accounting system is limited to other award types.
Cost-type contracts will require successful Offerors to have an accounting system deemed
- Export control and possible security clearance. Work is expected to be export controlled (ITAR/EAR) and some Calls may carry a DD Form 254 security specification, which can require a facility clearance and DLSC certification.
You must submit a copy of your approved DD Form 2345,
- U.S. citizen staffing for base and network access. Permanent residents cannot be given base or network access without a written waiver, which limits who can work on site.
must be U.S. citizens.
- Detailed data rights and software licensing rules. Offerors must list any restricted data rights with specificity at proposal time, and badly written lists are rejected; third-party software also needs Government-friendly licenses.
Offerors shall include the data rights assertions as required by R-DFARS 252.227-7017,
- Conflict of interest analysis required. You must analyze and report your own organizational conflicts of interest in the proposal, and any award may limit future Government work.
Organizational Conflict of Interest, the Offeror will be required to perform its own OCI
- Subcontracting plan language may apply to small businesses. The text says plans are required and expects aggressive goals, and it does not say whether small businesses are exempt, so ask the contracting officer.
Small business subcontracting plans are required
- Assistance (grant-type) awards face a Go/No Go screen. If an assistance agreement is used, the proposal must first pass screening on Gold Standard Science commitments and policy criteria before technical review.
Step 1: Initial Screening (Go/No Go Criteria)
- White paper template is strictly enforced. A white paper that does not follow the newest template is rejected without review.
current version of the Template will be rejected with no further action from the
Read from the notice and 6 attachments.
- STAR-FISH Amendment 4.pdf
- Amendment 3.pdf
- STAR-FISH_ARA_Announcement_Amendment 2_6 Nov 2023.pdf
- STAR-FISH_ARA_Announcement_Amendment 1_16 Feb 2023.pdf
- STAR-FISH ARA Ancmnt Updated 18May26.pdf
- STAR FISH ARA_w CALLS_ 23 Apr 21.pdf
Full brief
What they want
- Research, modeling and simulation, fabrication, testing, demonstration and prototyping for space-flight systems
- Topic 1, space vehicle functionality and logistics: deployable structures, thermal control, power, flight electronics, guidance and autonomy, on-orbit servicing and debris mitigation, small satellites
- Topic 2, mission effects and capabilities: space-based sensing and threat warning, space communications hardware and software, position, navigation and timing, quantum sensing, reentry control, simulation testbeds
- Topic 3, anomaly detection, attribution and protection: tools and sensors to tell natural from man-made threats, cyber threat warning, protection options
- Topic 4, space battle management, command and control: data fusion, machine learning and AI for threat response, multi-domain command and control, satellite autonomy
- Proposals can combine topics; ideas should be innovative and show a benefit to national defense with a plan to verify it
- Contract type
- Not set at this level. The Air Force may use FAR contracts (cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost, firm-fixed-price), Other Transactions, Technology Investment Agreements or cooperative agreements, decided per Call.
- Period of performance
- Determined per Call. The announcement itself stays open indefinitely.
- Place of performance
- Not stated in the SAM.gov field (blank). Issued by AFRL at Kirtland AFB, NM; offerors must say which work happens on base and which off site; overseas performance is set per Call.
- Estimated value
- Total program value is unspecified; individual awards expected to range from $50,000 to $100,000,000, per Call.
- Contract vehicle
- Advanced Research Announcement (ARA) with Calls under 10 U.S.C. 4023 (procurement for experimental purposes); not tied to a GSA schedule or other vehicle
- How they'll choose
- Peer or scientific review of white papers and proposals. Each is rated Highly Recommended, Selectable or Not Selectable based on the technical approach, apart from the cost proposal; the contracting officer then checks price reasonableness. Awards can be made on a white paper alone, but a full cost proposal is requested before award.
- How to submit
- Set in each Call. Nothing is submitted against the basic announcement. White papers use a Word template from the Government's evaluation vendor and are saved as a searchable PDF.
What they'll judge offers on
- First priority, equal weight: Relevance to AFRL Needs (problem alignment, problem magnitude, operational impact, scale, degree of innovation)
- First priority, equal weight: Scientific and Engineering Viability (scientific feasibility, enabling technologies, alternative technical approaches, technical personnel)
- First priority, equal weight: Project Plan (project schedule, ROM cost estimate credibility, hypothesis, testing and measurement, appropriateness of measurement)
- Second priority, equal weight: Problem Definition (problem being solved, product summary)
- Second priority, equal weight: Value/Cost (benefit to Air Force, funding available; cost realism and cost reasonableness for proposals only)
- Lowest priority: Proposal Quality (quality of prose, data quality and attribution)
- If an assistance agreement (grant-type) is used: after a Go/No Go screen, Technical merits of the R&D and relationship to DoD missions are rated, and cost realism matters less
What to include when you submit
- Check each Call for whether it is one-step (proposal) or two-step (white paper, then proposal) and for its due date
- White paper must follow the current Word template (download a fresh copy each time) and be saved as a searchable PDF
- No zipped files; links must work; files must not be password protected
- White paper includes a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate with top-level labor, equipment, materials and subcontract costs
- A proposal sent without a prior white paper is not eligible for award in a two-step Call
- Mark restricted white papers with the restrictive language in RFO 52.215-1(e)
- Proposals must include data rights assertions, an organizational conflict of interest (OCI) analysis, subcontract cost breakouts and, where applicable, a subcontracting plan
- Send a certified DD Form 2345 with the proposal if the effort is export controlled
- All communications should be in writing by email or letter
You must have
- Open to businesses of all sizes; no set-aside. The NAICS size standard is 1,000 employees.
This is an unrestricted solicitation.
- Must be registered in SAM before an award can be made.
Before the Government can award a
- For cost-type contracts, an accounting system found adequate by the Government (DCMA / DCAA approved); without one, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost contracts cannot be awarded.
Cost-type contracts will require successful Offerors to have an accounting system deemed
- Approved DD Form 2345 (Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement) and DLSC certification for export-controlled data, submitted with the proposal.
You must submit a copy of your approved DD Form 2345,
- Staff needing base, AFRL facility or Government network access must be U.S. citizens (a Green Card does not count) unless the contracting officer grants a written waiver.
must be U.S. citizens.
- If a Call carries a DD Form 254, the offeror's facility clearance information must be valid and its Cognizant Security Office information current with DCSA.
Security: To be specified on each call.
Not in the notice text
- The actual Calls: topics, due dates, one-step or two-step process, contract type, period of performance and place of performance are set in each Call and none is included here
- White paper page limit (the template is hosted on an outside site and was not provided)
- Where to email or upload white papers; the text points to an email address that it does not list
- Security level and any DD Form 254 for each Call
- Whether small businesses are exempt from the subcontracting plan requirement
- Software, hardware and data deliverables and options, which are specified per Call
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Key facts
- Response due
- Mar 23, 2030, 6:00 AM UTC
- Posted
- May 18, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Solicitation
- FA9453-21-S-0001
- Agency
- Dept of Defense · Dept of the Air Force
- Office
- FA9453 Afrl RVK
- NAICS
- 541715
- Product/service code
- AC33
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research
- Contracting contact
- Daniel J. Alvaradodaniel.alvarado.12@spaceforce.mil5058534755
- Versions
- 6 (amended since first posted)
What similar contracts paid
87 contracts at this agency for the same NAICS and product/service codes had activity in the last 5 years, according to USAspending.gov. Small businesses won 25% of the dollars in this market over the last 3 fiscal years.
Typical contract$3.1MMiddle half: $1.6M to $12.7M
Typical per year$1.3MValue divided by years of performance
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
SEE STAR-FISH ADVANCED RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (ARA) WITH CALLS AMENDEMENT 3 DATED 5 DEC 2024 Attention: On the General Informatiion section, there is no offers due date for this STAR-FISH ARA with CALLS. Date Offer Due is a required field in the beta.sam.gov
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