X-ray Source-based Navigation for Autonomous Position Determination (XNAV) Program

The summary for the X-ray Source-based Navigation for Autonomous Position Determination (XNAV) Program grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

X-ray Source-based Navigation for Autonomous Position Determination (XNAV) Program: BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT DARPA BAA#04-23: X-ray Source-based Navigation for Autonomous Position Determination (XNAV) program. POCs: Dr. Darryll J. Pines (DARPA/TTO), FAX 703/696-8401; Ms. Algeria Tate (DARPA/CMO), FAX: 703/696-2208. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative proposals for the research and development of an autonomous position, attitude and time determination system using celestial sources in the X-ray band of the electromagnetic spectrum. The goal of this program is to prove the feasibility and viability of the use of celestial sources, including neutron stars known as rotation powered and accretion powered pulsars for position, attitude and time determination of LEO based spacecraft. Such a capability would provide an autonomous backup system to military navigation and communication satellites. To facilitate further information exchange between potential bidders and program objectives, an Industry Day will be held on Monday, August 30, 2004, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at George Mason University, Arlington Campus, 3401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 329, Arlington, VA 22201. Briefings will be provided on Government requirements including potential customers. The point of contact for Industry Day is Mr. William Michaux, tel: 703-351-8438, Fax: 703-351-8776, and email: [email protected]. Interested organizations should register to attend the Industry Day prior to COB Monday, August 23, 2004 at http://safe.sysplan.com/xnav. In order to insure that all technically relevant aspects of X-ray navigation technology development to meet the DoD requirements are fully addressed, teaming of companies, government laboratories and academic institutions with complementary areas of expertise or core competence is encouraged. The deadline for receipt of full proposals for the initial round of evaluations will be 3:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time Friday, October 22, 2004. All proposals received by the appropriate due date and are found in full compliance with the response requirements specified in this solicitation and the Proposer Information Pamplet will be fully evaluated. The following criteria will be applied for the evaluation of the proposals: (1) offeror's understanding of the problem and scope of technical effort, (2) relevance to DARPA mission, (3) overall scientific and technical merit based on the highest risk/highest pay-off approach with clear and unambiguous milestones to define the metrics of performance and to determine that the efforts are or are not progressing towards achieving or exceeding the objectives of the program, (4) offerors core competence, capabilities, and related experience, (5) offeror's facilities, and resources to effectively execute program requirements; and (6) cost will be evaluated to determine whether the offeror's estimate is reasonable and realistic based on schedule and activity cost. The anticipated total funding level for Phase I is approximately $6 million with the possibility of multiple awards. The Government plans to make award decisions within approximately 45 days after the closing of this BAA. Final funding determination will be based on best value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to select for award some, none or portions of the proposals received under this solicitation, and to make award without discussions. The Government reserves the right to use grants, contracts or other transactions agreements as instruments for funding the proposals selected for award. Information concerning Other Transactions can be found at URL http://www.darpa.mil/cmo/pages/other_trans.html. All proprietary material submitted should be clearly marked as such and will be handled accordingly. All proposals must reference DARPA BAA 04-23. Aside from the PIP, no additional information is available. Requests for the same will be disregarded.