Notice of Intent Questions and Answers 

Budget Questions

  1. Since total funding is listed as $6M, does it mean only 1 proposal will be funded? Please clarify.
    1. USRA intends to issue one or more awards, subject to availability of funding. Proposed efforts may range in size and complexity. Estimated total funding is up to $6M.
  2. Could you repeat the answer to this question: $6M is over 60 months, or the base period of 24?
    1. Anticipated period of performance :
      1. Base Period – 24 months with award(s) of up to $6M
      2. 3, one-year (1 year) Option Period
      3. Total of 60 months contingent upon performance and availability of funds.
  3. What is the maximum funds per proposal?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  4. Is the $6M for the full 60 months or just for the 24-month base award?
    1. Refer to question No. 2.
  5. What is the typical budget amount for the initial 24-months awards please?
    1. $6M for all proposals. Funding and number of awards will be based on proposals submitted.
  6. The total budget is $6M and you mentioned during the webinar that this is for just the 24-month base period. This works out to about $3M/year. Is this budget cap of $3M/year for each proposal or for all awards given? If the latter, do you have any expectation for the number of awards or guidance on the annual (or total) budget cap per proposal?
    1. $6M for all proposals. Funding and number of awards will be based on proposals submitted.
  7. Is the $6M the total amount available for all selected proposals combined or is that amount available for each selected proposal?
    1. $6M for all proposals. Funding and number of awards will be based on proposals submitted.

Citizenship-Related Questions:

  1. Are US Permanent Residents not allowed to be a co-I? What if the naturalization application has been submitted and pending as of the proposal deadline?
    1. At the time of proposal submission all students, staff, faculty, consultants, and any other participants planning to be engaged in the project must be U.S. citizens, dual citizens, or naturalized citizens. Green Card holders and permanent residents are not eligible to participate in the project.
  2. Can Foreign Nationals working in the US be part of the proposals as co-I? What about collaborator, not co-I?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  3. Just to confirm. All students (Research assistants) must be US citizen?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  4. Can green card holders participate as senior personnel?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  5. I noticed this requirement “All research participants must be U.S. citizens.” Does that include postdocs and students?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  6. Can permanent residents participate in the project?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  7. Must all students on the project be US Citizens?
    1. Refer to question No. 1.
  8. I have a us green card but am not a us citizen. Am I eligible to be a co-PI? The PI will be a us citizen.
    1. U.S. citizens, dual citizens and naturalized citizens are eligible. Green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible.
  9. I am a US green card holder from a US university (Purdue). Can I be an unfunded external collaborator/consultant in a proposal?
    1. Refer to question No. 8.
  10. The eligibility requirement says US citizen. Does this include green card holders? Does this include US Persons?
    1. Refer to question No. 8.
  11. Is the rule on US citizens also among the Professors a strict rule or do you also accept US Persons on a collaborative proposal, when located and employed by a US university?
    1. Refer to question No. 8.
  12. It says: All research participants must be US citizens. As the prof. and project lead, I am not a research participant (which would be my students). Can I still lead as Co-PI being a US Person only?
    1. All research participants must be U.S. citizens, dual citizens, or naturalized citizens are eligible to take part in this research opportunity. This includes principal investigators (PIs), co-principal investigators (Co PIs), and all students, staff, faculty, consultants, etc. engaged in the project. Green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible.
  13. Does the citizenship requirement apply to PIs as well as students?
    1. Refer to question No. 12.
  14. The eligibility currently says, "All research participants must be U.S. citizens." Can you confirm that the intent was to limit eligibility by citizenship (which excludes U.S. permanent residents)?
    1. The nature of this research could result in the need for a security clearance. All research participants must be U.S. citizens. This includes principal investigators (PIs), co-principal investigators (Co PIs), and all students, staff, faculty, consultants, etc. engaged in the project.
      1. Dual citizens and naturalized citizens are eligible.
      2. Green card holders and permanent residents are not eligible.
  15. Will there be any circumstance in which an exception to the US Citizen only requirement will be made?  For instance, if the PI holds a green card.
    1. Refer to question No. 14.
  16. Unfortunately, my university has a policy of not accepting citizenship restrictions on students. We are able to accept selective ITAR restrictions if needed and we do create Technology Control Plans (TCPs) for certain aspects of technology or research projects. But we cannot accept projects that outright ban international students, a policy which is also not in the long-term interest of the United States as many of those internationals eventually decide to stay in the U.S. and become green card holders, and eventually citizens. We were wondering how firm this requirement is and if it will flow down to all participating institutions. If this is the case, my university and other institutions might not be able to participate.
    1. Refer to question No. 14.

General Questions

  1. Ok this is probably TOO technical but maybe you could address parts of it?? The question is what software are people using to track objects beyond the GEO graveyard orbit? The standard algorithms are based on SGP4 and that breaks down at those altitudes.
    1. Not addressing scientific, technical questions or proposed solutions
  2. Does a proposal need to address ALL the topics listed?
    1. No, answered during webinar.
  3. What is the rationale for requesting at least three universities on a single proposal?
    1. The USSF seeks to build a network of partnering universities, research institutions, and industry partners that leverage each other’s strengths to transform applied research to operational demonstrations and/or prototypes, solve science and technology challenges, perform USSF-specific applied research to transition early-stage research into transformational capability development.
  4. Who can be partners? only academic or industry and federally funded organizations allowed?
    1. Eligibility criteria for partners includes universities, research institutions, and industry. This includes University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs).
  5. Some of the topics seem to overlap quite a bit with the recent AFOSR CFIRE solicitation (even if CFIRE was more basic, and this is more applied). Do you know if CFRIRE decisions will be announced before the proposal deadline for this award? That might somewhat influence what folks decide to put in this proposal (or not).
    1. Separate solicitation
  6. When these “deep space” objects are tracked, it helps a lot to have widely dispersed tracking sites. Could some tracking be done by European sites - who would then want some compensation?
    1. Not addressing scientific, technical questions or proposed solutions
  7. Are there any limitations on UARC participation? And can UARCs be the lead organization?
    1. No limits, UARCs can be the lead organization.
  8. The eligibility says, "U.S. accredited public and private institutions of higher education." Can the proposing organization be a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC)?
    1. Refer to question No. 7.
  9. Can funded team members (PI, Co-Is, or other key personnel) be from a UARC?
    1. Refer to question No. 7.
  10. Question if you are willing/able to answer: Is this UCRO solicitation the final realization of the Strategic Technology Institutes that the USSF has been discussing since August 2022 or something different?
    1. Yes, this is the first Space Strategic Technology Institute.
  11. Will this be the call for the SSTI discussed at the meeting in Colorado?
    1. Refer to question No. 10.
  12. Will there be provision for classified research (DD-254) flowed as part of this opportunity?
    1. This will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
  13. Both Sensing and Astrodynamics are very broad fields. Do they include topics enabling to safely fly around a non-cooperative object in very close distance (say, < 20 meters) for information collection, inspection or identification?
    1. Not addressing scientific, technical questions or proposed solutions
  14. Further to the above question, can a new sensing solution involves applying a force to the target object (with or without physical contact)?
    1. Not addressing scientific, technical questions or proposed solutions
  15. Is it beneficial to partner with Government Agencies and Labs (e.g., NGA, AFRL, NRL) National Labs (e.g. Sandia, Oak Ridge), and/or Industry (e.g., Northrup, Raytheon, Non-traditional Defense Contractors)?
    1. A government agency or lab can act in a supporting role. Only the university led team will be funded for this effort.
  16. As a higher education military institution, is USAFA allowed to join a university team?
    1. DoD Research Institutions, including USAFA, AFIT, NPS, etc. can play a supporting role for each proposal. However, these institutions will not receive funding as part of this proposal.
  17. Do we offer extensions for UCRO agreements (up to 3 years)?
    1. Extensions of UCRO agreements will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
  18. I submitted a proposal in the opportunity 1.0. May we resubmit after revision?
    1. All proposals must fit within the UCRO 2.0 RFP guidelines.
  19. Does the Evaluation Criteria include the participation of a minority serving institution?
    1. Refer to the RFP.
  20. Would a small business performing research be considered one of the three required research collaborators (so long as the business is not the PI and a university is the PI))? Or, should a proposer have three universities and also have the option to include a small business?
    1. Refer to the RFP.
  21. What TRL level of the research products are you expecting? Can it be 6.1 in the first 2 years and the 6.2 or in additional years?
    1. Looking for applied research that is transitioned toward demonstrations and prototypes throughout the period of performance.
  22. A very good thing to develop would be a compatible algorithm set to use, taking into account the perturbations in the xGEO space. We would consider the Earth then as a point mass without considering uneven mass distribution for instance. Might AFRL give us a list of some of the software that observatories are using so that we might try to get compatible with that?
    1. Not addressing scientific, technical questions or proposed solutions
  23. Is partnering with small business supported with this proposed project?
    1. Refer to the RFP
  24. Can the proposal include CUI, ITAR, EAR information?

                a. Refer to the RFP

    25. Does the evaluation criteria include the participation of a minority serving institution as part of the consortium?

                a. Details of the evaluation criteria will be outlined in the Request for Proposal (RFP).

  1. How do undergrads get involved (specifically rising senior)?
    1. PIs and co-PIs are welcome to propose and to involve undergraduate students as deemed appropriate. Student involvement will be part of the evaluation criteria outlined in the Request for Proposal (RFP).
  2. The USSF announcement states "The xGEO Operations and SDA team will be comprised of at least three research institutions, including a lead university." Can you please clarify if "research institutions" must meet the Eligibility Requirements from the NOI announcement, specifically "U.S. accredited public and private institutions of higher education (including community colleges)"?
    1. Yes, all participating institutions must meet the eligibility requirements and be accredited U.S. public or private institutions of higher education (including community colleges).
  3. Are you limited to partner with UPP member academic institutions only?
    1. No, you can partner with any U.S. accredited public or private institution of higher education, not limited to only UPP schools. Partnering with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), or other Department of Defense (DoD) or U.S. Government agencies and laboratories, as well as industry partners in addition to the required three funded partners is encouraged.
  4. All universities involved in the project have to be HBCU-MI or only the leading institution?
    1. There is not a requirement that a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) be present among the university partners to propose for this opportunity, although we encourage participation from MSIs. All universities must be accredited U.S. public or private institutions of higher education (including community colleges).
  5. What will the call for proposal released mid- April contain that it is not available now in the initial announcement?
    1. It will contain more details, including but not limited to the statement of work, proposal submission instructions, and proposal evaluation process.

IT/Process Questions

  1. Who owns the IP?
    1. Based on the IP generated this will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
  2. Is it mandatory to get 3 universities onboard or get disqualified if less?
    1. It is required to have three partners, led by a university.
  3. Are there limitations on consortium groups using regular Zoom for coordination?
    1. There are no limitations for consortium groups using regular Zoom for coordination.
  4. How do I apply for this opportunity? please provide link
    1. A link will be posted on our website at https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/ when the RFP is released.
  5. When will we find out if we got chosen to participate in the research opportunities?
    1. Notifications will go out electronically in July (tentatively)?
  6. Can we get a webinar recording?
    1. Yes, it is available on our website at https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/.
  7. Will a list of participants be shared?
    1. While we can share the total number of proposals received, we will not share all the names of the universities that submitted proposals.
  8. Can you repeat the URL for that site, please?
    1. https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/
  9. Please identify specific website we should monitor for announcements.
    1. https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/
  10. Is there a limit on size of team (e.g. number of PIs)?
    1. There is not a size limit on the total team, but the minimum requirement is three partners.
  11. Can you post a link to your website?
    1. https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/
  12. During the webinar, some of us submitted questions. Could you put on the web page when those might be answered? Could you put a transcript of the chat on the web page?
    1. The web page lists important dates at the top, including when questions are due and when responses will be posted. No, we cannot put up a transcript of the chat on the webpage, but the webinar was recorded and can be viewed on our website: https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/.
  13. I was wondering if the webinar info could be posted somewhere to review. I sadly had a conflict.
    1. The webinar was recorded and can be viewed on our website: https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/.

 

 

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