The Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
(JPL/Caltech), operating under a prime contract with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), intends to solicit members
from U.S. industry, academia, non-profit organizations, federally funded
research and development centers and the U.S. government for its New
Millennium Program (NMP) Space Technology 7 (ST7) Project formulation
teams. The NMP is a NASA technology space flight validation program. The
primary goals of the ST7 project opportunity are to identify and validate a
suite of breakthrough advanced technologies in a system setting in order to
aid NASA in realizing its vision for exciting, affordable space science
missions in the 21st Century. Breakthrough technologies selected from the
existing technology "pipeline" which consists of the ongoing technology
programs of NASA, other government agencies, industry and academia, will be
developed in partnership with NMP.

The NMP will seek proposals from technology providers with advanced
technologies that will enable or enhance a small system-level technology
validation flight that will focus on future needs of NASA's Office of Space
Science (OSS) science missions established in the Space Science Enterprise
Roadmap. The technologies of interest for the four system concept areas
that are being considered for the ST7 space flight validation opportunity
include: (1) Aero-Entry/Capture/Maneuver encompassing the set of
technologies (e.g., maneuver algorithm, attitude control system for
aerocapture maneuvering, aeroshell and thermal protection materials, and
advanced diagnostic instrumentation) necessary to allow a spacecraft to be
captured into orbit through use of forces generated within the atmospheres
of planetary bodies; (2) Autonomy and On-board Processing featuring an
autonomously operated mission from beginning to end with a fast
sense-decide-act loop integrating on-board science processing, activity
planning, and subsystem conflict resolution; (3) Disturbance Reduction
System with sensor and thrust producing technologies necessary to control a
space vehicle's trajectory such that it evolves under only gravitational
forces, within 1 X (to the minus 15) g; and (4) Solar Sail System involving
the suite of technologies (e.g., sail materials, structures and associated
deployment mechanisms, sailcraft attitude control, navigation, and advanced
diagnostic instrumentation) necessary for deploying and controlling a solar
sail and operating the associated sailcraft within prescribed operational
parameters. The technology needs for each of the four ST7 project concept
areas will be included in the NMP ST7 Technology Announcement (TA). The
target launch opportunity is in the Fiscal Year 2004 to 2005 time period.

Following selection, the successful technology providers will be expected
to join the ST7 Concept Definition Study Phase activities that will take
place from April 2001 to November 2001. Successful proposers are expected
to: (1) actively participate in the concept definition and preparation of
the concept definition study report; (2) attend at least three formal team
meetings; and (3) refine technical and programmatic inputs on the
technologies to include technology maturity information, schedules, and
cost data. At the completion of the concept definition phase, the four
Concept Study Reports will be independently peer-reviewed by NASA. Results
of the peer-review will be presented to the OSS, where it is expected that
one of the concepts will be selected to proceed into the Formulation
Refinement Phase. Technology members of the selected ST7 project concept
will become pre-qualified suppliers for their portion of the advanced
technology flight article.

The ST7 TA will be available on the NMP web site at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov
under "Space Technology 7" on or about May 7, 2001. Alternately, by sending
an electronic mail request to david.t.spencer@..., a copy will be
provided by return electronic mail. Candidate technology providers will
have about four (4) weeks to respond to the ST7 TA. A Preproposal
Conference is scheduled for May 15, 2001 at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in
Pasadena, CA. Details and online registration are located on the NMP web
site under the information for the ST7. Proposals will be limited to (8)
eight pages. All proposals will be peer-reviewed by NASA-designated peer
review panels. JPL's Acquisition point of contact is Gerald T. O'Connell,
(818) 354-4885 and the NMP Office Technical point of contact is David T.
Spencer, (818) 354-4892. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP).