Space

The following questions refer to the MJPO Brief to industry 29 March 96.

1) Question - Deadline for submittal of White papers to MCB on 26 April is xxxx hours?

Answer: We would like all inputs by COB (4 PM PDT), 26 APR. Due to the tight schedule for completion of our program planning, inputs received after that time may or may not be included in the process.

2) Question - See page 81 of Chart package. What does "Partnership with Industry" mean? Further expansion of the 2 sub-bullets and more-would help industry understand the identity and scope of the multiple opportunities contemplated.

Answer: GBS will be primarily a COTS/NDI acquisition. To maximize the leverage of COTS/NDI products for military application will require the SPO to establish and maintain a close working relationship with industry.

It is the Government's intent that GBS not drive the evolution and/or development of commercial direct broadcast capabilities. GBS will follow industry's lead and incorporate those new or evolving commercial capabilities as they become economically viable and for which a military requirement exists. There may be limited modification to commercial products (or even limited development of non-commercial capabilities), but these will be minimized. The Government intends to acquire and field a commercially developed system (infrastructure) whose modifications for military use are absolutely minimized.

Industry has already successfully implemented the contractor teaming required to place a commercial direct broadcast system into operation. The Government views acquiring a "turn-key" system via one all-encompassing contract (with the prime establishing whatever teams he deems necessary) as the preferred approach. However, many factors currently under consideration may preclude this approach. To achieve the Government's COTS/NDI objective may require multiple contracts.

3) Question - Does GBS acquisition include within the interface management preparation of information products?--i.e. BADD contains the information dissemination server to the users. Please comment on whether sequence programming is an integral part of the Broadcast Mgt. Center.

Answer: The GBS JPO has drafted an MOA with DISA that delineates the various roles and responsibilities between the two organizations with respect to "information" and "broadcast" management. The specific delineation of functions is currently being addressed by a joint JPO/DISA working group. It is envisioned that the functionality that the JPO will be responsible for acquiring (i.e., the "broadcast" management segment) will include: developing a program guide, establishing and maintaining user profiles for "smart push", prioritizing and scheduling data to be placed on the broadcast, and beam/transponder assignment. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

4) Question - Is it acceptable to the MJPO for Industry RFI response to be apportioned as a basic unclassified document with a classified DOD Secret appendix?

Answer: Unclassified documentation is preferred, but a DoD Secret classified appendix is acceptable.

5) Question - White papers-Is there a page limit?

Answer: There is no page limitation.

6) Question - How many copies do you require to be delivered to the PCO?

Answer: Four copies are desired.

Additional Q & A from Industry Day added 19 Apr 96.

7) Question - Can you make available information on the proposed funding levels for the GBS program, broken out by FY and by segment if possible?

Answer: It is generally against DoD policy to release total program funding information. However, when the President's budget is approved, the Joint Program may make some funding information available, such as the spread by fiscal year or by segment.

8) Question - Have you put out a formal RFI statement, or is the briefing slide from the Industry Day briefings the "official" RFI?

Answer: A formal RFI was run in the CBD on Tuesday, April 9, 1996.

9) Question - Can responses to the RFI be submitted after 26 Apr?

Answer: Yes. However, responses submitted after April 26 may be received too late to be considered in the Government's planning/decision process.

10) Question - What actions can be expected after you review and evaluate the RFIs? Do you have a firm plan to award contracts for Phase I? What contracting approach(es) will be used? If your plans are TBD, by what target date would you expect to decide on and communicate your next steps?

Answer: Many GBS-related activities are currently on-going during the period known as Phase I (FY 96-98). The GBS JPO is identifying the efforts (i.e., potential contracts) required to transition many of these activities to GBS JPO control at the end of FY 96. Additional information will be made available on these efforts as soon as it is available.

To support Phase II, it is the Government's intent to have the baseline ground infrastructure (information/broadcast management, CONUS injection terminal, and first complement of user receive terminals) in place and operational by February 1998 (UFO 8 launch date). Contracts to acquire these capabilities will be let in the next several months. Specific contracting approaches and timelines are TBD. Most of these decisions will be made in the next few weeks after reviewing industry responses to the RFI.

11) Question - Can you make information available on the BADD and BC2A programs, on a classified or restricted access basis if required?

Answer: Currently, both the BADD and BC2A programs have websites (you can access the BADD website from this homepage) that provide information on their specific efforts. Additional information is available from these program offices.

12) Question - What is the total count of fixed and mobile injection points expected at the end of Phase III (3 & 6 or 6 & 9)?

Answer: TBD. However, a minimum of 3 fixed and 3 "mobile" (a.k.a. "theater") injection sites will be required to support the three UFO satellites.

13) Question - In reference to the shipboard mobile terminals, does the issue of transportability refer to the receiving ground unit (CPU/processor/receiver) or the unit's antennae or both?

Answer: Shipboard receive terminals are expected to be permanent installations on each ship and are expected to operate under sea state 4.

14) Question - Are the planned orbits of the second three GBS flights geosynchronous or geostationary?

Answer: TBD. The Phase III space segment will be defined largely by the direction/guidance we receive from the DOD Space Architect this summer. The Phase II UFO satellites will be geosynchronous with inclinations of up to 5 degrees.

15) Question - Regarding landing rights, our assumption is that the frequency band of 20-30 GHz would be employed universally for GBS. If this is correct, what bandwidth should be used for planning purposes?

Answer: The military GBS satellites are currently proposed for 30 GHz uplink and 20 GHz downlink, with a 1 GHz bandwidth available for use. Channel bandwidths are expected to be similar to current commercial bandwidths.

16) Question - What is the frequency band selected for UFO? Can the bandwidth be used to support GBS Phase III?

Answer: The GBS GOSC studied both X band and Ka band military frequencies and selected 30-31 GHZ for the uplink and 19.2-20.2 GHz for the downlink for GBS use. Phase III may also use commercial leased transponders, which could be at other frequencies.

17) Question - Are the spatial distribution areas (footprint) for GBS Phases II and III the same? Please refer to Figure 4 on page 10 of the CONOPS in GBS Industry Day briefing package.

Answer: The Phase II "footprints" are established by the UFO capability. Phase III "footprints" are likely to be different based on operational experience and the TBD platforms. For example, there is a strong desire for earth coverage beams.

18) Question - Should the BMC be designed/built for Phase III operations in Phase II, or should the design reflect a modular, upgradable approach, with the actual enhancements required to support Phase III capabilities not built until Phase III? Should the modular approach be considered if it would result in cost impact in Phase III?

Answer: The Government envisions the Broadcast Management Center (BMC) capabilities acquired to support Phase II as the baseline. The intent is that it not have to be replaced for Phase III. It may need to be modified or upgraded to provide full capabilities for Phase III. The approach taken is open, but cost will be a key factor.

19) Question - Please provide additional details of the JPO standard link budget format we should use in preparing our RFI response (please refer to page 58 of the GBS Industry Day briefing package)?

Answer: See the GBS homepage, additional contractor information.

20) Question - Will you provide us a softcopy of your GLIMPSE model for our modeling efforts (please refer to page 59 of the GBS Industry Day briefing package)?

Answer: GLIMPSE is not currently releasable to non-DoD entities. Request you provide link budget data in the format outlined on page 60 of the Industry Day briefing package so that we can input the data into the GLIMPSE model.

21) Question - At what point in the data flow from the data sources to the BMC are we responsible for affecting the interface (please refer to Figures on pages 63-68 of the CONOPS).

Answer: The physical interface of the BMC is to the DISN/DII. The BMC will also need a data interface with each data source. It's unlikely these interfaces will be standardized in the near term.

22) Question - Who is responsible for associated communications and security management and cost of moving data from the source to the BMC?

Answer: DISA is required to install and fund communications links between GBS sites and between GBS and the data sources.

23) Question - Is the BMC responsible for physically archiving data broadcast for rebroadcast purposes? If so, for how long must the data be stored? What is the mechanism for removing/deleting data from the archives?

Answer: Archiving data within the BMC is a contractor cost trade. The BMC will be required to account for data transmitted and retransmit data when necessary. Some data retransmission can occur by repeating a query to the appropriate data source and reassembling at the BMC. The costs of storage will necessitate quickly purging unneeded data.

24) Question - Are the data addressing and security wrappers appended to the data at the origin/source host (i.e., transparent to the BMC)? If not, where?

Answer: In order to send data from the source to the BMC the data must be formatted and encrypted for the DII. The BMC may need to process and generate new "addresses" and reencrypt to support the simplex nature of the GBS.

25) Question - Can the data formatting for GBS transmission be addressed using standard EDI ANSI X12 addressing/wrappering schemas?

Answer: The program office has not selected any specific data formatting requirements. Our requirement is that the standards be open and support the needs of a simplex broadcast system.

26) Question - What is the role of the NRO in GBS? What/who is our potential NRO interface (please refer to page 10 of the GBS Industry Day briefing package)?

Answer: During the acquisition phases of GBS the NRO will act as a consultant. During the O&M phase, the NRO will be a primary source of data for the broadcast.

27) Question - How do we address the costs associated with encryption/decryption software required on the user receiver side of GBS? Do we provide the software?

Answer: Encryption and decryption capabilities are viewed as integral parts of the system and, therefore, are expected to be included in the equipment suites provided by the contractor. The GBS JPO will provide assistance in seeking NSA approval for the solution employed.

28) Question - Is there a standard, trusted application/data package to be used for interpreting/displaying downlink data at the receiver/user end?

Answer: No. This is probably the major development activity that will be phased into the BMC and receive terminal procurements.

29) Question - Is there an assumed life for the GBS satellites? The broadcast/uplink devices? The user/receive devices? The BMC?

Answer: The BMC and uplink facilities are expected to exist over the lifetime of the system and be upgraded incrementally, as required. The satellites and receive terminals lifetimes are cost/technology trades.

30) Question - When does the mission service life begin (at IOC or at FOC)?

Answer: IOC.

31) Question - What year dollars should we use for costing the RFI?

Answer: 96 constant dollars, but show the year of expenditure.

32) Question - What types of physical security need to be provided for the receiver/user terminals (address capture/compromise requirements please)?

Answer: Compromise of data from terminal capture is a major concern. We must be able to remotely disable a captured terminal and have a strategy for limiting data loss until terminal compromise has been detected. The GBS JPO does not anticipate mandating a specific approach.