How to Win ASTRA: High Stakes and Higher Standards

The Advisory Support and Technical Requirement Administration (ASTRA) bid provides the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) with Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) to accomplish its air, space/counterspace, cyberspace, forces, and missile intelligence missions. Table 1 highlights the bid’s details.

Table 1: ASTRA At-a-Glance

Requirement	Description
Title	Advisory Support and Technical Requirement Administration
Agency	U.S. Air Force, National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC)
Solicitation Date	05/2025
SAM.gov Notice ID	MABMAL2024
Value	$480M
Competition Type	Full and Open/Small Business Set-Aside (under consideration)
Award Type	Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) (under consideration; the acquisition strategy is not finalized)
NAICS Code	541330 – Engineering Services
Place of Performance	Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
GovWin Opportunity ID	245427

Pre-Request for Proposal (RFP) Documents Summary

NASIC has actively communicated with the industry throughout the procurement.

• 08/2024: NASIC published a draft performance work statement (PWS), sources sought notice (SSN), and limited sources justification statement.
• 11/2024: NASIC released an updated draft PWS and SSN and preliminary questions and answers (Q&A).
• 12/2024: NASIC extended the SSN due date and provided a new Q&A response.
• 02/2025: NASIC published the industry schedule and a summary of events, including the ground rules for one-on-one meetings. These meetings limit discussions to feedback on an offeror’s request for information (RFI) findings and an offeror or teaming venture’s capability to meet NASIC’s requirements.
• 03/2025: NASIC released 12 pre-RFP documents, including an updated draft PWS, Q&A, and SSN, due March 20, 2025. The SSN asked offerors to summarize their capabilities concerning 32 NASIC requirements, including Electro-Optical, Synthetic Aperture Radar, and Multi/Hyper-Spectral Imagery, in addition to their ability to obtain/maintain a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) level facility and hire staff with high-level clearances.

Industry Day and Q&A Summary

On March 3-6, 2025, the Air Force held an Industry Day/Site Visit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which 24 companies attended. During the Industry Day, the Air Force provided briefings on all aspects of the work but only published high-level requirements for the nine tasks associated with Section 4 (Contract Management).

• Task 1: Contract Management
• Task 2: R&D Planning, Prioritizing, and Developing
• Task 3: Technical Support for Intelligence Analysis and Production
• Task 4: Systems Engineering and Architecture (GS only)
• Task 5: Modeling Simulation/Independent Verification and Validation (GS only)
• Task 6: Community Engagement and Program Advocacy
• Task 7: Policy and Strategic Planning
• Task 8: Program Management and Acquisition Support
• Task 9: Mission Support 

According to the Q&A, the Government is still in the market research phase and anticipates awarding this effort in 2025.

Draft RFP Overview

Core areas of support include:

• Research, development, and sustainment of new and existing hardware, systems, and software capabilities enabling scientific and technical intelligence
• Managing technical intelligence through collection, analysis, planning, processing, dissemination, archiving, and associated activities
• Creating intelligence and engineering products and improving productivity in technical analysis product generation
• Identifying and characterizing threats to enable full-spectrum multi-domain operations, drive weapons system acquisition, and keep NASIC informed of national defense policy updates/changes

Capture Considerations and Risks

Based on the draft PWS, capture managers should consider the following risks as they implement their capture strategy:

1. Scope and Complexity of the Work: The draft PWS outlines a broad and complex range of 32 tasks across multiple disciplines, requiring diverse skills and resources. It also outlines the need for high-level expertise and clearance in specialized areas, which complicates resource planning, as assembling a highly qualified team is essential.  At the same time, extensive regulatory and compliance demands require rigorous adherence to security protocols and reporting obligations.

2. Security Requirements: The contractor must have an appropriately cleared TS/SCI facility clearance to conduct classified work for the Government. Special Access Program (SAP) access and counterintelligence (CI) polygraphs may also be required as defined by mission requirements, per draft PWS Section 15.1 – Security Clearances, which may limit the bidder pool.

3. Performance-Based Requirements: To avoid penalties, performance standards, acceptable quality levels (AQLs), and service delivery summary (SDS) criteria must be met at the task order level as defined in Section 5.2 – Performance-Based Requirements Service Delivery.

4. Government-Furnished Equipment and Information (GFE/GFI): Coordinating with government stakeholders for GFE/GFI is crucial, and delays could impact timelines as described in Section 11.0 – Government-Furnished Equipment and Information.

5. High-Level Expertise Needed: NASIC requires personnel with high-level expertise in specialized areas and high-level security clearances, as explained in Section 9.0 – Personnel Requirements and Section 9.3 – Key Personnel. This can be challenging and require strategic HR planning.

Factors 1-5 collectively contribute to the draft PWS’s complex and broad scope, posing challenges for capture managers in developing effective strategies and proposals.

Conclusion:

Winning ASTRA isn’t for the faint of heart. It demands technical excellence, strategic foresight, and relentless preparation. With its wide-ranging scope, strict security requirements, and mission-critical objectives, this $480M opportunity represents a high-stakes challenge for even the most experienced contractors.

By understanding the risks and responding precisely, offerors can rise above the competition and deliver advisory and technical excellence. If you need assistance preparing your ASTRA bid, contact Lohfeld Consulting.

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By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube^(TM).