Page 1 NOTE THE BIDDERS ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE FACT THAT THE GENERAL TENDER CONDITION PUBLISHED ON EMITS ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO THE PRESENT INVITATION TO TENDER. THE ONLY APPLICABLE TENDER CONDITIONS ARE THOSE CONTAINED IN THE PRESENT DOCUMENT. CONDITIONS OF THE TENDER AO/1-7094/12/NL/CO ESA INNOVATION TRIANGLE INITIATIVE Page 1
Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 3 1. COVER LETTER 3 2. RESTRICTION ON PUBLICITY ACTIONS 4 3. VALIDITY PERIOD OF TENDER 4 4. RIGHT TO AUDIT 4 5. VISIT TO BIDDERS 4 6. NEGOTIATION PRIOR TO CONTRACT AWARD 4 7. RETENTION OF TENDERS 4 8. NO REIMBURSEMENT OF TENDER EXPENSES 5 9. NO COMMITMENT BY THE AGENCY 5 10. LANGUAGE 5 11. TYPE OF PRICE 5 12. MILESTONES PAYMENT PLAN 5 13. QUOTATION IN EURO 5 14. QUOTATION FREE OF TAXES AND CUSTOMS DUTIES 5 15. INSURANCE WAIVER 5 16. CONDITIONS RELATING TO EXPORT/IMPORT LICENCES/AUTHORIZATIONS AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION 6 B. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION 7 1. SUBMISSION 7 2. COMPLIANCE VALIDATION WITH THE SCOPE OF THE ITI 8 C. EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSALS 9 1. THE EVALUATION CRITERIA 9 2. CLARIFICATIONS 9 3. REQUEST FOR FULL PROPOSAL 10 4. CONTRACT AWARD 10 ANNEX A THE PROCESS OF SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS 11 Page 2
Page 3 A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 1. Cover Letter Bidders shall upload in the proposal template a cover letter in pdf format, duly signed by an authorised person*, containing the following: 1.1 The name, address and communication numbers of the person(s) who will be responsible for the technical and contractual contact to whom all communications relating to the ITT shall be addressed: Name : Address : Postcode & location : Telephone : Fax : E-mail : The name and title of the legal representative that will sign the contract 1.2. The total firm fixed price quoted in accordance with the funding limits for each type of activity as described in Annex B to the Statement of Work. For Type C proposals the price to ESA, the co-funded amount and the total cost of the activity. Note: the funding provided by ESA per activity shall not exceed 50% of the total cost of the activity, excluding any profit margin and limited to the maximum defined in GSTP AO5720. The price quoted to ESA shall be a firm fixed price, as indicated in the draft contract for co-funded activity (without prejudice to the right of audit of the Agency). In the event of sub-contractor(s), the bidder shall also provide the breakdown of the total price between him and his sub-contractor(s). 1.3 For Type C proposals bidders are required to submit a letter confirming financial support from their Delegation for the proposed activity. 1.4. An explicit statement of his acceptance of the contract conditions (General and special as per the attached draft contract) and that any conditions of his own do not apply. 1.5. The Bidder s shall indicate his ESA Bidder Code and (if any) that of his subcontractor(s). In case the bidder (and/or his sub-contractors) are not yet registered with ESA s Industrial Policy Division, he (they) should access www.esa.int/home-ind and register by completing and sending the relevant questionnaires. * Person that is authorized by the Tenderer company to make the bid. Page 3
Page 4 1.6 With reference to clause 43.1 ( or 57.1 for Type C contract) of the General Clauses and Conditions for ESA Contracts Revision ESA/REG/002, the bidder shall identify and list all background intellectual property rights belonging to him and/or, sub-contractor and/or a third party, which he intends to use during the execution of the contract. 1.7 For Type C proposals a signed commitment to submit a full proposal within 6 weeks, should the Agency request a full proposal. 2. Restriction on publicity actions Tenderers are not authorised to mention in their publicity that they have been invited to tender, are tendering or have tendered, until after written notification of the result of the ITT. 3. Validity period of tender The tender shall specifically state a period of validity of 4 months from the closing date for the receipt of tenders. 4. Right to audit ESA will be entitled, after receipt of the tender and during its validity period, to request the tenderer to provide evidence of any element of his quotation and may call for additional detailed information irrespective of the type of price proposed. The Agency reserves the right to audit the quoted prices. 5. Visit to bidders The Agency reserves the right to visit the bidders s and bidder's customers to inspect existing premises. The bidder is requested to confirm his acceptance of this. 6. Negotiation prior to contract award The Agency reserves the right to negotiate before taking a decision on the placing of a contract. The offer shall remain valid until changes are agreed in writing. The original offer, as modified shall constitute a binding revised offer. 7. Retention of tenders Any document submitted in reply to the ITT shall become the property of the Agency. It will use commercially confidential or proprietary information solely for the purpose of the evaluation of tenders and the selection of a contractor. In the case of a successful tender, documentation and information incorporated in the subsequent contract will be governed by Part II of the General Clauses and Conditions for ESA contracts. The Agency reserves the right to eliminate from considerations tenders, which purpose is to restrict the use of documents or information beyond these provisions. Page 4
Page 5 8. No reimbursement of tender expenses Expenses incurred in the preparation and dispatch of the tender will not be reimbursed 9. No commitment by the Agency The ITT does not bind the Agency in any way to place a contract, and the Agency reserves the right to place a contract for only part of the activity covered by the ITT. 10. Language The tender and all correspondence relating to it shall be in English. 11. Type of price The type of price of the Contract is firm fixed price as defined in Clause 2.1 of Annex II to the General Clauses and Conditions for ESA Contracts. 12. Milestones Payment Plan A payment plan and milestone are pre-defined in the Draft Contract of the present ITT. 13. Quotation in Euro Prices shall be expressed in EURO. 14. Quotation free of taxes and customs duties Prices shall be quoted free of taxes ("BTW", "VAT" or similar), except where explicitly agreed otherwise, and customs duties. In cases where the bidder remains subject to the payment of taxes and/or customs duties, he shall indicate separately the applicable rates, the corresponding estimated total tax or customs duty amounts, and the reasons why exemption from tax or customs duties cannot be obtained. 15. Insurance waiver Tenderers are encouraged to discuss with their insurance company to obtain a waiver of subrogation rights from the insurers (foreseen in Clause 18.1.3 of the GCC). This waiver will be available on the side of ESA in case of reciprocity. Failure to present such a waiver at a potential contract signature will result in a hold harmless agreement between the parties in accordance with Clause 18.1.6 of the ESA GCC. Page 5
Page 6 16. Conditions relating to Export/Import licences/authorizations and related Documentation The Tenderer (and/or his subcontractors) shall indicate any export or import restrictions he is subject to, in accordance with national legislation, at the time of the submission of his tender and state the necessary licences, authorisations or preliminary authorisations and related Documentation: - he (or his subcontractors) has obtained in order to submit a tender; and/or - he (or his subcontractors) has or will need to obtain prior to placing of the Contract; and/or, - he (or his subcontractors) has or will need to obtain for the implementation of the Contract. Should the tender contain any information which is subject to export control laws and regulations (i.e ITAR), such information shall be clearly identified and segregated in the tender so as to allow proper handling by the Agency. In the absence of such identification and segregation, the Agency shall not be held responsible by the Tenderer or any Third Party for any infringement of laws or statutes. Page 6
Page 7 B. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION 1. Submission Before submitting the proposals, users must register in the ITI system as explained in Annex A. In addition all bidders are required to state that the tender documents (Cover Letter, Tender Conditions, Draft Contract and Statement of Work) have been read and accepted. The proposals must be submitted by the bidding entities using the templates provided on the ITI Web Application (http://iti.esa.int/). The templates have mandatory and optional fields. The ITI system will only allow the submission of proposals that provide all the mandatory information. It is required that the bidder discusses the proposal with all parties involved before submitting it. For type A activities, the addressed problem and the advantage of the proposed solution shall be stressed. For type B activities, it is further required that the submitter uploads a copy of a signed letter of industrial interest into the proposal template. In order to qualify for type C activities, submitters have to provide evidence that for the envisaged concrete space application, the space related feasibility of the key technologies/concept proposed are already successfully proven by laboratory breadboard tests in the relevant environment and also that its possible advantages at overall system level are already identified. Furthermore, the Customer company must clearly state in the proposal, its financial and technical commitment, in case of success of the ITI Technology Adoption activity, to further validate the proposed new technology up to its final envisaged utilisation. For Type C activities the proposal submitted through the ITI web application will be considered as outline proposals and the Agency reserves the right to request a full proposal. For Type C activities it is mandatory to submit PSS forms (available on the ITI web page). Please note that as a general rule, institutional organizations, such as ESA, will not be accepted as industrial customers under the scope of ITI. However, institutional organizations providing industrial services for the European Space Community may be accepted. Page 7
Page 8 2. Compliance validation with the scope of the ITI The objective of the compliance validation is to identify those proposals that are clearly out of the scope of ITI. The compliance validation is based on the principles described in the following paragraphs. Not eligible for ITI funding are: 1. Proposals mainly concerned with System Studies. In the context of ITI, a System Study is defined as an activity aiming at identifying/assessing a possible system level solution to a given problem, trading off a number of possible different design concepts. 2. Proposals addressing an issue that is not relevant to space. 3. Proposals that fail to clearly identify an innovative solution to a specific problem (in the context of a space application) and the benefits compared to the existing solution. 1 4. Proposals of a pure scientific research nature. 5. Proposals for which the background intellectual property rights are not demonstrated in the proposal to be usable for ESA purposes. 6. Non-innovative proposals, especially for a Proof of Concept, or describing a technical concept that is/has already been addressed by ESA in the past and is not supported by substantial new findings to justify further activities. 7. Proposals for a Demonstration of Feasibility and Use or for a Technology Adoption type of activity, which do not include a written statement of commitment by the customer entity to use directly the results and to provide financing up to product level. 8. Proposals for a Demonstration of Feasibility and Use type of activity, for which the novel concept being proposed has not yet been proven. 9. Proposals for a Technology Adoption type of activity, for which the feasibility and use of the novel concept being proposed has not yet been demonstrated. 10. Proposals for a Technology Adoption without a letter of financial support from the ESA Member State delegations of the submitters. 11. ITI proposals previously rejected, which have not been revised in line with the evaluation comments (which can be obtained by contacting the ITI Contract Officer). 12. Proposals submitted in parallel to more than one type of activity, covering similar subjects. 13. Proposals for a Demonstration of Feasibility and Use or for a Technology Adoption type of activity, without a roadmap for the full validation of the proposed technology up to the actual use by a Customer (see Annex C to Statement of Work, for a roadmap example). 1 For instance, compared to a standard GSTP activity, the subject of an ITI Type C proposal is expected to have a high novelty content. Improvements of classical/existing space technologies are not in the scope of an ITI Type activity (but could still be considered by the main stream GSTP programme. Page 8
Page 9 Any proposal that is found to be out of scope (see above criteria) and that is not stating the acceptance of the draft contract will be rejected and will not be considered for evaluation. Only the proposals that are found to be within the scope of the ITI will be subject to a detailed evaluation. C. EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSALS 1. The Evaluation criteria The criteria for the detailed evaluation of the Type A and B ITI proposals are as follows: No. Evaluation Criterion Weighting Factor 1. The innovation content 20 % 2. The quality and completeness of the technical content 30 % 3. The background, experience and complementarity of the the entities involved (the Innovation Triangle concept) 20 % 4. The relevance and the potential benefits (based on both technical and commercial prospects) of the proposed activity (for both the submitter and the European Space Industry, as a whole), 5. The risk level and suitability of the work plan 20% 10 % For Type C proposals the 5 th criteria also takes into account the cost and financial aspects as follows: The risk level and suitability of the work plan, the credibility of total cost estimation and the financial capability of company to co-fund The ITI Tender Evaluation Board will review all proposals retained for evaluation and will give a mark for each of the above criteria. 2. Clarifications During evaluation, ESA may request additional clarifications to the bidder. Page 9
Page 10 3. Request for Full Proposal For Type C activities the Agency reserves the right to request a full proposal. The details for the preparation of the full proposal will be provided to the bidders. The full proposal will be itself the subject of evaluation and negotiation. 4. Contract Award Proposals will be selected in accordance with the tender evaluation marking and budget availability. All the bidders will be informed of the evaluation outcome. For the proposals retained for negotiation, prior to the negotiation meeting, ESA may request additional information or modification on the scope of the activity. ESA shall award the contract after a successful negotiation meeting. Page 10
Page 11 ANNEX A THE PROCESS OF SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS The submission of the proposals must be performed using the templates provided on the ITI Web application (http://iti.esa.int/), which implies the following steps: i) Register & login For security and management reasons, the users willing to participate in ITI must register into the system (or just login in case they are already registered users) before submitting their proposal. The data requested for the registration will be used only for ITI management purposes. Registered users can update their user profile once logged in. ii) Contact Experts (recommended) Registered users, once logged in, may request via the InnovationHelpdesk@esa.int to get access to the contact details of ESA experts. Submitters may contact these experts if they need technical support and advice in the preparation of their proposal. Submitters can also search in databases of European industries and universities that have collaborated with ESA in the past for identifying potential partners. Submitters not familiar with current needs of the European Space Industry can browse the European Space Technology Requirements (ESTER) database (http://harmostrat.esa.int). iii) Draft your proposal Proposals must be drafted using the ITI templates provided in the ITI Web site. An online help tool and examples assist the users in this task. Registered users can save their draft proposals for future edition. Retrieving drafted proposals can be done using the Search Proposals engine. Draft proposals can only be updated by their own submitter. The proposals are evaluated only after submission. iv) Submit proposal In order to submit a proposal the ITI Web application requires the user to tick a box confirming that s/he has already obtained the internal authorization by her/his management for submitting such proposal. Once submitted, proposals can no longer be edited. The submitters are automatically notified of the reception of their proposals by the ITI system. Submitted proposals become visible to the ESA Technical Evaluation Board members. After the Tender Evaluation Board meeting, submitters are notified whether or not their proposal has been selected. Page 11