140G0120C0009 Justification and Approval 6.302-4_1.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION – FAR 6.302-4

1. Contracting Agency and Activity.

The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Office of Acquisition and Grants plans to contract by means other than full and open competition. This document sets forth the justification and approval for award on a limited source basis as required by FAR 6.302-4.

2. Nature of Action Being Approved.

The Department of Interior (DOI), United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observations and Science (EROS) Center has a requirement to procure polar ground station services from Norwegian Space Agency/Kongsberg Satellite Services (NSA/KSAT) consisting of the following:

Landsat polar ground station S-Band telemetry (TLM) receive (RX) and command (CMD) transmit (TX), and X-Band data reception services .

Landsat 9 Ground Readiness Test (GRT) support Landsat 9 mission readiness support to include activities such as operational readiness exercises, launch rehearsals, mission simulations Landsat 9 Launch and Early Orbit (LEO) support

3. Description of Supplies or Services.

The USGS currently operates the Landsat 8 (L8) spacecraft (S/C) and is responsible for maintaining S/C health and safety, scheduling image acquisitions, and receiving image data to populate the US archive under the terms of an existing International Agreement (IA) between the United States of America and Norway. The USGS Landsat Mission Operations Center (MOC) utilizes the Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat) polar ground station to communicate to the S/C for these purposes.

The Norwegian Space Agency (NSA) established SvalSat, located in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Norway in 1997. Its northern locality provides access to Landsat 8's near-polar satellite orbits daily. The SvalSat Station is owned and operated exclusively by Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT), a Norwegian company owned 50% by the Space Norway AS (formerly Norsk Romsenter Eiendom AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of NSA) and 50% by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace AS (KDA).

The USGS currently receives Landsat polar ground station reception services through a contract with the NSA under an existing International Agreement with the government of Norway.

In addition, USGS is developing the Landsat 9 Ground System in support of the Landsat 9 project, currently scheduled to launch around February 2021. USGS currently receives Landsat 9 development and test support through the same contract referenced above.

This proposed procurement is to provide continued Landsat operations support and continued Landsat 9 test and mission operations readiness support. The contract is for a base plus four (4) option years.

The procurement has firm-fixed-price options for variable levels of services, based upon the nominal number of daily passes required. The level of service is set when the contract is initially awarded and updated annually when options are exercised.

4. Estimated Dollar Value.

The total estimate for the base year and 4 option years is $5,709,127.00.

5. Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-4

6. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5.

The USGS is a party in a remote sensing international agreement between the United States of America and Norway. The agreement, between the US Geological Survey and the Norwegian Space Agency (formerly referred to as the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC)), titled Implementing Agreement (IA) Between The United States Geological Survey Of The Department Of The Interior And The Norwegian Space Centre (NSC) For Cooperation In The Use Of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data, entered into force on March 22, 2013, and remains in force through the operational lifetime of the USGS land remote sensing spacecraft(s).

The IA recognizes the parties’ mutual interest in the use of space technology for peaceful purposes and notes the value of the US Landsat satellite missions to cooperation among governments in space-based remote sensing of the Earth’s surface. The IA establishes the terms and conditions under which the USGS will provide United States-owned land remote sensing satellite data and NSA will receive, process, archive, distribute, and exchange such data in cooperation with the USGS.

The responsibilities of NSA/KSAT under the IA include, but are not limited to, operation of (a) ground station(s) for the reception, processing, archiving, distribution, and exchange of USGS land remote sensing satellite data, including establishing and operating the necessary communication links with the USGS Mission Operations Center (MOC) and the USGS data center located at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center as specified in the mission-specific Annex(es).

The responsibilities of the USGS include, but are not limited to, programming land remote sensing satellites to collect and provide remote sensing data of areas within the acquisition radius of NSC's ground station and funding various activities under the IA associated with ground station operations.

The ground station in use under the agreement, (SvalSat) is located in a sovereign foreign nation (Norway). KSAT, a subsidiary of NSA and partially owned by the Norwegian government, is the exclusive operator of the SvalSat ground station.

The terms of the IA preclude full and open competition. The IA remains in force, as the USGS land remote sensing spacecraft(s) remain in operation and both parties are meeting their obligations and responsibilities under the IA.

The agreement, part of the The Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS), is published by the United States Department of State under the authority of the United States Secretary of State. The complete agreement can be found online at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/13-322-Norway-Remote-Sensing.pdf.

7. Other Information.

This procurement action will be established under the Implementing Agreement between the United States Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior and the Norwegian Space Agency (NSA) for cooperation in the use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data.

8. The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted.

N/A

9. Actions to Overcome Barriers to Competition.

N/A

10. Recommendation and Certification from Program Office

Based on the above, I recommend this acquisition be conducted on a sole source basis. I certify that technical data which form a basis for this justification, that are the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel are complete and accurate.

Signature Date

Landsat Mission Manager

11. Certifications and Approval from the Contracting Officer:

a. The anticipated price for this contract action is fair and reasonable based on the use of price analysis techniques described in FAR 15.404-1(b). The Government intends to evaluate historical prices paid, use of a parametric estimating method (cost per pass) as compared to Government / other than Government customers, and a comparison of proposed prices with a published price list or those for similar services.

b. This justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

12. Approvals

Contracting Officer Date

Chief, OAG National Branch Date

Bureau Competition Advocate Date

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be personal protected information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.