ECPS JA.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 1 of 9

Was a J&A approved for the preceding acquisition where that acquisition required a J&A? Yes No

! ! Attach the preceding J&A in the staff package for this J&A. The preceding J&A will be used as a reference document.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined at DAFFARS 5302.101? Yes No

Dollar Value of this Acquisition: < $750K > $750K and < $15M > $15M and < $100M > $100M

Contracting Activity: SSC/PKL

Purchase Request (if available) / Local ID Number: 24-29

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): EPS CAPS & Payload Sustainment (ECPS)

Program Type (PEO, Enterprise, of Operational): PEO

Authority:

6.302-1 – 10 USC 3204(a)(1), Only One Responsible Source - No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements Estimated Contract Cost (including options): $ 90,840,000.00 J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION ( DAFFARS 5306.304(a))

Date Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity 2nd Lt Emily K. George

SSC/CGMS/ DSN: 834-8725

Signature

Date Senior Contracting Officer Kevin T. Devine, NH-04

SSC/PKL 719-556-2312

Signature

Date

14 Aug 2024

Staff Judge Advocate/Legal Office Gregory F. Yokas, NH-04

SSC/JAQ 719-556-2433

Signature

Date

19 Sep 2024

Chief of the Contracting Office Douglas F. Smith, NH-04

SSC/PKL 719-640-5779

Signature

Date

04 Nov 2024

Competition Advocate Brian V. Ucciardi, NH-04

SSC/PK 310 906-6250

Signature

APPROVAL ( DAFFARS 5306.304(a))

Date

05 Nov 2024

Head of Contracting Activity Natalie R. Riedel, SES

SSC/PK 310-653-1014

Signature

GEORGE.EMILY.KATHRY

N.1265892783

Digitally signed by

GEORGE.EMILY.KATHRYN.1265892783

Date: 2024.08.13 14:01:55 -06'00'

YOKAS.GREGORY.FRAN

KLIN.1274150854

Digitally signed by

YOKAS.GREGORY.FRANKLIN.1274150854

Date: 2024.08.14 12:49:12 -06'00'

DEVINE.KEVIN.T.129900

Digitally signed by

DEVINE.KEVIN.T.1299007282

Date: 2024.08.14 13:40:17 -06'00'

SMITH.DOUGLAS.F.105

4417914

Digitally signed by

SMITH.DOUGLAS.F.1054417914

Date: 2024.09.19 16:31:14 -06'00'

UCCIARDI.BRIAN.V.104

5911477

Digitally signed by

UCCIARDI.BRIAN.V.1045911477

Date: 2024.11.04 13:07:20 -08'00'

RIEDEL.NATALIE.RAE.12

34267244

Digitally signed by

RIEDEL.NATALIE.RAE.1234267244

Date: 2024.11.05 15:28:58 -08'00'

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 2 of 9

I. Agency and Contracting Activity.

Space System Command (SSC) Communications Guidance Military (CGM) Satellite Communications MilComm & PNT Directorate SSC/CGM (Peterson SFB, CO)

Contracting Office:

SSC\PKL Peterson SFB, CO 80914

II. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This individual Justification and Approval (J&A) is for the authority to award a new sole-source contract to Northrop Grumman (NG) for the sustainment of the Enhanced Polar System (EPS) Command and Planning Segment (CAPS) and Payload. The current EPS-R CAPS sustainment effort is performed under Contract FA8823-20-C-0005. The current EPS-Recapitalization (EPS-R) Payload development effort is performed under Contract FA8808-18-C-0002.

The EPS CAPS and Payload Sustainment (ECPS) contract will have Firm Fixed Price (FFP), Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) and Cost Reimbursable (CR) Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs).

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

EPS serves as a polar adjunct to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system for protected Satellite Communications (SATCOM) services for the United States Department of Defense users. It provides continuous coverage in the polar region for secure, jam-resistant, strategic and tactical satellite communications to support peacetime, contingency, homeland defense, humanitarian assistance, and wartime operations. The system includes Extremely High Frequency (EHF) communications payloads (EPS and soon to be launched EPS-R) hosted on satellites operating in highly elliptical orbits, as well as EPS-R CAPS which provides independent payload planning and control for MILSATCOM users.

This J&A is for the EPS CAPS and Payload Sustainment (ECPS) effort. ECPS is comprised of two major components: 1) Sustainment for the EPS-R payload, and 2) Sustainment for EPS-R CAPS. These efforts are dependent on one another with CAPS providing command and control functions for the payload.

EPS-R Payload

The EPS-R payload was a major modification of the EPS payload. The EPS-R payload supports the provision of secure, jam-resistant, strategic and tactical communications to support peacetime, contingency, homeland defense, humanitarian assistance and wartime operations and will be hosted on Space Norway satellite vehicles. The EPS-R payload was sole sourced to NG who is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the EPS payload. Sustainment services include Program Management, Labs and Infrastructure Support, Depot Level Support, Software Maintenance, Systems Engineering, Technical Document Support, and Cybersecurity. The EPS-R Payload was scheduled for launch in July of 2024 but was postponed due to launch vehicle issues. It currently has a no earlier launch date of August 2024.

EPS-R CAPS

EPS-R CAPS is a major modification of the EPS CAPS program and was sole sourced to Northrup Grumman, the EPS CAPS OEM. EPS-R CAPS provides international host accommodations for new out of band linked functions, cyber architecture, and orbit planning for the EPS-R payload. Additionally, EPS-R CAPS provides the primary means for commanding and receiving telemetry to and from the EPS and EPS-R payloads. Functions include command and control, terminal and payload support, payload resource monitoring, and time and frequency management. EPS-R CAPS was operationally accepted 18 April 2024.

The sustainment effort for EPS-R CAPS will require organic repair for 50% of the software workload as cited in the original EPS CAPS Depot Source of Repair (DSOR). For this acquisition, SSC/CGM will ensure inclusion of Performance Work Statement (PWS) language to transition to 50% organic capability by the end of the period of performance (PoP) ,and will work directly with the 517th Software Maintenance Squadron to transition this workload.

Sustainment services for EPS-R CAPS include Program Management, Labs and Infrastructure Support, Depot Level

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 3 of 9

Hardware Support, Software Maintenance, Systems Engineering, Technical Document Support, Cybersecurity, and administration/execution of a Work Share Public-Private Partnership.

The PoP will comprise (1) 1-year base period, (4) 1-year options, and (1) 6-month extension. The contract is estimated to begin 23 February 2025, and if all options are exercised, run through 2030.

FY 25 Base Period: Feb 2025-2026 FY 26 Option 1: Feb 2026-2027 FY 27 Option 2: Feb 2027-2028 FY 28 Option 3: Feb 2028-2029 FY 29 Option 4: Feb 2029-2030 FY 30 Extension Period: Feb 2030-Aug 2030

The total estimated value for this effort will be $90,840,000.00. These numbers are based on an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) using an analogous estimating approach. The expected funding type is 3410.

The Government will not include separately priced CLINs for Intellectual Property (IP) and IP Rights.

The Government will include standard data rights clauses (DFARS 252.227-7013, 252.227-7014, 252.227-7015, 252.227-7017, 252.227-7019, 252.227-7025, 252.227-7027 and 252.227-7037).

The Government has Unlimited Rights to data produced under the EPS-R CAPS development effort. This includes technical data, computer software, manuals, training materials, and maintenance procedures.

The Government has a mix of Unlimited Rights, Limited Rights, and Restricted Rights to data produced under the EPS-R payload development effort. This includes technical data, computer software, manuals, training materials, and maintenance procedures.

IV. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited above.

The authority for this J&A is FAR 6.302-1(a)(2) and (a)(2)(iii), Only One Responsible Source, as discussed below.

Sub-section 1:

This J&A is a follow-on, combined sustainment effort for the EPS-R payload and EPS-R CAPS. This will be the first sustainment contract for the EPS-R payload (currently awaiting launch) and a continued sustainment effort for the recently fielded and operationally accepted EPS-R CAPS. This J&A will combine both efforts under one sustainment contract.

NG is the OEM for the EPS payload (legacy), EPS-R Payload, EPS CAPS (legacy) and EPS-R CAPS. EPS-R is a continuation of EPS and was designed to extend services into the early/mid-2030s. The EPS-R program includes the development of a new payload (referred to in this J&A as the EPS-R payload) and EPS-R CAPS. EPS-R CAPS was developed to be backwards compatible with the EPS payloads currently on orbit.

NG was awarded a sole source contract to perform the EPS-R Payload development on 6 Feb 2018 (FA8808-18-C-0002). Sole source award was justified by NG possessing the only operationally proven EHF Extended Data Rate (XDR) waveform and payload design. The Government cited duplicated cost and unacceptable delays for a competitor to develop another payload at the required Technology Readiness Level. Notably, the NG payload design included over 100 technical elements to which NG asserted limited or restricted rights.

NG was also awarded a sole source contract to perform the EPS-R CAPS development on 2 May 2019 (FA8808-19-C-0004).

The EPS CAPS system was replaced by EPS-R CAPS, which became the new sustainment baseline. NG was awarded a sole source contract to perform sustainment of EPS CAPS, and by extension EPS-R CAPS, through the EPS CAPS sustainment contract (FA8823-20-C-0005). The sole source justification cited duplication of costs and unacceptable delays for recreation of a lab environment as well as transition activities.

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 4 of 9

EPS-R CAPS provides a single software baseline that executes the command and control, mission planning, and cryptographic planning for the (2) EPS and (2) EPS-R payloads. The current architecture was transitioned in 2024 from a single enclave “silo” to a multiple enclave “converged” configuration. Additionally, four enclave layers were created (application, operating system, virtualization, and hardware) to enable a baseline that promotes flexibility and scalability.

This customized architecture was developed and executed by NG and results in the ability to share resources across all physical servers and allow operations to draw system resources from the virtualization pool when needed to meet mission needs. Although the CAPS system hardware does consist of commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts and software, the configuration and major components of the customized software that runs on the system is highly specialized and complex.

Therefore, this acquisition will be a follow-on contract for the continued provision of the highly specialized services.

Sub-section 2:

As discussed in Sub-section 1, NG performed the development of the EPS payload (legacy), the EPS-R payload, EPS CAPS (legacy), and EPS-R CAPS. The EPS-R payload and EPS-R CAPS were each modified using their corresponding EPS (legacy) programs as the baseline.

Because of the complex nature of the EPS mission and the technical data limitations with respect to the payload, a contractor with in-depth system knowledge, full technical data access and a thorough understanding of the operations is required to execute command and control of the payload. Northrop Grumman is the only contractor that is currently familiar with all the payload and CAPS system specifications, as well as 23 other Interface Control Documents related to EPS-R, which is critical for the continued provision of specialized services for the EPS system.

The EPS-R payload provides capabilities that NG was deemed “uniquely qualified” to delivery because of their identified sole expertise in the required XDR waveform, which is a highly specialized MILSATCOM capability. NG's proven build processes and proprietary approached made them the only firm capable of delivering the EPS-R payload; however, this also resulted in the Government having limited or restricted rights to data on over 100 technical elements of the payload. Additionally, Northrop possesses a fully flight qualified test bed with ground and terminal segment interoperability, specifically tailored to the EPS-R payload. Combined with their infrastructure, vendor relationships and intimate knowledge of the payload design expertise, NG is uniquely qualified to provide this specialized service.

Since 2012, NG has been the OEM for EPS CAPS, retaining multiple personnel from program inception and advertises a 92% CAPS team retention rate for the last six years. NG architected the current virtualized baseline of EPS-R CAPS utilizing a deep familiarization of the EPS operational mission, including the operator's experience as well as the complexities of the legacy EPS Payload and legacy EPS CAPS. This knowledge enabled efficiencies to be realized, resulting in the reduction of the mission hardware footprint by 30%. Each team member has developed subject matter expertise in multiple disciplines as part of the design process that resulted in a customized architecture for EPS-R CAPS. Additionally, Northrop possesses a qualified test bed with ground and terminal segment interoperability specifically tailored to EPS-R CAPS. Their system specific expertise, already existing lab and test environments, and intimate corporate knowledge of the EPS-R CAPS network and topology makes NG uniquely qualified to provide this specialized service.

Sub-section 3:

The SSC/CGM program office has determined that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Government's requirements.

Duplication of Cost

SSC/CGM estimates that award of this effort to any source other than NG would require expenditure of $1.014B - $1.022B in duplicated costs. This estimate is drawn from the following areas: (1) data rights impacts; (2) laboratory environment; (3) labor costs from necessary transition periods.

EPS-R Payload Duplicated Costs

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 5 of 9

Award to any other source would require the Government to develop a new EPS-R payload to ensure the Government has the necessary license rights to sustain the payload. The current payload includes limited and/or restricted rights on nearly 100 technical data or computer software elements as asserted by NG that are required for sustainment activities. These rights are necessary to support EPS-R payload sustainment efforts, including but not limited to, the performance of systems engineering, software maintenance, database management, anomaly resolution responses, and cybersecurity upgrades.

These core sustainment efforts require access to data and software in areas where the Government only has limited or restricted rights to the data. Additionally, when the Government requested the cost to purchase the necessary license rights to enable competition, NG responded that the process would take several months and would result in an “astronomical” cost. Without these license rights, it would be impossible for the Government to provide the technical data to any other source. Potential offerors would be unable to gain subsequent knowledge of critical components or familiarity of the overall work performed to sustain and operate the payload. Without this limited and restricted data, a contractor cannot perform core sustainment activities such as software and database maintenance or performance of root cause analysis for anomaly resolution. An alternative option for the Government could be to develop and field a new payload. Development and fielding of the payload is estimated at $985M. This value consists of $518M for payload development and $467M for procurement of 2 Highly Elliptical Orbit satellites and associated launch costs. The Government estimate is based on actuals from EPS-R payload development program (FA8808-18-C-0002) and the Arctic Memorandum of Agreement cost sharing structure with the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway.

Additionally, NG has a current test facility supporting end to end operational testing for the EPS-R payload. They possess a fully flight qualified test bed ensuring ground and terminal segment interoperability. The Government estimates $5.5M in Systems Engineering and Integration Testing needed by another competitor to duplicate NG's fully flight qualified test bed with ground and terminal segment interoperability.

EPS-R CAPS Duplicated Costs

A substantial duplication of costs would be replication of the EPS-R CAPS software lab environment at a new facility. The Converged Factory String (CFS) serves as a software development and test lab environment and resides at the OEM's facility.

It is imperative to have the EPS-R CAPS laboratory environment operational at all times in the event of a catastrophic anomaly or cyber situation. If the EPS-R CAPS effort was competed, the Government would need to ensure a duplicate environment be established at another facility to prevent a gap in service. Software sustainment responsibilities would have to be transitioned from the current CFS to a new software development and test environment during a transition period.

Additionally, the CSF would need to be appropriately dispositioned or transferred to the new contractor. Replication of the CSF environment is estimated at $6.4M. The transition/disposition of the CSF is estimated at $1.5M. Estimates are based ROMs and historical costs with an inflation factor of 2%. The total duplicated cost associated with the replication of the EPS- R CAPS software lab environment totals $7.9M.

Additionally, the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) are projected to replace the current Telemetry and Command Terminals (T&CT) at Clear SFS in 2025. NG completed work that modified CAPS-R to accommodate FAB-T integration. This work included a software design critical design review, and verification reports of all the CAPS Technical Requirement Documents and Interface Control Document requirements affected by FAB-T. NG has conducted a Compatibility Test at the Space Park factory with the CAPS and Payload engineering models performing all the T&C-Terminal functions with a FAB-T. There are new functional capabilities that the legacy T&C-Ts do not have. NG has procured equipment that interfaces with the FAB-T and completed a Clear SFS Installation Plan. Unless SSC/CGM is able to impart all of the NG engineering, hardware, and software expertise to the new Operations and Sustainment contractor, there is a significant learning curve to operationalize this capability. Since FAB-Ts are not projected for install until 2025, a new contractor would need additional schedule/labor to execute the final integration work. This duplicated cost is estimated at $500K.

Award to any other source would also necessitate a transition period, specifically for EPS-R CAPS, from the OEM to a new prime contractor. This transition period would be approximately 12-18 months. The total estimated cost for the transition period is between $15M-$23M. The IGCE is based on rates sourced from the current CAPS sustainment contract (FA8823-20- C-0005).

Unacceptable Delays

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 6 of 9

SSC/CGM estimates that award of this effort to any source other than NG would result in an approximate 7.5-year delay to the Space Force. This delay comprises two areas: (1) data rights; (2) incurred delays from required transition periods.

Award to any other source would require the Government to develop a new payload for EPS-R due to limited and/or restricted rights on nearly 100 technical data or computer software elements. Development of the payload (6.5-years) combined with launch and on-orbit check out timelines (additional 1 year) are estimated to take a total of 7.5-years. The Government estimate is based on actuals from EPS-R payload development (FA8808-18-C-0002) and the Arctic Memorandum of Agreement.

Award to any other source would also necessitate a transition period of 12-18 months for EPS-R CAPS to allow for build-up of laboratory infrastructure, laboratory accreditation and software familiarization. It is possible for this period to be executed concurrently with the 7.5-year development and launch of a new EPS-R payload.

In summary, the estimated duplication of costs and unacceptable delays are as follows:

Duplicated/Additional Effort Cost

EPS-R Payload:

Payload Development $518M Acquisition, Launch, and Sustainment of 2 HEO Satellites $467M EPS-R Payload Test Bed $5.5M Total: $990.5M

EPS-R CAPS:

EPS-R CAPS Lab Environment $7.9M FAB-T Integration Costs $.5M EPS-R CAPS Transition Costs (12-18 Months) $15M-$23M Total: $23.4M/31.4M

TOTAL EPS-R Payload & EPS-R CAPS $1.014B/1.022B

Unacceptable Delay Years

EPS-R Payload:

Development of a New Payload (Includes Test Bed) 6.5 Acquisition, Launch, and Sustainment of 2 HEO Satellites 1.0 Total: 7.5

EPS-R CAPS:

*Transition Period (includes EPS-R CAPS Lab Environment) 1-1.5 Total: 1-1.5

Total EPS-R Payload & EPS-R CAPS 7.5 Total EPS-R CAPS Only 1-1.5

* Annotates delay can be concurrent with payload timeline

The Government can expect an average of 15% savings for services through competition which equates to approximately $13.6M. However, as described above, the Government's investigation concluded that award to any source other than NG would result in a minimum $1.014B and up to $1.022B of duplicated costs. Even if the Government chose to only compete the CAPS portion, the duplicated cost would be a minimum of $23.4M and up to $31.4M. This range of duplicated cost equates to 26% to 35% of total contract value, thereby negating any cost savings for the Government if the effort was

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 7 of 9 competed.

Additionally, the unacceptable delay of 7.5 years for development and launch of a new payload has no feasible mitigation strategy; therefore, the sustainment effort cannot be performed by a source other than NG without unacceptable delays. If the Government decided to split payload and CAPS, the payload delay would remain at 7.5 years and CAPS would have between 1-year, and more likely, a 1.5-year delay.

The program office has performed due diligence to validate the contractors claims of limitations on Government IP rights under predecessor contracts. The program office validated that under predecessor contracts the Government agreed to the asserted limitations on IP rights by NG as evident by contractual documentation. On 30 July 2024, the Government requested from NG a rough order of magnitude to secure necessary license rights to the 100 data elements that have limited/restricted data rights to enable a competition and potentially non-incumbent performance of this effort. NG responded that the process would take several months requiring them to work with their subcontractors who were involved in producing the data as well as the extensive work to determine the scope and what cost estimating techniques they could leverage. NG also reported that it would likely result in an "astronomical" cost. This answer, in combination with the response sited in the EPS CAPS sustainment J&A from 2018, has led the Government to believe that the cost to obtain the necessary license rights to compete this effort would be unacceptable and non-recoverable through competition.

Consideration was given to reverse engineering the system to acquire rights to technical data but has been rejected because of the cost to execute the effort. Additionally, the effort would not be completed before the currently projected end of life of the system.

Sub-section 4:

In summary, because of the Government's technical data limitations, dependence on the already existing laboratory environments, and substantial required transition period, it is not justifiable to compete the effort for these specialized services.

Accordingly, NG is the only firm capable of providing the highly specialized supplies and services described in Section III above without the Government experiencing: 1) substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition, and 2) unacceptable delays in fulfilling Space Force requirements.

V. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under

FAR 5.202 applies.

A Sources Sought Notice 24-01, was posted to SAM.gov on 29 September 2023 with responses due on 31 October 2023. Two companies (Serco Inc. and Northrop Grumman) submitted a Statement of Capability (SOC) in response to the source sought synopsis. The Government used 8 areas of evaluation to document each SOC. These areas were: Program Management Objectives, Contractor Labs and Infrastructure Support Objectives, Depot Level Hardware Support Objectives, Software Maintenance Objectives, System Engineering Objectives, Technical Documents Support Objectives, Cybersecurity Objectives, and Establish/Administer Direct Sales Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Objectives.

Only one respondent, Northrop Grumman, was found to be fully qualified due to the ownership of data rights for the satellite payload.

Of note, in Serco Inc.'s response to the sources sought, they highlighted their need of GFI, including "EPS and EPS-R Payload Technical Data Package to include but not limited to Payload Design, Systems Requirement Specification, any and all Interface Specifications." However, as discussed above, the Government does not have sufficient IP license rights to provide a technical data package for the payload and is therefore unable to provide the information to Serco Inc.

This acquisition will require a Notice of proposed Contract Action (NOCA) IAW FAR 5.203(a). The NOCA will be

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 8 of 9 publicized prior to issuance of the solicitation.

VI. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer anticipates the cost for this effort will be considered fair and reasonable. In accordance with FAR 15.403-4 certified cost and pricing data will be required for this contract. The contracting officer will evaluate the contractor's cost proposal in accordance with FAR 15.404-1, proposal analysis techniques, to determine cost reasonableness and completeness. During negotiations, the Government will establish its objectives based on historical data, current contract cost data and program office estimates. The Contracting Officer will determine the costs based on, but not limited to, the following: the Defense Cost Audit Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency, including the Administrative Contracting Officer recommendations, technical evaluations and history. The program office Independent Government Cost Estimate will be used for comparison and evaluation against the contractor's proposal.

VII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

All responses received were reviewed in comparison to the following equitable and consistent criteria: Program Management Objectives, Contractor Labs and Infrastructure Support Objectives, Depot Level Hardware Support Objectives, Software Maintenance Objectives, System Engineering Objectives, Technical Documents Support Objectives, Cybersecurity Objectives, and Establish/Administer Direct Sales Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Objectives. See Section V above.

VIII. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

Award to any other source would increase the operational performance risk of these dependent systems. The EPS-R payload has not been fielded and although it has been lab tested, it has not begun on-orbit test and check out and has not achieved operational acceptance. Additionally, EPS-R CAPS was operationally accepted on 18 April 2024 and is still a recently deployed system. End to End (ETE) operational mission testing cannot be accomplished between the EPS-R payload and EPS-R CAPS until the EPS-R payload has completed on-orbit check out testing; however, payload launch has been delayed from 15 Jul 24 to a “no earlier” than August 2024 launch date. The EPS-R Operational Utility Evaluation (OUE) ETE test is estimated to begin on Launch +204 days. Completion of the OUE ETE test event will take approximately 45 days. Without the launch delay, estimated completion was March 2024. Launch delays will push completion day for day. Award to any other contractor or splitting these efforts to award to two contractors will significantly increase performance risk if required to troubleshoot any system anomalies which are most likely to occur in the first year of operations. Historically, OEM knowledge has been considered critical in the first year to reduce operational mission risk.

Award to any other source would negate the work already accomplished by the OEM in support of the Work Share Public Private Partnership (PPP) with 517th Software Maintenance Squadron. The 517th currently has 2 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) embedded within the OEM team in the first step to grow to 6 FTEs to meet the DSOR 50% organic software requirement. A Software Transition Plan was delivered by NG which outlines the plan for the software sustainment capability to be established within the Product Support Facility (PSF). An award to another source would require rework and redelivery of the transition plan and relocation of the already established 2 FTE from the 517th. Additionally, it would cause a substantial delay in the achievement of the EPS/EPS-R CAPS DSOR requirement by several years as a new contractor would have to learn the work before training and transitioning the work to any other organization.

Additionally, Space Norway provides payload anomaly troubleshooting and resolution support through their ticketing system Message Interface for Managing International Requests (MIMIR). In order for a contractor to utilize MIMIR and/or communicate with Space Norway, a Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) from the State Department must be in place. NG currently has a TAA in place and can communicate with Space Norway. However, Aleut Inc., the contractor currently operating and performing Level 1 support for EPS-R CAPS, does not hold a TAA with Space Norway. If the OEM is no longer the prime contractor for EPS-R CAPS, Aleut may be left without the ability to perform a portion of Level 1 troubleshooting

August 2023 SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE Page 9 of 9 tasks until they are able to obtain a TAA. Aleut has begun the TAA application process, but at the time this sustainment contract is expected to be awarded, the Government estimates Aleut will have approximately 6 additional months of coordination in which they could not perform Level 1 mission critical activities.

Finally, EPS-R CAPS is actively working a Cross Domain Solution (CDS) #2 upgrade with the EPS Payload (legacy) classified host. The upgrade is projected to be completed by January 2025. However, the previous CDS #1 upgrade took 2.5 years longer than expected due to operational risks and system impacts. CDS #2 has already experienced delays and is poised at medium risk to continue incurring delays, potentially pushing this effort into the new sustainment contract. By changing the EPS-R CAPS contractor, the CDS #2 effort could experience even further delays in implementing the CDS solution which would have rolling impacts to the classified host's mission.

IX. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Serco Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

X. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The current barrier to competition is due to manufacturer's proprietary software and data rights assertion for the payload.

On 30 July 2024, the Government requested the cost to purchase the necessary license rights to enable competition. NG responded that the process would take several months and would result in an “astronomical” cost. This cost would result in a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

The Government will continue to evaluate the required data rights for sustainment operations and request ROM's via this sustainment contract for necessary licenses in support of future full-and-open competitions for subsequent sustainment contracts.

XI. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.