JOFOC 80GRC025P0002 Signed Final.pdf

Rev.:5/2025

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

GLENN RESEARCH CENTER (GRC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For DEDICATED DIODE RUN PROCUREMENT

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC).

The procuring agency is the NASA, and the contracting activity is GRC.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award a sole-source contract to Raytheon (RTX) Advanced Technologies of Tewksbury, MA.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the

Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

NASA GRC has a requirement of procuring a dedicated Gallium Nitride (GaN) wafer fabrication run to provide diodes for integration in high power Rectenna arrays operating at 10 gigahertz (GHz) and above. NASA GRC is developing high power microwave power systems which requires these diodes to be used in the receiver as a rectifier that converts radio frequency (RF) energy to direct current (DC) energy. This work is to support power distribution on the Lunar and Martian surface. Microwave Power Beaming is directly called out in the Fiscal Year (FY) 26 Budget Technical Supplement as required technology to enable Lunar/Martin power distribution under the Space Technology Surface Infrastructure and Exploration (LIVE) program element.

The research and development of rectennas at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) requires advanced semiconductor technologies and simulation techniques developed at an advanced Gallium Nitride Foundry. NASA requires a custom GaN diode wafer run that will produce many thousand diodes for use in large rectenna arrays built at high frequency. The contractor must deliver no later than September 2026 with an estimated cost of $40 per diode, for a quantity of 7,000 diodes, totaling $280,000.

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)

(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The rationale supporting the use of 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) is Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements as described below.

RTX has previously provided us with samples of their advanced GaN diodes which we have extensively characterized and integrated into rectifiers showing cutting edge performance above any other device shown in literature. With their device samples we have (1) produced the highest recorded power density (780mW/cm2) of any RF rectifying circuit above 2.45 GHz documented in literature; (2) produced the highest recorded power density (575mW/cm2) while maintaining RF-to-DC efficiency above 50% above 2.45 GHz; and (3) provides the widest power density bandwidth of any known rectification circuit, (>700mW/cm2 power density bandwidth with efficiency >40%).

RTX’s GaN foundry is one of only a hand full of domestic GaN foundries with incredibly advanced capabilities based on their publications showing extremely high frequency and high power GaN performance. RTX is the sole vendor which has produced this specific device which can achieve this cutting-edge performance matched with the Government requirements based on historical precedents. Any other competing company would need to have similar devices already manufactured and tested that could meet the specifications outlined in the Statement of Work (SOW). It is unlikely for any company to produce a comparable device and deliver within the required timeframe unless they currently have them fabricated with measurements to prove they can meet the requirements. As outlined in Section 8 of this document, the Contracting Officer has conducted extensive market research to confirm this conclusion. Any delay in delivery risks the failure of NASA to produce usable microwave power beaming systems required to enable the planned Lunar/Martian power distribution architecture.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the 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 5.202 applies:

A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (Sam.gov) was published on June 27, 2025, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to RTX. The results of this synopsis are summarized in Section 10 below.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable.

A technical evaluation will be performed to determine whether the proposed prices are reasonable for the effort. Additionally, historical information from the previous contract(s) will be used as comparison, if available.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted (e.g., urgent, and compelling requirement):

In accordance with Overhauled FAR 10.002 (b)(2), market research was conducted based on:

(i) Contacting knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry regarding market capabilities to meet requirements.

The requester, who is also a subject matter expert, has extensive experience and knowledge of integration and testing of GaN devices such as building custom GaN amplifiers with GaN transistors. He has tested GaN transistor products from every available foundry in the United States and understands each foundries sophistication and capabilities. The requester has also tested all commercial GaN diodes available from these foundries. The GaN diodes needed have very specific performance requirements and the requester has determined that RTX is the only vendor with devices that currently exist meeting these performance requirements. Furthermore, the market research indicated that, RTX was the sole potential vendor with the GaN Schottky diodes with the adequate size of available inventory.

(ii) Reviewing systems such as the System for Award Management, the Federal Procurement Data System, and the Small Business Administration's Dynamic Small Business Search.

The Contracting Officer reviewed various Government databases to identify potential sources. As a result of the market research, three defense contractors were identified for potentially possessing the superior capabilities with significant investment in the foundry technology. However, RTX’s device performance was deemed to be aligned with the Government’s requirements.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

A notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action was synopsized with a SOW on the GPE website (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above). There was no response to the synopsis, suggesting that no potential sources were available to fulfill the agency requirements. The synopsis was posted on June 27, 2025 and closed on July 14, 2025.

The Government did not receive any response(s) challenging the intent to sole source to

RTX.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The Agency will continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions for the same requirements.