STIS_Sections_L_and_M_Amendment_002_Final.pdf

SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

L.1 SECTION L PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

52.204-7 SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (OCT 2018)

52.204-16 COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT ENTITY CODE

REPORTING (JUL 2016)

52.204-22 ALTERNATIVE LINE ITEM PROPOSAL (JAN 2017)

52.214-34 SUBMISSION OF OFFERS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (APR

1991)

52.214-35 SUBMISSION OF OFFERS IN U.S. CURRENCY (APR 1991)

52.215-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMPETITIVE

ACQUISITION (JAN 2017)

52.215-16 FACILITIES CAPITAL COST OF MONEY (JUN 2003)

52.215-20 REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA

AND DATA OTHER THAN CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA

(OCT 2010)

52.215-22 LIMITATIONS ON PASS-THROUGH CHARGES –

IDENTIFICATION OF SUBCONTRACT EFFORT (OCT 2009)

1852.227-71 REQUESTS FOR WAIVER OF RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS (APR

2015)

1852.228-80 INSURANCE – IMMUNITY FROM TORT LIABILITY (SEP 2000)

1852.233-70 PROTEST TO NASA

(End of clause)

L.2 52.215-20 REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA

AND DATA OTHER THAN CERTIFIED COST OR PRICING DATA –

ALTERNATE IV (OCT 2010)

(a) Submission of certified cost or pricing data is not required.

(b) Provide data described below: See information requested in Section L.16 COST VOLUME instructions.

(End of provision)

L.3 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

The Government contemplates award of a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contract resulting from this solicitation.

L.4 52.222-56 CERTIFICATION REGARDING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

COMPLIANCE PLAN (MAR 2015)

(a) The term “commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) item,” is defined in the clause of this solicitation entitled “Combating Trafficking in Persons” (FAR clause 52.222-50).

(b) The apparent successful Offeror shall submit, prior to award, a certification, as specified in paragraph (c) of this provision, for the portion (if any) of the contract that—

(1) Is for supplies, other than commercially available off-the-shelf items, to be acquired outside the United States, or services to be performed outside the United States; and

(2) Has an estimated value that exceeds $500,000.

(c) The certification shall state that—

(1) It has implemented a compliance plan to prevent any prohibited activities identified in paragraph (b) of the clause at 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons, and to monitor, detect, and terminate the contract with a subcontractor engaging in prohibited activities identified at paragraph (b) of the clause at 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons; and

(2) After having conducted due diligence, either—

(i) To the best of the Offeror's knowledge and belief, neither it nor any of its proposed agents, subcontractors, or their agents is engaged in any such activities; or

(ii) If abuses relating to any of the prohibited activities identified in 52.222-50(b) have been found, the Offeror or proposed subcontractor has taken the appropriate remedial and referral actions.

L.5 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from

Dock Master Goddard Space Flight Center Building 35-Shipping and Receiving Dock Greenbelt, MD 20771

Prominently mark the envelope or package as follows:

Protest: Solicitation Number 80GSFC20R0033

Attn: Makara Nevils, Mail Code: 210.6 Contract Specialist Phone: (301) 286-4909

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

L.6 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY

REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

For Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions, see https://www.acquisition.gov/?q=browsefar For NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) provisions, see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/nfstoc.htm

L.7 52.252-5 AUTHORIZED DEVIATIONS IN PROVISIONS (APR 1984)

(a) The use in this solicitation of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the date of the provision.

(b) The use in this solicitation of any NASA FAR Supplement (48 CFR Chapter 18) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the name of the regulation.

L.8 PROPOSAL PREPARATION – GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

It is NASA's intent, by providing the instructions set forth below, to solicit information that will demonstrate the Offeror's competence to successfully complete the requirements specified in the Statement of Work (SOW), Attachment A, Performance Specification, Attachment B, and other requirements documents. Generally, the proposal should:

• Demonstrate understanding of the overall and specific requirements of the proposed contract.

• Convey the company's capabilities for transforming understanding into accomplishment.

• Present in detail, the plans and methods for so doing.

• Present the costs associated with so doing.

In the event that other organizations are proposed as being involved in conducting this work, their relationships during the effort shall be explained and their proposed contributions shall be identified and integrated into each part of the proposal, as appropriate.

(a) PROPOSAL FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION

(1) Offerors shall submit proposals in four volumes as specified below:

Volume Title Copies

I Offer Volume Original plus one hardcopy and two electronic copies

II Mission Suitability Volume - Original plus two hardcopies and one electronic copy of narrative

III Cost Volume Original plus one hardcopy, and one electronic copy

IV Past Performance Volume Original plus two hardcopies and one electronic copy

(2) Prime Offerors and proposed Significant Subcontractors for Cost Volume proposal purposes (defined as set forth in the Cost Volume Instructions in Section L of this RFP) shall include one (1) additional separately packaged hardcopy of their Cost Volume proposal, marked “Enter correct RFP number/NASA Proposal Evaluation Material,” which the Government may use for audit support purposes.

(3) All pages of Volumes I, II, III, and IV shall be numbered and identified with the Offeror’s name, RFP number and date. Subsequent revisions, if requested, shall be similarly identified to show revision number and date. A table of contents shall be provided with figures and tables listed separately.

(4) Two electronic copies of the Offeror’s (Prime and proposed Significant Subcontractors) proposal, designating one as “back-up,” shall be submitted (in addition to the hardcopies specified above) in Microsoft Office Word (compatible with Word 2010) or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) (compatible with version X). Offerors shall submit all Cost Volume exhibits in Microsoft Office Excel format (compatible with Excel 2010) and the exhibits shall contain all formulas. Instructions for converting from PDF format to Excel can be found in the Cost Volume Instructions provision. DO NOT password protect any portion of your electronic submission.

Electronic files of Volumes I, II, III, and IV shall be on virus free CD-ROM (CD-R format) discs with an external label indicating: (1) the name of the Offeror, (2) the RFP number, (3) the format and software versions used, (4) a list of the files contained on the disk and (5) date of the information. The Offeror shall provide written documentation that describes the contents of each CD-ROM and of each file. In the event of any inconsistency between data provided on electronic media and hardcopies, the hardcopy data will be considered to be correct. The Offeror must certify that the electronic medium is virus free.

(5) The format for each proposal volume shall parallel, to the greatest extent possible, the format of the evaluation factors and subfactors contained in Section L of this solicitation.

The proposal content shall provide a basis for evaluation against the requirements of the solicitation. Each volume of the proposal shall specify the relevant evaluation criteria being addressed, if appropriate. The proposal shall include a matrix showing where in the proposal the technical requirements of the instrument and the evaluation criteria of this RFP are satisfied (i.e. SOW element versus Offeror's proposal page numbers). It is intended that this be a simple matrix that should in no way inhibit an innovative approach or burden the Offeror. This proposal matrix is excluded from the page limitations contained in 1852.215-81(a) below.

(6) Information shall be precise, factual, detailed and complete. Offerors shall not assume that the evaluation team is aware of company abilities, capabilities, plans, facilities, organization or any other pertinent fact that is important to accomplishment of the work as specified in the technical requirements documents. The evaluation will be based primarily on the information presented in the written proposal. The proposal shall specifically address each listed evaluation factor.

L.9 1852.215-81 PROPOSAL PAGE LIMITATIONS (APR 2015)

(a) The following page limitations are established for each portion of the proposal submitted in response to this solicitation.

Proposal Component Volume Reference Page Limitations

Offer Volume I L.12 None Mission Suitability Volume II L.14 45 Pages

Cover Page, Tables of Contents, Time-Phased Activity and Milestone Schedule, Master Equipment List (MEL), and Small Business Subcontracting Plan

II.a Excluded

Proposal Component Volume Reference Page Limitations

SPEC Compliance Matrix II.a 5 Pages Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) II.b Excluded

Cost Volume III L.16 Mixed

(b) Cost spreadsheets None

(c) Basis of Estimates 3 Pages per

WBS Level* Past Performance Volume IV L.17 Mixed

(a) Information from the Offeror 25 Pages**

(b) Cover Page, Indices, Small Business Subcontracting Plan History, Customer Evaluations, Termination/Descope information, and List of Acronyms

Excluded

* Total to include Prime and Significant Subcontractors ** Prime and Significant subcontractors each

(b) A page is defined as one side of sheet, 81⁄2 ″ × 11″, with at least one inch margins on all sides, using not smaller than 12 point type Times New Roman font.

Foldouts count as an equivalent number of 81⁄2 ″ × 11″ pages. The metric standard format most closely approximating the described standard 81⁄2 ″ × 11″ size may also be used. Line spacing or the amount of vertical space between lines of text shall not be less than single line (Microsoft Office Word’s default line spacing).

Character spacing shall be “Normal”, not “Expanded” or “Condensed.” The margins may contain headers and footers, but shall not contain any proposal content to be evaluated. The excel exhibits provided are formatted using 9-12 point type Arial font. Other limitations/instructions identified as follows:

Volumes I, II, III, and IV shall be submitted in separate ringed (or similarly bound) binders. Diagrams, tables, artwork, and photographs may be reduced and, if necessary, run landscape or folded to eliminate oversize pages. Text in Diagrams, schedules, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs shall be no smaller than 10 point. Diagrams, tables, artwork, and photographs shall not be used to circumvent the text size limitations of the proposal.

(c) All exclusions to the page limits that are excluded from the page counts specified in paragraph (a) of this provision (e.g. title pages, table of contents) are listed above. In addition, the Cost section of your proposal, other than the BOE, is not page limited. However, this section is to be strictly limited to cost and price information. Information that can be construed as belonging in one of the other sections of the proposal will be so construed and counted against that section's page limitation.

(d) The Government intends to evaluate proposals and award contract(s) without discussions with Offerors (except clarifications as described in FAR 15.306(a)).

Therefore, the Offeror's initial proposal should contain the Offeror's best terms from a cost or price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. If discussions are held and final proposal revisions are requested, the Government will specify separate page limitations in its request for that submission.

(e) If final proposal revisions are requested, separate page limitations will be specified in the Government's request for that submission.

(f) Pages submitted in excess of the limitations specified in this provision will not be evaluated by the Government and will be returned to the offeror.

L.10 GSFC 52.215-200 COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING THIS

SOLICITATION (SEP 2017)

Any questions or comments regarding this solicitation shall cite the solicitation number and be directed to the following Government representative:

Name: Makara Nevils

Phone: (301) 286-4909 (collect calls not accepted)

E-Mail: makara.k.nevils@nasa.gov

L.11 RESERVED

L.12 GSFC 52.215-203 OFFER VOLUME (MAR 2019)

This must be a separate volume.

(a) STANDARD FORM (SF) 33, OFFEROR FILL INS AND SECTION K

Blocks 12 through 18 of the SF 33 and the indicated Offeror required fill-ins in Sections B-K must be completed. The signed SF33 and the pages with the required fill-ins must be submitted. Annual representations and certifications shall be completed electronically via the System for Awards Management (SAM) web site accessed through https://www.acquisition.gov, in accordance with Section K provision FAR 52.204-8, Annual Representations and Certifications. The balance of the solicitation need not be returned unless the Offeror has made changes to other pages that will constitute part of the contract. Any such changes must be separately identified in the Summary of Exceptions. All SF 33s require original signatures.

(1) It is requested that Offerors indicate, in Block 12 of the SF 33, a proposal validity period of 90 days. However, in accordance with paragraph (d) of FAR provision 52.215- 1, “Instructions to Offerors--Competitive Acquisitions,” a different validity period may be proposed by the Offeror.

(2) Provide the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of persons to be contacted for clarification of questions of a technical nature and business nature. Identify any consultants and/or subcontractors used in writing this proposal (if any) and the extent to which their services will be available in the subsequent performance of this effort.

The contract schedule refers to TBD and TBP. They are defined as follows:

TBD = TO BE DETERMINED BY THE GOVERNMENT

TBP = TO BE PROPOSED BY THE CONTRACTOR

(b) SUMMARY OF EXCEPTIONS

Include a statement of acceptance of the anticipated contract provisions and proposed contract schedule, or list all specific exceptions to the terms, conditions, and requirements of Sections A through J of this solicitation, to the Representations and Certifications (Section K) or to the information requested in Section L. Include the reason for the exception, new terms, conditions, and/or clauses, including any proposed benefit to the Government. This list must include all exception(s), deviation(s) and/or conditional assumptions taken.

Offerors are cautioned that exceptions or new terms, conditions, or clauses may result in a determination of proposal unacceptability (NFS 1815.305-70), may preclude award to an Offeror if award is made without discussions, or may otherwise affect an Offeror’s competitive standing.

(c) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE FURNISHED

(1) Business Systems

State whether all business systems, including but not limited to accounting, property control, purchasing, estimating, and employee compensation, which require Government acceptance or approval (as applicable) are currently accepted/approved without condition.

Provide the date of acceptance/approval for each system and the cognizant contract administration office. Explain any existing conditional acceptances/approvals and the compliance status of any systems(s) for which acceptance or approval is currently withheld.

FAR 16.301-3 requires that a contractor's accounting system be adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract prior to the award of a cost-reimbursement contract. The Offeror shall provide evidence of an adequate accounting system as determined by the cognizant administrative office for accumulating and reporting incurred costs. If an Offeror is relying on the accounting system adequacy of a Joint Venture team member, sister company, or any other affiliated company’s accounting system, they must specifically assert such an intended reliance for the performance of this contract and must demonstrate a convincing basis for using that system as a source for determining their own adequacy in this proposal volume. An adequate accounting system is not an evaluation criterion. It is a basic contract requirement with a pass/fail determination. A contract may only be awarded to the Offeror(s) who are determined to have an adequate accounting system.

Offerors who do not have an adequate accounting system determination shall provide evidence of any independent audit and system approvals as well as documented system ability to segregate and accrue costs by contract.

(2) Contract Administration

Furnish the information listed below:

a. Cognizant Government audit agency with mailing address, email address, telephone number, and fax number.

b. Cognizant Government inspection agency with mailing address, email address, telephone number, and fax number.

c. Cognizant Government Administrative Contracting Officer by name with mailing address, email address, telephone number, and fax number.

(3) Responsibility Information Provide information addressing all of the elements under FAR 9.104 to demonstrate responsibility (address the elements under this section that are not addressed in another proposal volume).

(4) Taxpayer Identification Number

Prime Offerors shall provide their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) (the number required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to be used by the Offeror in reporting income tax and other returns).

(5) Waiver of Rights to Inventions

This solicitation contains NFS clause 1852.227-70, “New Technology—Other than a Small Business Firm or Nonprofit Organization” and NFS provision 1852.227-71, “Request for Waiver to Rights to Inventions”. Any petitions for advance (prior to contract execution) waiver of rights to inventions should be included in this volume.

(6) Cost Accounting Standards

State whether the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Disclosure Statement represented in Section K FAR provision 52.230-1, Cost Accounting Standards Notices and Certifications, has been approved by the cognizant Administrative Contracting Officer, and provide the date of such approval. If your CAS Disclosure Statement is currently not approved or there are some existing CAS non-compliance findings, please provide detailed explanation of the CAS non-compliance issues, corrective action status, and any potential impact on this procurement. If the Offeror has not submitted a Disclosure Statement, but would fall under CAS compliance if awarded the resultant contract, then a CAS Disclosure Statement shall be submitted as part of your proposal in this volume.

The Government will forward the Disclosure Statement to the cognizant contract administration office with its request for review of the submitted CAS Disclosure Statement.

(7) Information Technology (IT) Security Management Plan

In accordance with NFS clause 1852.204-76, Security Requirements for Unclassified Information Technology Resources, within 30 days after the contract effective date, the successful contractor shall submit for NASA approval a comprehensive IT Security Management Plan, which will be incorporated into the contract under Clause J.1 as Attachment H. The Contracting Officer will review the plan for completeness and identify to the Contractor substantive weaknesses and omissions for necessary correction.

Once the Contractor has corrected the substantive weaknesses and omissions, the Contracting Officer shall incorporate the approved plan into the contract as a compliance document. The information to be included in this plan is outlined in Enclosure 2, Information Technology Security Management Plan, which is provided for information purposes at this time and shall be used by the successful offeror to prepare their plan.

L.13 GSFC 52.215-205 PROPOSAL MARKING AND DELIVERY (SEP 2014)

(Offeror: You MUST comply with these instructions to ensure that the designated receiving office can identify, date and time mark, secure, and deliver your proposal to the Contracting Officer.)

(a) External Marking of Proposal Package(s)

All proposal packages must be closed and sealed.

The proposal package must include the offeror’s name and return mailing address.

The required mailing address and external marking for proposals is as follows:

Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771 Building 35 — Shipping and Receiving Dock Solicitation Number 80GSFC20R0033 Attn: Makara Nevils Building 22, Room112

PROPOSAL--DELIVER UNOPENED"

Suggested additional marking if delivery is made by a commercial delivery service:

"COMMERCIAL DELIVERY PERSONNEL: THIS PROPOSAL MUST BE

DELIVERED TO THE DOCK MASTER, BUILDING 35 SHIPPING AND

RECEIVING DOCK, NO LATER THAN (OFFEROR—ENTER DATE AND TIME).”

(b) Designated Receiving Office

(2) The designated receiving office for proposals is the Shipping and Receiving Dock, Building 35, Goddard Space Flight Center, which must be accessed via the access road off of Good Luck Road and requires entry via the security guard gate. Proposals must be received at the designated receiving office no later than the date and time stated on the solicitation face page.

The Building 35 Shipping and Receiving dock is open from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday, except Government holidays. Contractor personnel conduct the GSFC receiving function, which includes mailroom operations. Proposals must be marked with the date and time of receipt, subjected to security screening, secured, and delivered unopened to the Contracting Officer.

There is public access to the Building 35 Shipping and Receiving Dock after entering the Building 35 security gate. All deliveries are subject to GSFC Security screening.

(c) Methods of Proposal Delivery

There are three suggested methods of delivery to the designated proposal receiving office:

U.S. Postal Service Express Mail Commercial Delivery Service Delivery by company employee or other individual agent

It is highly encouraged for all offerors to use U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or

Commercial Delivery Services.

Regardless of the method of delivery chosen, the offeror is responsible for delivery of the proposal to the designated receiving office no later than the date and time stated on the face page of the solicitation.

L.14 GSFC 52.215-210 MISSION SUITABILITY PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

(COMPETITIVE) (NOV 2017)

Contents of Mission Suitability Volume Instructions

(a) General Instructions

(b) Mission Suitability Volume Format

(c) Mission Suitability Instructions

(a) General Instructions

The Mission Suitability Volume should be specific, detailed, and provide all the information requested by these instructions. The Mission Suitability Volume must demonstrate that the Offeror understands the requirements and has the ability to meet the requirements. General statements such as the "requirements are understood", "standard procedures will be employed", or and "well-known techniques will be used" are not adequate. Also, restatement or paraphrasing of the requirements should be avoided.

Information previously submitted, if any, will not be considered unless it is resubmitted as part of the Mission Suitability Volume. It must not be incorporated by reference.

Enhancements:

Although the Government does not encourage/discourage enhancements to the contract’s technical performance documents (e.g. Statement of Work, Specification, etc.), Offerors may choose to propose performance enhancements. In order for the Government to consider a proposed enhancement’s value, the Offeror must clearly define the enhancement(s) in Contract Attachment J, “Contractor Proposed Enhancements.” In addition, the Offeror must describe the associated benefit(s) of the proposed enhancement(s) in its Mission Suitability Volume under the applicable Mission Suitability subfactor(s). The Offeror shall include Contract Attachment J as part of the model contract in the Offer Volume of the proposal. The Offeror may receive credit for the proposed enhancement(s) only to the extent of its description in Attachment J and the associated benefits explained in its Mission Suitability Volume. Inconsistent statements about any enhancement(s) in an Offeror’s proposal may result in a neutral or negative evaluation by the Government. Any enhancement(s) may result in a positive, neutral, or negative evaluation in spite of the Governments right to waive an enhancement(s) during contract performance in accordance with the GSFC 52.211-100, “Contractor Proposed

Enhancements,” clause in Section H of the contract. If the successful offer does not include any proposed enhancements, GSFC clause 52.211-100 and Attachment J will be removed from the resultant contract.

(b) Mission Suitability Volume Format

Offerors shall include a table detailing where in your proposal all information specified in L.14, Mission Suitability, are contained. This table will be used by the evaluators to better understand the specific structure of your proposal. This table will not be counted against the page limit of the Mission Suitability proposal.

(c) Mission Suitability Instructions

The paragraph numbers and indentations/bullets within these instructions should not be construed as any indication of priority, weighting, or as any establishment of elements of lower level criteria. The numbering and indentations/bullets are provided only for clarity, traceability, and ease of reading between Mission Suitability Sections L and M.

1. MISSION SUITABILITY

1.1 TECHNICAL APPROACH – Discuss your understanding of the requirement and how you would accomplish the work. Provide an overview of the proposed approach and solution. Discuss heritage approaches, designs, and technical performance expected to be employed for the STIS instrument development, delivery and performance.

1.2. RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH AND RISK MITIGATION - Analyze and discuss all potential or expected technical, technological and programmatic risks, including but not limited to, risks associated with new technology, cost, schedule, partners/subcontracts, manufacturing, material acquisition, supply chain, parts/assemblies/materials spares and obsolescence, access to resources, facilities, and expertise. Provide a matrix showing ranking of risk (e.g., high, medium, low), probability of occurrence, program impact and risk mitigation approach.

1.3 MODEL STRATEGY - Identify and describe any engineering units (e.g., breadboards, brassboard, subassemblies, assembly fidelity, etc.) to be built and tested.

Discuss life-testing program, including schedule. Discuss how these engineering units will be utilized. Identify and discuss long lead procurements. Discuss what long lead procurements must be placed prior to completion of engineering unit testing.

1.4 SPARES - Discuss the STIS spares program and philosophy, as costed in the proposal. Describe the level of assembly, testing and maintenance of spares.

1.5 SCHEDULE - Provide a detailed schedule consistent with the CDRL 009, at the instrument and subsystem level, showing the critical path for the development of the STIS from contract award through delivery of the flight model (FM). Define all slack/float for all major aspects of the schedule. Offerors are encouraged to propose a schedule that can be completed earlier than the contract requirements, if that schedule can be adequately supported.

1.6 MAGNETIC CLEANLINESS – Explain the proposed strategy/approach to proactively assure meeting the STIS magnetic field cleanliness requirements as identified in CDRL 59, Magnetic Control Plan.

1.7 ALGORITHM AND CALIBRATION COEFFICIENT DEVELOPMENT – Explain the proposed strategy/approach to sensor processing algorithm and calibration factors development and verification as described in CDRLs 64-67, Calibration Program Plan, Calibration Databases, Ground Processing Algorithm Development, and Algorithms Test and Validation Plan, respectively.

1.8 CLASS C WITH 5-YEAR OPERATIONAL LIFE – Explain the proposed strategy/approach to developing and meeting NASA Payload Risk Classification C for a 5-year mission operational life at the Lagrange-1 orbit to include the approach to system reliability assumptions and assessments as described in CDRLs 85, Reliability Predictions, and 87, Limited Life Items List, and the design approach to parts/components selection, redundancy and cross-strapping methods.

1.9 SPEC COMPLIANCE – Provide a matrix to demonstrate compliance with STIS SPEC requirements.

1.10 QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN - The Offeror shall submit a written Contractor Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) that shall identify the Offeror’s approach to ensuring quality services throughout the duration of the contract. Specifically, the Offeror shall identify its procedure(s) for continually monitoring, surveilling, identifying and correcting deficiencies. The QAP shall describe the Offeror's method(s) (i.e. 100% inspection, planned sampling, random sampling, customer complaints, or incidental inspections) to determine whether performance requirements in the SOW are met. The QAP shall describe whether measurements of performance are subjective or objective and shall identify the quality, quantity, and timeliness of the services to be provided. The QAP will be incorporated into the contract as an Attachment.

1.11 SMALL BUSINESS UTILIZATION

All Offerors, except small businesses, shall complete the portion of the instructions under Small Business Subcontracting specific to Small Business Subcontracting Plans. Small businesses are not required to submit Small Business Subcontracting Plans; however, small businesses shall indicate the amount of effort proposed to be done by a small business either at the prime level or at the first-tier subcontract level.

All Offerors (small businesses and other than small businesses) shall respond to the Commitment to Small Business Program.

(a) Small Business Subcontracting Plan

(1) This solicitation contains FAR clause 52.219-9 (Deviation)--Alternate II, “Small Business Subcontracting Plan”. The Plan described and required by the clause, including the associated subcontracting percentage goals and subcontracting dollars, shall be submitted with the proposal.

(2) The Contracting Officer’s assessment of appropriate subcontracting goals for this acquisition, EXPRESSED AS A PERCENT OF CONTRACT VALUE, is as follows:

Small Businesses (SB) 6.0% Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) Concerns 1.5% Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) Concerns 1.0% Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/ Minority Serving

Institutions (MSI) 0.5% HUBZone Small Business (HBZ) Concerns 0.5% Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) Concerns 1.5% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Concerns 0.5%

(3) The numbers above reflect the Contracting Officer’s assessment of the appropriate subcontracting goals to be achieved at the completion of contract performance. When appropriate, an Offeror may discuss plans to phase-in small business concerns, explaining the rationale for the phase-in schedule. If the Offeror anticipates that it will not meet the proposed small business goals by the time the Offeror submits its first Individual Subcontracting Report (ISR) for this effort as required by FAR clause 52.219- 9 (Deviation), Small Business Subcontracting Plan, the Offeror should discuss its approach to include a timeline for meeting these goals and the associated rationale.

(4) Offerors are encouraged to propose goals that are equivalent to or greater than those that the Contracting Officer has recommended. However, Offerors shall perform their own independent assessments of the small business subcontracting opportunities and are encouraged to propose goals exceeding the recommended goals where practical.

(5) The Plan that the Offeror submits with its proposal shall be incorporated in Section J as Attachment F in the resulting contract. The requirements in the Plan shall flow down to first tier large business subcontracts expected to exceed $700,000 (or $1,500,000 for construction of a public facility). Although these first tier large business subcontractors are encouraged to meet or exceed the stated goals, NASA recognizes that the subcontracting opportunities available to these subcontractors may differ from the recommended goals in the solicitation based upon the nature of their respective performance requirements.

(6) Offerors are advised that a proposal will not be rejected solely because the Plan submitted does not meet the NASA recommended goals listed in paragraph

(a) (2) above in terms of percent of the TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE. NASA will consider the amount of work that the prime contractor plans to perform when determining whether a subcontracting plan is acceptable. Offerors shall discuss the rationale for any goal proposed that is less than the Contracting Officer’s recommended goal in any category. In addition, the Offeror shall describe the efforts made to establish a goal for that category and what ongoing efforts, if any, the Offeror plans during contract performance to increase participation in that category.

(7) In addition to submitting a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with the Section I, FAR clause 52.219-9 (Deviation)--Alternate II, Offerors shall complete Exhibit 1, SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN GOALS, which provide a breakdown of the Offeror’s proposed goals, by small business category, expressed in terms of both a percent of the TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE and a percent of TOTAL PLANNED SUBCONTRACTS.

Offerors shall show the proposed subcontracting goals for the basic contract requirement and each option separately.

(NOTE: FOR PURPOSES OF THE SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING

PLAN, THE PROPOSED GOALS SHALL BE STATED AS A PERCENT OF

TOTAL SUBCONTRACTS, NOT AS A PERCENT OF THE TOTAL

CONTRACT VALUE, REFER TO THE BELOW EXAMPLE)

Example of Subcontracting Goals as expressed in both the Total Contract Value and Planned Subcontract Value for a Total Contract value of $100M and planned subcontract value of $50M.

Column A Column B Column C

Category Percent of Total Contract Value

Dollar Value

Percent of Subcontracting

Value Small Business (SB) Concerns 25 percent $25,000,000 50 percent Other than Small Business Concerns N/A $25,000,000 50 percent Total Dollars to be Subcontracted N/A $50,000,000 100 percent The following small business subcategories do not necessarily add up to the percentage and dollar amount in the “Small Business Concerns” category above, since some small businesses do not fall into any of the subcategories below, while others will fall into more than one subcategory below.

Small Disadvantaged Business (SBD) Concerns

5.5 percent $5,500,000 11 percent

Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Concerns

9 percent $9,000,000 18 percent

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Serving Institutions (MSI)

1.5 percent $1,500,000 3 percent

HUBZone (HBZ) Small Business Concerns 1.5 percent $1,500,000 3 percent Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) Concerns

2.5 percent $2,500,000 5 percent

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Concerns

1.5 percent $1,500,000 3 percent

The Offeror proposes small business subcontracting goals as a percentage of the Total Contract Value in column A.

Then based on the $100 million Total Contract Value, the resulting statement of dollars that the Offeror would include in the Subcontracting Plan, as required by paragraph (d)(2) of FAR clause 52.219-9 (Deviation)—Alternate II, would be as indicated in column B.

However, the Small Business Subcontracting Plan shall also express goals as a percent of total planned subcontracts. Assuming total subcontracting of $50M, the resulting percentage goals, expressed as a percent of total subcontract dollars, and which would be stated in the Small Business Subcontracting Plan as required by paragraph (d)(1) FAR clause 52.219-9 (Deviation)--Alternate II would be recorded in column C.

(b) Commitment to the Small Business Program

(1) All Offerors must briefly describe the work that small businesses will perform to meet the stated requirements. Proposals shall also identify any work to be subcontracted that is considered “High Technology.” “High Technology” is defined as research and development efforts that are within or advance the state-of-the-art in technology discipline and are performed primarily by professional engineers, scientists, and highly skilled and trained technicians or specialists.

(2) If the subcontractor(s) is known, Offerors shall describe the work that each subcontractor will perform and specify the extent of commitment to use the subcontractor(s) (enforceable vs. non-enforceable commitments). (Small Business Offerors shall provide this information to the extent that subcontracting opportunities exist in their approach to performing the requirement.)

(3) All Offerors shall provide information demonstrating the extent of commitment to utilize small business concerns and to support their development.

Information provided shall include a brief description of established or planned procedures and organizational structure for Small Business outreach, assistance, counseling, market research and Small Business identification, and relevant purchasing procedures. (For Other than Small Business Offerors, this information shall conform to applicable portions of the submitted Small Business Subcontracting Plan. Small Business Offerors shall provide this information to the extent subcontracting opportunities exist in their approach to performing the requirement.)

(4) The NASA Mentor-Protégé Program is designed to incentivize NASA large prime contractors to assist a Small Disadvantaged Business, a Women-Owned Small Business, a HUBZone Small Business, a Veteran-Owned or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, or Historically Black College and University/Minority Serving Institution in enhancing their capabilities to perform NASA contracts and subcontracts, foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between these entities and NASA large prime contractors, and increase the overall number of these entities that receive NASA contract and subcontract awards. Provide a description of the prime’s planned participation in the NASA Mentor Protégé Program.

Deviations/Exceptions (Mission Suitability Proposal)

Identify and explain the reason for any deviations, exceptions, or conditional assumptions taken with respect to these Mission Suitability proposal instructions or to any of the technical requirements of this solicitation, such as the statement of work and related specifications.

L.15 RESERVED

L.16 GSFC 52.215-221 COST VOLUME INSTRUCTIONS (DEC 2018)

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires Contracting Officers to purchase supplies and services from responsible sources at fair and reasonable prices. It is expected that adequate price competition will be obtained under this solicitation so that submission of certified cost or pricing data is not required pursuant to FAR 52.215-20, Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified Cost or Pricing Data-- Alternate IV. The term “data other than certified cost or pricing data” is defined at FAR 2.101.

(a) Instructions

An important prerequisite for the award of the contract is the Prime Offeror must have an accounting system that has been determined adequate by the cognizant administrative office for accumulating and reporting incurred costs prior to contract award. If an Offeror is relying on the accounting system adequacy of a Joint Venture team member, sister company, or any other affiliated company’s accounting system, they must specifically assert (in the submitted Offer Volume) such an intended reliance for the performance of the contract and must demonstrate a convincing basis for using that system as a source for determining their own adequacy.

While these proposals are not required to be cost certified, they are to be in sufficient detail to allow direct and indirect rate verification and audit of selected costs. The Cost Volume proposal should be prepared in a manner consistent with your current accounting system.

The contract resulting from this solicitation is potentially subject to Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance, unless the Offeror qualifies for a CAS exemption. Offerors shall determine CAS applicability (full or modified CAS coverage) for its proposing business unit based on applicability criteria. If full CAS coverage applies to the Offeror and it has not submitted a Disclosure Statement that has been deemed adequate by its cognizant contract administration entity (typically DCMA), then a Disclosure Statement shall be prepared in support of the Offeror’s proposal. While CAS Disclosure Statements are not evaluated by NASA, their evaluation must be coordinated between NASA and the cognizant contract administration entity; as such, the CAS Disclosure Statement shall be submitted to NASA with the proposal in the Offer Volume.

The required format for other than certified cost or pricing data is for evaluation purposes. The cost for any resultant contract will be awarded on the basis of the successful Offeror's normal estimating and/or accounting system or the system set forth in the CAS Disclosure Statement required by Public Law 100-679, if applicable. If the Offeror's estimating and/or accounting practice differs from the required Cost Volume proposal format, the costs should be computed in accordance with the Offeror's normal accounting and estimating procedures and provide your rationale for the format adjustments.

Direct labor must be estimated on the basis of productive effo1t. Productive effort is the estimated number of hours required to perfo1mthe work. Vacations, holidays, sick leave, and any other paid absences shall not be cited as direct labor, but shall be separately identified and priced or included in indirect costs.

Final monetary extensions in the Cost Volume proposal should be expressed as the closest whole dollar amount, with cents omitted.

Duty charges, if any, shall be included in the cost, regardless of whether or not duty free ce1iificates are obtained.

A "subcontract" is any contract, purchase order, material order, interorganizational transfer, etc. that is a direct cost to this acquisition. The Offeror shall provide sufficient detail to suppo1i and explain all costs proposed. For the purposes of the Cost Volume, a Significant Subcontractor is defined as any subcontractor whose estimated value causes the cumulative percentage of subcontractor work (from lowest to highest percentage of work) to meet or exceed 20% of the total estimated value (basic and all options combined, if applicable). All values are inclusive of fee.

Example 1:

Individual Subcontractor Cumulative Subcontractor Percentage of Subcontractor Name Work Percenta2e of Work Subcontractor A 0.5% 0.5% Subcontractor B 2.0% 2.5% Subcontractor C 4.5% 7.0% Subcontractor D 5.3% 12.3% packaged copy of their Cost Volume proposal marked “Enter correct RFP number/NASA Proposal Evaluation Material,” which the Government may use for audit support purposes.

All pricing and estimating techniques shall be clearly explained in detail (projections, rates, ratios, percentages, factors, etc.) and shall support the proposed costs in such a manner that audit, computation, and verification can be accomplished. All past actuals shall show the periods of time and costs in detail when used as a basis for estimating the proposed costs.

In order to establish the reasonableness and realism of the proposed costs, and the extent to which costs reflect performance addressed in the Mission Suitability Volume proposal, each Offeror, including proposed Significant Subcontractors and Non-Significant Subcontractors, shall submit the required other than certified cost or pricing data (exhibits and supporting narrative) set forth in this provision. These data requirements differ by Prime Offeror, Significant Subcontractors, and Non-Significant Subcontractors as indicated in Section (b) below.

(b) Cost Volume Proposal Format – The Offeror shall provide a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet portion of its cost proposal with all formulas remaining intact.

(1) DIRECT AND INDIRECT RATE SUBSTANTIATION

The contractor (prime offeror and significant subcontractors) shall provide the basis of the labor rates proposed. If salary surveys were used as the basis for the proposed direct labor rates, provide a summarization of all salary surveys used, including the name, date of survey, geography, survey labor categories, survey percentiles, and survey salaries. If proposing a salary lower than the median, identify the median and provide rationale.

The escalation proposed for labor must be stated along with the actual escalation experienced in the last three years. Provide a statement of rationale, including the derivation, for the proposed escalation rates. If escalation is not proposed, explain why. The Offeror shall also discuss the rationale for any escalation proposed for the other cost elements. The Offeror shall also include the company's escalation history for each other cost element experienced in the past three years.

The contractor shall provide the basis of all indirect rates proposed.

(2) PRIME OFFEROR SUMMARY OF ESTIMATED COST PLUS FIXED FEE

A Tab of the provided spreadsheet shall summarize the Prime Offeror’s proposed total direct labor hours (Prime Offeror and Significant Subcontractors), total estimated cost and fixed fee, by Contractor Fiscal Year (CFY) for the total contract based on bid labor and bid indirect burden rates, including a summation column and the estimate for the special studies pool for a baseline of 2,000 hours.

(3) DIRECT LABOR HOURS, DIRECT LABOR RATES, AND DIRECT LABOR

COSTS DETAIL

A Tab shall show the Direct Labor Hours, Direct Labor Hourly Rates, and Direct Labor Costs for each individual direct labor category by CFY at WBS Level 2 and then summarizing for each higher WBS Level up to WBS Level 1 (total contract).

(4) SUMMARY OF RECURRING OTHER DIRECT COSTS (ODCs)/COST ESTIMATING RELATIONSHIPS (CERs)

A Tab shall show any recurring ODCs (e.g. computer usage, program management, depreciation, administrative support, etc.) routinely bid on an established Cost Estimating Relationship (CER) in accordance with your current accounting system.

In this exhibit, the Offerors shall show the percentage, rate, and/or dollar amount used, as well as, a detailed explanation of the basis of application and estimating approaches and assumptions.

If all recurring ODCs are included in your indirect expenses, DO NOT remove them from your indirect pools and include them in this tab. If you do not have any established CERs, insert “NONE” in this tab.

(5) OTHER SUBCONTRACTS

A Tab of the spreadsheet shall summarize each other efforts/activities that the Offeror proposes to subcontract out by CFY at WBS Level 2 to subcontractors that do not meet the Significant Subcontract definition in Section (a) of this provision.

(6) MATERIAL ITEMS

A Tab shall detail the proposed material items (description, unit cost and quantity) and costs by CFY at WBS Level 2.

(7) TRAVEL

A Tab shall detail the proposed travel costs (trip purpose, destination, number of travelers and duration) by CFY at WBS Level 2.

(8) OTHER DIRECT COSTS (ODCs)

A Tab shall detail the proposed other direct cost items (description, unit cost if applicable and quantity) and costs by CFY at WBS Level 2.

(9) CONTRACTOR PROPOSED ENHANCEMENTS

A Tab shall include the estimated cost of each contractor-proposed enhancement offered in Attachment J.

(10) SMALL BUSINESS SUBCONTRACTING PLAN GOALS

The Offeror shall complete Exhibit 1, which provides a breakdown of the Offeror’s proposed goals, by small business category, expressed in terms of both a percent of the TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE and a percent of TOTAL PLANNED

SUBCONTRACTS.

(11) DCAA AND DCMA INFORMATION

Offerors shall provide the point of contact information necessary to contact appropriate audit authorities regarding the Offeror’s business systems, status of financial disclosures, negotiated forward pricing rates, etc. Offerors must ensure that the information provide is current and accurate.

(12) BASIS OF ESTIMATES (BOE)

The BOEs are to be submitted for the base potential period of performance at the lowest WBS Level only (WBS Level 2). The Offeror shall give the Government insight into the cost estimating thought processes and methodologies used by the Offeror in estimating the quantities of labor hours/costs, other direct costs, etc.

required for successful performance by elements of cost. Emphasis should be placed on a description of the cost estimating processes and methodologies themselves, and how these relate to the technical approach described in the proposal.