Enclosure 1 (Top Program Technical Challenges).pdf

SOLICITATION NUMBER 80GSFC21R0037

NASA SOUNDING ROCKET OPERATIONS CONTRACT IV

(NSROC IV)

ENCLOSURE 1

TOP PROGRAM CHALLENGES

JULY 2021

Solicitation No. 80GSFC21R0037 NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract IV ENCLOSURE 1 – Top Program Challenges

ENCLOSURE 1

TOP PROGRAM CHALLENGES

1. Civil Servant Mission Managers

Background: One of the major changes implemented in the NSROC IV contract is incorporating

Civil Servant (CS) Mission Managers (MM) into the process of executing missions. The CS MM will work closely with the NSROC mission team on a day-to-day basis to implement mission requirements throughout the mission lifecycle. The goals of this change are to provide a direct government interface with the Principal Investigator, provide more insight into individual mission risks, and retention of mission execution expertise within the government workforce. This change will also allow the contractor to focus more on the technical aspects of mission execution while the CS MM will concentrate more on management functions such as schedule, documentation, risks, and reporting. The Contractor will assign a mission team of technical discipline experts to design, build, test, and launch each respective mission under this contract.

Each mission team will be led by a CS MM. However, it is not permissible for a Civil Servant to direct the Contractor on a day-to-day basis and more especially directing the contractor how to do a specific task or job. As detailed in section 1.0 of the SOW, the NSRP operates in a research and development environment and as such, technical issues and anomalies often occur with newly developed instruments and hardware which often necessitates frequent changes affecting the design and/or overall mission schedule.

Challenge: Each Offeror shall provide a narrative describing its approach to effectively and efficiently integrate the contractor discipline engineers/technicians into a cohesive mission team led by the CS MM. The narrative should describe how the Offeror proposes to proactively work and communicate with the CS MM to develop requirements, design solutions, optimize schedule priorities, manage risks and issues, and to affect/implement changes when they are required to meet mission and or schedule objectives. The challenge is to efficiently and effectively implement changes that routinely result from schedule or technical issues during mission execution and communicating with the Offerors organization and with the CS MM to ensure smooth process flow and issue/risk tracking and closure.

For field operations, the CS Mission Manager may often have to make decisions to address programmatic or technical risks or issues that result in disruptions to established plans and schedules. Subsystem technical issues may also arise resulting in the same disruptions to established plans. As part of the Offeror’s response to this challenge, the Offeror shall describe its management approach for how the mission team in the field will effectively and efficiently implement changes to established plans, schedules, and/or operations. This response should include communication and decision making processes within the Offerors organization and with the Government during field operations.

Solicitation No. 80GSFC21R0037 NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract IV ENCLOSURE 1 – Top Program Challenges

2. Staffing

Background: Wallops is located in a rural area with limited access to a large pool of engineers and technicians with the skill and expertise needed to execute the NSRP. Recruiting, training, and developing a workforce of the size and skill levels needed has historically been a challenge in this environment and we are seeing higher employee turnover on the NSROC contract than in previous years.

Challenge: Each Offeror shall provide a narrative describing their approach to recruit, train, and

(more importantly) retain a highly qualified workforce taking into consideration the challenges associated with the remote geographic location of Wallops. Consideration should be given to all factors which may affect not only attracting such a workforce, but maintaining this workforce given the unique requirements associated with implementing launch operations at Wallops and at remote locations worldwide. Offerors should also consider addressing the ever changing work environment resulting from the our Nation’s response to the Covid pandemic.

3. Program Efficiencies

Background: Per SOW section 1.0, the NSRP conducts approximately 15-20 missions per year at worldwide locations in support of NASA’s scientific research. NASA’s Science Mission

Directorate, which funds both the research grants and the NSRP to execute the missions, would like to maximize the number and complexity of missions the NSRP executes within the relatively modest budgets provided. One way to accomplish this goal is to increase overall program efficiencies so that more missions can be accomplished with the same budget profile.

Challenge: Each Offeror shall describe their approach to increasing programmatic, process, and/or operational efficiencies that may lead to higher overall efficiency without sacrificing mission success or putting undo stress and burden on the technical workforce. The approach shall address efficiencies that include but are not limited to travel. Offerors should assume that a substantial increase of Government funding to the NSRP budget to execute these proposed

Program Efficiencies is not a viable solution.