80GSFC26C0002 SAM-SMS JOFOC_Redacted.pdf

Rev.:5/2025

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Sustaining Engineering Support on the

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument

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) Goddard Space Flight Center.

The procuring agency is NASA, and the contracting activity is Goddard Space Flight Center.

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 Honeybee Robotics LLC for sustaining engineering work in support of the ongoing operations of the SAM Instrument hosted on the Mars Science Library (MSL) Curiosity Rover, now operating on the surface of Mars.

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):

The purpose of this contract is to procure expert Phase E operations sustaining engineering support from Honeybee Robotics LLC, on the operation and performance of the SAM Instrument Suite. Continued Honeybee expertise is required for the nominal operations of the Sample Manipulation System (SMS), during Mars sample analysis as well as for analysis and trade-off studies supporting recovery from instrument anomalies. Honeybee expertise is required for: (1) continued instrument operations on Mars; (2) development of operational scripts to be used with the SAM instrument; (3) testing of new operational scripts using Honeybee developed test units; (4) development of operational workarounds during the MSL extended mission; and (5) support of end-of-life analyses.

The period of performance of this contract will be twelve (12) months from the date of award with four (4) one-year options. The first year of this effort has an estimated cost of

. The total estimated cost of this effort in its entirety is . Since rate projections for Honeybee Robotics personnel were not available 5 years into the future, the estimate for the value of this procurement was derived using charges for the SMS Sustaining Engineering work performed during the last year of the current SAM Sustaining Engineering contract, 80GSFC20C0115, using an algorithm to account for nominal inflation and associated annual personnel rate increases; the cost of equipment and software licenses for maintenance and upgrade of the SMS Engineering Test Unit; and personnel travel to work locations (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) as well as key science team meetings and domestic and international science conferences.

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 that Honeybee Robotics LLC is the only vendor who can provide the unique expertise required to satisfy the needs of this requirement, as described below.

SMS is a complex electro-mechanical device operating as part of an instrument payload on the surface of Mars, the SAM payload, and is a highly specialized piece of equipment. It is a unique, one-time custom-built component designed to provide mission-unique functions, which includes serving as a rotating array of processing and containment chambers for Mars surface samples, that are distributed to specific pre-determined experiment units on-board the Mars Curiosity rover. The SMS was designed, built, tested, and provided to NASA by Honeybee Robotics LLC, in close collaboration with NASA personnel. The SMS development required highly specialized labor skills, leveraging exclusive knowledge and unique capabilities to construct a complex mechanism capable of operating in the Mars environment. The required operational Sustaining Engineering support needs to build on all previous SMS work, which makes Honeybee Robotics LLC uniquely qualified. The Sustaining Engineering support cannot be acquired through a new contractor because of the learning curve that would be required. A new contractor could not acquire the full working knowledge of the SMS given its operational complexities and nuances without risk. Thus, no other source has the capability to perform the unique, specialized work required.

The Honeybee expertise and resources include in-house engineering units for the SMS hardware that are essential for conducting simulations and tests that enable the continued safe operation of the SAM instrument on the surface of Mars. Due to the unique nature of the SMS, no other company has the equivalent in-house capabilities, expertise, or specialized experience in the design, development, or operation of similar space flight hardware.

Obtaining the requisite expertise to become a viable competitor for this work would require other prospective bidders to recruit specific personnel from Honeybee Robotics LLC, or to subcontract to Honeybee Robotics LLC. Such an approach is impractical and would increase cost and technical/schedule risk to the Government.

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 5/29/2025, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to Honeybee Robotics LLC. 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.

In accordance with FAR 15.402(a)(1), the Contracting Officer will obtain certified cost or pricing data, along with data other than certified cost or pricing data as necessary to establish a fair and reasonable price.

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):

Market research was conducted via internet searches of organizations with analogous flight operations experience and working knowledge of development, calibration, and data reduction, both in general and specific to the SAM instrument and Sample Manipulation System (SMS). There are no other organizations with the relevant expertise or experience.

Of the multiple institutions and industrial organizations involved in the development of SAM and/or the reduction and analysis of SAM science data, none have a thorough working knowledge of the complex operations of the SAM instrument and SMS equivalent to that of Honeybee Robotics, LLC. Thus, it is not reasonable that another organization could acquire this expertise in time and without risk to the work currently being performed under the current contract by Honeybee Robotics, LLC.

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

The costs to the Government if another vendor were selected would have a harmful effect on the SAM project. The SMS was developed over six years prior to MSL launch at considerable cost to NASA. The knowledge gained by Honeybee Robotics LLC in those six years, in terms of both SMS mechanisms and feedback control systems as well as overall SAM operations, cannot be replicated or replaced. Were the Government to attempt to use another vendor, those years of knowledge, from the perspective of SAM, would be lost. An increased number of anomalies is likely to occur during the MSL/SAM Extended Mission, as a result of the age of the rover and the instrument as well as the evolving complexity of the operations, and each will require extensive expertise to resolve. Approaching this phase of operations without the Honeybee Robotics LLC expertise would cause GSFC to pay for multiple months of extra training, testing, and troubleshooting. Additionally, when considering the Non-Recurring Engineering costs that SAM would have to pay (for items such as facility improvements and the design and development of new Ground Support and Test Equipment), the extra cost of using another vendor would be more than the estimated value of the Sustaining Engineering contract. The risk that the hardware would fail to meet performance requirements would also increase, as would the risk of the SAM science team missing opportunities for further Mars research and publication of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.

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 on the GPE website (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above). The synopsis was posted on and closed on 05/29/2025-06/18/2025. No expressions of interest were received.

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.

Sustaining Engineering Support on the

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

_Original signed______________________ Robert Kozon Technical Representative

I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

_Original signed______________________ Dona Vanterpool Contracting Officer

APPROVED:

_Original signed______________________ Eric Newman Competition Advocate Goddard Space Flight Center