OSASS JOFOC signed-_Redacted.pdf

Rev.:4/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (GSFC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

FOR ORBITAL SAFETY ANALYSIS (OSA) SUPPORT

SERVICES (OSASS) 80GSFC24CA009

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

(GSFC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

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 with Omitron, Inc. for Orbital Safety Analysis (OSA) support for conjunction assessment-related operations activities for NASA, for both human space flight (HSF) and non-HSF, and for partner missions.

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):

In support of conjunction assessment and collision avoidance for NASA, the contractor will provide conjunction assessment screening services for all NASA uncrewed spacecraft, provide support of human spaceflight activities, and provide orbital safety analysis support to the Department of Commerce (DOC) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce. Activities include performing screening of protected assets against the space object catalog (classified and unclassified portions), performing scripting and other analysis using catalog data, supporting launch and reentry activities, and supporting breakups and other events in addition to ensuring all personnel will be trained on all applicable mission systems required to perform OSA duties, inclusive of future missions.

Support is provided from the classified facilities belonging to the United States Space Force (USSF) Space Delta 2, including those at Vandenberg Space Force Base used by the 18th

Space Defense Squadron (18 SDS) and those at Dahlgren Naval Station used by the 19th

Space Defense Squadron (19 SDS). Additional support is required to update the Space Delta 2 operational conjunction assessment software, Astrodynamics Support Workstation (ASW), owned and maintained by Omitron, Inc. The estimated dollar value of this action is $47,453,711.

Rev.:4/2023

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 a sole-source award to Omitron, Inc is necessary due to the nature of the work to be performed.

Omitron is the current provider of Orbital Safety Analysis services for NASA.

Omitron has been the provider of this service for NASA since the inception of conjunction assessment in the 1980s and has developed the specialized labor skills to perform these functions (working with the ASW legacy FORTRAN code, analysis of orbit determination solutions within the context of the orbital conjunctions, statistical analysis of the particular risk associated with close approaches between two orbiting bodies, understanding of 18th Space Defense Squadron’s (USSF) way of handling critical events like a conjunction). No other contractor has these specialized set of skills.

Omitron develops, operates, and maintains the Astrodynamics Support Workstation (ASW) software that is used on the TS/SCI operations floor at Vandenberg Space Force Base to perform conjunction assessment. Even if NASA were able to receive the source code for ASW, Omitron developer expertise would still be needed to understand the architecture in order to make changes to this large and complex software system in a timely fashion and with minimal risk, resulting in Omitron still being required as a contractual partner on this effort.

Even if the above considerations could be resolved, there would be a technical gap during the time of transition that would present an unacceptably high risk of catastrophic loss of mission assets (data, equipment) and the possibility of loss of human life on the ISS and other international crewed missions.

To summarize, our assessment is that no other contractual arrangement, regardless of the amount of budget allocated, would provide the same support at an acceptable level of risk except for maintaining Omitron as sole provider.