RFI - JETS II OCI 8-3-21.pdf

The purpose of this RFI is to inform industry that NASA/JSC is providing interested parties an opportunity to provide information regarding potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) arising from the upcoming JSC Engineering, Technology and Science II (JETS) contract.

NASA will provide a written response and an optional virtual briefing to each interested party submitting a response to this RFI. Written responses/briefings are intended to provide information on the Government’s analysis of the mitigation approach proposed in the company’s OCI mitigation strategy. Written responses/briefings will not discuss how to mitigate an OCI but will provide context on the Government’s analysis of the OCI mitigation strategy. The Government will only address information provided in the company’s OCI mitigation strategy, will not address hypotheticals or NASA non-public information, and will not entertain any new information brought up during the briefing.

The nature of the work anticipated under the JETS II contract may create the potential for OCI(s) as currently described in FAR Subpart 9.5. Each interested party should review FAR Subpart 9.5 in light of NASA’s anticipation of OCI issues and consider carefully the extent to which an OCI may arise before making the decision to compete for the JETS II contract.

Specifically, NASA anticipates that the effort under the JETS II contract will include the following types of tasks which could lead to potential OCI issues:

• Assessment of component and system designs, analysis, models developed for the Orion/Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, International Space Station, Extravehicular Activity, commercial crew or cargo providers, commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) activities, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), Human Landing Systems, Lunar Terrain Vehicle, Gateway, or other NASA Programs/Projects

• Assessment of hardware designs, analysis, models developed for the JSC Engineering Directorate by contractors other than the JETS II contractor

• Design, development, test and evaluation including certification and fabrication of hardware including flight hardware and software

These types of tasks could lead to the following categories of OCI issues depending on the composition of the team selected for the JETS II contract:

• Potential impaired objectivity if the JETS II contractor or its subcontractors are assessing data developed by themselves or related companies or subcontractors

• Potential impaired objectivity if the JETS II contractor or its subcontractors or related companies are responsible for assessing or performing safety and mission assurance for hardware or data under another JSC contract.

This list is representative, but is not intended to be all inclusive of areas of OCI concern that your company may have in performance of the JETS II contract. If you responded to the OCI RFI posted November 18, 2020 and would like to submit an updated response for this RFI, please re-submit your response with any changed/additional information clearly marked. Responses must be submitted via e-mail to the Contracting Officer listed below by 4:00 PM Central Time on August 10, 2021.

Interested parties are requested to address the following questions:

1. What type(s) of OCI issues would your company or potential team identify, if any, should you choose to propose on the JETS II contract?

2. What strategies would you anticipate proposing to mitigate the OCI issues that you identified (if any)? Please provide strategy details, previous examples/experience with other contracts with NASA or other agencies, etc.

3. Are there any other types of potential OCI issues with the proposed JETS II contract that were not identified in this RFI?

4. Does your company foresee any OCI issues associated with the JETS II that would cause you to decide not to propose on the potential JETS II RFP?

NASA will review any responses received regarding potential OCI and each offeror’s proposed OCI mitigation strategy. NASA will respond to each company who submits a mitigation strategy.

NASA’s response is not intended to serve as a confirmation that, in fact, all potential OCI has been identified, an OCI will ultimately exist, or that an interested party is capable of successfully eliminating or mitigating an identified OCI. NASA’s response is also not intended to encourage or discourage any interested party from responding to an RFP issued for JETS II in the future.

Furthermore, NASA’s response in no way alters or interprets FAR 9.5 as it applies to a final statement of work or a final proposal submission, should an interest party elect to submit a proposal to an RFP for JETS II. Subsequent to this OCI submission and NASA’s response, NASA will not consider further information as it relates to this RFI.

The documents currently on the NASA JETS II acquisition website are for information and planning purposes, to allow industry the opportunity to comment, and to promote competition only. NASA will not affirmatively release any information received in response to this RFI to the public, but may use information received in developing the best approach for a contract strategy, and therefore such information may be recognizable to the interested party who submitted it. Any information submitted in response to this RFI that is marked as “Confidential Commercial or Financial Information” will be considered as voluntarily submitted in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.

All questions should be directed to the point of contact identified below. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by NASA to form a binding contract. NASA is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to award any contract on the basis of this RFI. NASA will not pay for any information solicited under this RFI. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of a solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized on beta.SAM.gov. It is the interested party’s responsibility to monitor this website for the release of any subsequent solicitation or synopsis.

Point of Contact Name: Shine Lin Title: Contracting Officer Email: shine.lin@nasa.gov