2026 07 06__Amendment 00003 80MSFC26R0002 Cover Letter with Appendix A_B.pdf

July 6, 2026

TO: All Potential Offerors

SUBJECT: Solicitation No. 80MSFC26R0002, ESSCA II, Notice of Amendment 00003 and New Proposal Submission

Due to issuance of a new Executive Order and NASA directive, MSFC has issued Amendment 00003 to the 80MSFC26R0002 ESSCA II solicitation. This amendment requires all potential Offerors, inclusive of those that previously submitted proposals in response to the solicitation, to submit a full proposal in accordance with the solicitation instructions to be considered for award.

To facilitate industry understanding of the key changes in this amendment, NASA has provided additional background information below.

Agency In-sourcing Activities: Pursuant to NASA’s February 6, 2026, Workforce Directive - Restoring NASA’s Core Competencies, NASA has commenced efforts to restore and retain in-house engineering, operational, and scientific excellence in order to reclaim technical autonomy.

See Appendix A to this letter for the full Workforce Directive. Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) Engineering Services and Science Capability Augmentation (ESSCA) contract 80MSFC18C0011 has been identified as an Agency pilot for in-sourcing activities, ultimately realigning what work is done within the NASA civil service and what is accomplished through contractor support. These insourcing efforts will impact up to half of the current ESSCA 80MSFC18C0011 work, as well as MSFC projections for its likely usage of the ESSCA II contract.

This Workforce Directive recognizes that contractors will continue to play a vital role in achieving mission objectives, and MSFC will fulfill its continuing needs for contractor engineering and scientific augmentation through ESSCA II. ESSCA II’s full indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) structure was designed with flexibility sufficient to meet MSFC and other Center requirements, even in this dynamic environment.

Assessment of Contract Type: In accordance with Executive Order (EO) 14402 titled, “Promoting Efficiency, Accountability, and Performance in Federal Contracting,” issued on May 5, 2026, NASA has considered opportunities to adjust the ESSCA II structure to accommodate additional firm-fixed-price (FFP) ordering. Due to the broad range of services provided and a dynamic portfolio of supported programs and projects, the vast majority of ESSCA II work requires flexibility to use cost-type contracting. While there are currently no known requirements that are suitable for a firm-fixed-price arrangement, NASA has determined it is appropriate to adjust the ESSCA II structure to accommodate firm-fixed-price task orders under the skills augmentation portion of the scope. Adding this capability allows MSFC opportunities to transition order type when requirements are stable and suitable to FFP arrangements.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812

The primary purpose of Amendment 00003 is to adjust the Attachment L-1 Excel Pricing Model (EPM) to more accurately reflect likely usage of the ESSCA II contract and allow interested parties to consider the impact of that change on their acquisition involvement and approach.

Interested parties are cautioned that staffing profiles presented in the EPM are provided for proposal pricing purposes and should not be relied on as workload indicators for the contract.

ESSCA II contract orders will be placed based on requirements and available budget.

Additional key changes in Amendment 00003 include:

1. Reversal of the initial ESSCA II scope extraction of the full range of coupled loads analysis for Space Launch System (SLS) and select pieces of Human Landing System (HLS), full ARTEMIS/MAESTRO support for SLS, and ARTEMIS/MAESTRO subject matter expertise only for other programs and projects relying on that software. NASA no longer intends to pursue the Multibody ARTEMIS Vehicle Loads & Dynamics and Simulations (MARVELS) acquisition due to anticipated related in-sourcing that will occur under NASA’s Workforce Directive. Therefore, ESSCA II will retain scope for any potential coupled loads analysis and ARTEMIS/MAESTRO support beyond what can be fulfilled through NASA in-house capabilities.

2. Incorporation of capability to place firm-fixed-price orders under the skills augmentation portion of the contract scope.

3. Change of the ESSCA II Contracting Officer to Mr. Casey Hardy.

A summary of Amendment 00003 changes is captured in the 2026 07 06__Amendment 00003 80MSFC26R0002 SF30 and Continuation Page.pdf and fully described in the 2026 07 06__ 80MSFC26R0002 Amendment 00002 to Amendment 00003 Appendix C Change Log.pdf.

Interested parties are encouraged to consider these changes carefully and review the ESSCA II RFP in its entirety.

The Government has provided 80MSFC26R0002 Amendment 00003 Proposal Submission Reminders as Appendix B to this letter. All potential Offerors are encouraged to review Appendix B.

This RFP, as amended, does not commit NASA MSFC to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA MSFC to procure or contract for these services. This request is not an authorization to proceed and does not authorize payment for any charges incurred by the offeror for performing any of the work called for in this solicitation.

A “Blackout Notice” was issued to NASA personnel on January 30, 2026, and remains in effect.

Inquiries/communications pertaining to this acquisition shall be directed only to the Contracting Officer listed below.

NASA appreciates your continued interest in the ESSCA II acquisition.

Casey Hardy

Contracting Officer

Appendix A Workforce Directive: Restoring NASA’s Core Competencies

Workforce Directive: Restoring NASA’s Core Competencies

Background

NASA’s ability to deliver on its mission has become increasingly dependent on external vendors and contractors for core functions and workforce talent—from engineering and operations to manufacturing and repair. While partnerships remain vital, this trend has eroded internal capabilities, increased program risk, reduced flexibility in addressing emergent technical challenges, and added well more than a billion dollars in annual overhead—diverting resources from science and discovery.

Factors contributing to this reliance include concerns over exceeding artificial civil servant hiring ceilings, and assumptions that outsourcing would provide greater workforce flexibility. Even if these assumptions hold in some cases, the overall effect deprives NASA of critical institutional knowledge, and limits resources essential for mission success.

As a result, it is not surprising that multiple programs have experienced suboptimal outcomes in cost and schedule. Multiple prime contractors, hundreds of sub-contractors, tens of thousands of contract employees, and duplicative layers of management create complexity and inefficiency.

Variances in policies, tools, and systems across this spectrum further challenge budgets, timelines, and outcomes.

To achieve the President’s national space policy and maintain U.S. leadership in space exploration, NASA must urgently restore and retain in-house engineering, operational, and scientific excellence, and reclaim technical autonomy. This directive establishes actions to rebuild internal talent, strengthen contractual provisions, and foster a culture of technical resilience.

Vision

NASA will expand with a strong core of civil servants, staffed and equipped to lead the most complex engineering and operational challenges, ensuring expertise, resilience, agility, and innovation in every mission. This includes the ability to build and repair critical components to reduce external dependencies when necessary. Restoring and sustaining these core competencies is essential to steward taxpayer resources, align investments with agency priorities, and ensure mission success.

This foundation will be strengthened by contractors in non-core areas and for surge requirements, complemented by our extensive network of international and commercial partners.

Together, we will deliver on NASA’s world-changing mission of science, exploration, and discovery.

1. Directive Actions

NASA recognizes that contractors have and will continue to play a vital role in achieving mission objectives. This directive focuses on correcting over-reliance on outsourced engineering and staffing that diminishes NASA’s core competencies and resources essential to agency priorities. The future state aims to use contracted workforce primarily for limited-term assignments, surge staffing, and specialized functions outside NASA’s core competencies.

Within 30 days, Center Directors, Mission Directorate leadership, and the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer shall:

• Conduct a Workforce Assessment: Identify outsourced or missing technical and operational expertise and provide a proposal to convert core roles to civil service.

Categorize proposal by priority, mapping to core competency and current contracting mechanisms. Emphasize solutions that enable mission execution without introducing additional redundant layers of management.

• Conduct a Work Assessment: Identify engineering, operational, scientific, manufacturing, and other mission-critical work currently outsourced, and provide a proposal for what should be brought in-house, aligned with the workforce assessment.

Within 60 days, the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, Office of Procurement, and Office of the Chief Financial Officer shall:

• Develop Transition Strategy: Consolidate workforce assessments and create an implementation plan to convert or add targeted roles to civil service, addressing contract changes, renegotiations or terminations, timelines, and cost implications.

• Establish Rapid Onboarding Process: Implement streamlined process that ensures candidates can be rapidly brought into civil servant positions without disrupting operational capacity, minimizing gaps in mission-critical support.

• Strengthen the Talent Pipeline: In collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management, develop strategies to attract industry and academic talent and embed civil servants with industry partners to accelerate learning and knowledge transfer aligned with national space policy objectives.

• Enhance Training Programs: Assess and develop internal training and mentorship initiatives to ensure continuity of knowledge and technical depth across generations of NASA engineers, operations personnel, and technicians.

• Focus Internship Opportunities: Develop a plan to expand the current internship program with a focus on standardizing and enhancing experience, to develop in-house technical talent focused on the highest priority agency requirements.

2. Strengthen Framework for Technical Autonomy

Within 30 days, the Office of Procurement shall:

• Ensure Repair and Operation Autonomy: Incorporate right-to-repair provisions in all future and applicable existing contracts, guaranteeing NASA access to specifications, parts, tools, schematics, software, and technical documentation necessary for internal manufacturing, repair, and operations.

• Remove Restrictive Clauses: Eliminate contract language requiring NASA-fabricated replacement hardware to be returned to vendors for inspection after delivery of out-of-spec hardware.

• Address Intellectual Property Barriers: To the extent reasonable under existing and ongoing procurements, review and propose modifications to eliminate IP restrictions that prevent NASA from performing internal repairs or redesigns, as needed to meet urgent Presidential space policy objectives.

Within 60 days, center directors shall:

• Propose Makerspaces at Each Center: develop plan to create a makerspace at each center to enable rapid prototyping and proposal development. Include an assessment of potential funding mechanisms, such as sponsorships from partners and critical vendors, to support implementation and sustainability.

This Directive does not reflect any intent or commitment, implied or otherwise, to take any action regarding any particular existing or future contract with the agency.

Jared Isaacman

NASA Administrator

Appendix B Proposal Submission Reminders

As a result of this amendment, all potential Offerors, inclusive of those that previously submitted proposals in response to the solicitation, are required to submit a full proposal in accordance with the solicitation instructions to be considered for award.

Proposal Submission Reminders

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be due no later than August 6, 2026, 2:00 p.m. Central Time (CT). All proposals must provide a validity date of at least 365 days from this date.

Offerors must acknowledge all amendments (i.e. 00001, 00002, and 00003) in accordance with Box 14 of the SF30, demonstrated by submission of a signed version of each amendment SF30 with Volume IV – Contract.

Proposals for this solicitation are required to be submitted through NASA’s Enterprise File Sharing and Sync Box (EFSS Box), a FedRAMP Moderate certified platform. Potential Offerors, especially those that have not previously submitted a proposal utilizing NASA’s EFSS Box, are encouraged to review the solicitation instruction entitled “Electronic Proposal Delivery - Proposal Marking and Delivery Through NASA’s EFSS Box,” which provides detailed instructions related to the submission of a proposal via EFSS Box. Offerors are encouraged to check with their corporate IT staff to determine if there are firewall restrictions that would need to be addressed prior to the submission of proposal files through NASA’s EFSS Box.

Note for Offerors that Previously Submitted Proposals

Offerors who previously coordinated external submission of Attachment L-2, Past Performance Questionnaire to the Government may elect not to re-initiate completion of those questionnaires, assuming the Offeror’s past performance referenced contracts remain unchanged from its initial proposal submission. If an Offeror elects to coordinate resubmission of Past Performance Questionnaires or coordinate submission of Past Performance Questionnaires for new referenced contracts, these documents must be submitted by the proposal submission due date, August 6, 2026, 2:00 p.m. Central Time (CT).