AEMMS Extension JOFOC Redacted 06 11 21.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Ames Research Center (ARC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Aeronautics and Exploration Mission Modeling and Simulation (AEMMS) Contract No. NNA16BD60C

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) Ames Research Center (ARC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is the Procurement Office located at ARC. This JOFOC is recorded in the ARC JOFOC Log as JA-FY21-J07.

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 an extension to contract number NNA16BD60C with Science and Technology Corporation (STC) for up to eighteen additional months added to the period of performance and an estimated increase of $ to the total contract value. The contract extension will consist of a one year base period (from June 1, 2021, through May 31, 2022), and six one-month option periods (from June 1, 2022 through November 30, 2022), if all options are exercised.

The options will be exercised as necessary to accommodate the completion of the competitive Aircraft and Space Systems Engineering Support Services (ASSESS) procurement, which is a consolidation of requirements from existing ARC contracts, including AEMMS.

NASA ARC competitively awarded contract number NNA16BD60C on May 9, 2016, with a period of performance, including all options from June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2021.

The contract is a hybrid with a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) Contract Management Core Value of $1.4 million and an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) component Value of $51 million under which CPFF task orders are executed. The total maximum potential contract value is $52.4 million. To date, Contract Management is fully funded and Contract Task Orders (CTOs) totaling $50.5 million have been issued and $49 million obligated to date. The current period of performance will need to be extended and the contract maximum value will need to be increased in order to permit the ongoing services supporting critical projects and missions (e.g. Artemis, Advanced Air Mobility, Commercial Crew, Commercial Supersonic Technology and Entry Systems Modeling) under the contract to continue until the new ASSESS contract is awarded.

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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 AEMMS contract provides highly specialized services for multiple programs and projects in the following Modeling and Simulation disciplines:

- Aerodynamics

- Vertical Lift Computational and Experimental Analysis

- Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics Tool Development and Application

- Systems Engineering

- Advanced Airspace Systems Concept Development and Analysis

- Engineering Risk Assessment

- Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Optimization Tool Development and Application

The AEMMS contract provides support to multiple Offices and Divisions at ARC to carry out their varied research programs. The organizations that are supported by this contract include the Systems Analysis Office (AA), the Aeromechanics Office (AV), the Aeronautics Projects Office (AT), the Airspace Systems Division (AF), the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division (TN), the Earth Sciences Division (SG), and the Partnerships Office (DI). Currently these organizations support a variety of mission types and technologies including the Artemis (Orion and SLS), UAS Traffic Management (UTM), Urban Air Mobility (UAM), Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT), and Advanced Air Vehicle Program (AAVP). The same technical support in areas such as CFD tool development and application, vehicle modeling and analysis, risk analysis, and airspace safety and security, which are critical requirements for these organizations and projects, will be procured during the 18 month extension period.

The current CPFF type contract is a hybrid, consisting of a Core and IDIQ component.

The Contract Management Core has a potential value of $1.4 million, of which $1.4 million has been obligated leaving no remaining value. The maximum IDIQ value, which allows CPFF Contract Task Orders (CTOs) to be issued is $51 million. To date, IDIQ CTOs totaling $50.5 million have been issued leaving a remaining IDIQ Value of $473,020. Additionally, $49.0 million has been obligated for IDIQ CTOs leaving an unfunded value of $2 million, some of which will be used to incrementally fund the current CTOs. Therefore, the current contract maximum value will need to be increased to $ as a result of the proposed contract extension.

The total cost estimate for the proposed extension periods, is as follows:

Extension Base Period Core: June 1, 2021 – May 31, 2022 $

*Extension Option Periods Core: June 1, 2022 – November 30, 2022 $

Extension Period IDIQ: June 1, 2021 – November 30, 2022 $

**Total Contract Value Increase: $

*Six one-month option periods estimated at $ thousand each ** Consists of a $ increase to the Core and an increase of $ to the maximum IDIQ ordering quantity to accommodate the estimated value of the obligations during the extension.

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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.

2304(c)(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. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, is described below.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), for DOD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements. For the reasons set forth below, the incumbent is the only responsible source that can reasonably satisfy the requirements to be performed during the proposed extension of the AEMMS contract pending completion of the competitive ASSESS procurement.

The AEMMS contract provides highly specialized and unique capabilities in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code development to enable the development of critical flight vehicles for NASA and DoD. Understanding the impact of aeroacoustic environments to vehicle integrity relies on computational modeling and simulation, and is essential to the safe flight of the Space Launch System (SLS). Obtaining this understanding had been an elusive problem prior to the development of the LAVA Code by a team of STC experts on the AEMMS Contract. The continued development and application of this highly esoteric code is essential in continuing to inform SLS engineers as they prepare for flight.

Without the ability to continue providing uninterrupted highly specialized expertise for ongoing data on launch and separation risks projects, extensive testing would be required, causing unacceptable delays to the Artemis Program.

Additionally, STC engineers under the AEMMS contract provided unique computational and experimental expertise in the development of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. The continuing development of these planetary flight vehicles, as called for under Goal IV of the 2020 Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) Objectives, will rely on the understanding of flight data returned to Earth from Ingenuity. The unique familiarity of STC’s AEMMS engineers with this vehicle makes them an essential part of the data analysis team, especially in the comparison of predicted performance to actual flight. Without the continuation of uninterrupted support on the this project under the AEMMS contract, JPL engineers will not have access to this critical resource to understand the implications of Ingenuity’s flight performance to ongoing vehicle designs.

Safe flight of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) in densely populated areas, being addressed by ARMD’s Urban Air Mobility project, is another critical area being supported by experts on the AEMMS contract. STC is providing expertise to the Smart Mobility project, developing a first-of-a-kind modeling of vehicle flight under varying atmospheric conditions that will be critical to both vehicle and flight control system designs, as well as informing the definition of safe flight parameters. The pace of development and deployment of these UAVs is expanding so rapidly that NASA must continue these efforts without pause in order to contribute this unique expertise to ensure public safety. Without the proposed contract extension, there will be a gap in providing the aforementioned expertise which will severely impact critical Programs and Projects.

Therefore, Failure to extend the contract would also result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling important requirements currently underway on the existing AEMMS contract due to the unavoidable start-up and related learning curve that would be associated with a new contractor. STC management and staff have unparalleled experience and technical expertise that are necessary to perform mission critical work.

For the reasons set forth above, STC is the only responsible source that can perform the highly specialized requirements for projects currently ongoing under the AEMMS contract for up to eighteen additional months given that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the highly specialized requirements. This makes the incumbent the only responsible source that can reasonably satisfy the requirements under the proposed follow-on AEMMS contract extension.

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 (beta.sam.gov) was published on March 3, 2021, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source extension to Science and Technology Corporation (STC). 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.

The analysis of the proposal for the contract extension will be conducted in accordance with FAR 15.404, and include a detailed cost element analysis of the certified cost and pricing information, a comparison to the IGCE, and other appropriate cost and price evaluation techniques to ensure the final agreed-to cost and fee is fair and reasonable. Pre-negotiation objectives will be prepared prior to the initiation of negotiations and will be approved in accordance with FAR 15.406 prior to the conduct of negotiations. In accordance with FAR 15.406, a certificate of current cost or pricing data will be obtained from the contractor as required and a post negotiation memorandum will also be prepared to document the outcome of the negotiation.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted:

ARC conducted market research in support of the decision to award this extension to STC.

Based on the Contracting Officer’s Representative’s (COR) technical knowledge of the current AEMMS requirements, and for all of the other reasons stated herein, market research supports that STC is the sole responsible source able to fulfill the short-term AEMMS requirements.

Market research was performed January 2021 through March 2021, which included a synopsis posted to the Government Point of Entry (GFP) beta.sam.gov on March 3, 2021, as stated in paragraph 6 above. The purpose of the synopsis was to: (1) notify industry of NASA’s intent to extend the AEMMS contract on a sole-source basis; and (2) solicit information about interested sources that are capable of providing the required support during the extended period of performance. Interested parties were requested to submit their capabilities and qualifications in writing. The Contracting Officer received no capability statements in response to the synopsis.

Additional research was completed which include reviews of the following Government databases:

A search was conducted in the NASA Vendor Data Base. This search yielded 1,564 Vendors.

A search was also conducted in the SBA Dynamic data base using the NAICS Code 541715 and key words “Modeling” and “Simulation”. This search yielded the following results:

603 profiles.

A search of the SBA Quick Market Search yielded the following results: 4 Certified SDB;

324 Woman-Owned SB; 112 8(a) Certified; 300 Veteran-Owned; 200 Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned and 88 HubZone.

Based on the review of the CO and COR’s review of Market Research Results, it’s clear that while there are additional firms in the industry, the scope of highly specialize work required can only be accomplished by the current contractor under the proposed extension without creating unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency's requirements.

A NASA Form (NF) 1787A was prepared to document the Market Research conducted.

The NF will be routed through the ARC Small Business Specialist for concurrence.

Market research indicates that in accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) (B), STC is the only responsible source that can provide the highly specialized services described in Section 5 \without creating unacceptable delays in meeting agency requirements. There has been no interest in this proposed contract extension.

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

None.

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 (beta.sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above). The notice was posted on March 3, 2021, with a closing date of March 17, 2021. No sources responded to the synopsis or have expressed interest in performing the requirements NASA ARC intends to procure through this eighteen-month extension of the AEMMS contract.

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:

ARC is currently in the process of consolidating requirements from existing ARC contracts, including AEMMS into the competitive Aircraft and Space Systems Engineering Support Services (ASSESS) procurement. This sole source award for the potential eighteen-month extension to the AEMMS contract is necessary to provide additional time needed to complete the ASSESS procurement and provide continued support of critical requirements under the current contract. Contract award of ASSESS is expected to occur within the eighteen-month contract extension authorized herein. Because ASSESS is a competitive procurement, there are no actions the agency needs to take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for similar services.