BCT JOFOC Final Signature 8.30.21.pdf

Rev.:01/2021

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Langley Research Center

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

for Spacecraft Bus for ARCSTONE In-space Validation of Earth Science Technology

(InVEST) Project

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) Langley Research Center (LaRC).

The procuring agency is NASA and the contracting activity is LaRC.

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 Blue Canyon Technologies, LLC (BCT) for the continuation of technology development and demonstration in space of the ARCSTONE

– Calibration of Lunar Spectral Reflectance from Space project. This follow-on work is a continuation of past efforts under the current STARSS-III NNL16AA05C contract from March 2017 to March 2021. During this period of performance, NASA issued work through the STARSS-III contract to support the ARCSTONE Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) work with BCT as a subcontractor. This work provided information on CubeSat technology and performed an accommodation study to integrate the Government-provided ARCSTONE instrument into the proposed 6U CubeSat bus. The new work under this JOFOC for the ARCSTONE in-space demonstration includes procurement of a 6U CubeSat spacecraft, integration with the instrument, environmental tests, on orbit operations, and data delivery.

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):

LaRC Science Directorate, Climate Science Branch submitted a proposal for “ARCSTONE:

Calibration of Lunar Spectral” which included the BCT work identified in this JOFOC, to the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) In-space Earth Science Technology Validation (InVEST) program. The InVEST program funds projects that want to test their instruments in space. The ARCSTONE project, Calibration of Lunar Spectral Reflectance from Space, was one of three competitively selected proposals for award/funding by the InVEST program. This effort is to build, analyze, integrate and test a 6U CubeSat spacecraft (S/C) bus, BCT XB6, with a government-supplied ARCSTONE payload in accordance with the requirements derived during the previously completed accommodation study and outlined in the ARCSTONE InVEST proposal submitted by LaRC to ESTO. The effort under this contract will include: (1) participation in generating and maintaining documentation on BCT spacecraft bus specification for ARCSTONE to include the physical, electrical, software and thermal interfaces required for the payload and bus, (2) participation in the ARCSTONE project reviews, (3) building a 6U CubeSat spacecraft for accommodating the ARCSTONE payload, (4) integration of the LaRC-supplied instrument with BCT spacecraft bus, (5) functional and radiometric verification of integrated system, (6) support for launch vehicle integration, (7) support on-orbit commissioning for one (1) month and sustaining operations for five (5) months, and (8) participate in verifying the command and telemetry links between the bus and ground system. NASA intends to issue a firm-fixed price contract with a period of performance of 36 months with a projected start date of September 2021, and an estimated dollar value of $2,572,248.

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 is described below.

The BCT is the only responsible source for the following reasons:

(1) BCT is the only firm that has proprietary and exclusive knowledge for the existing 6U satellite product that has been designed, built and operated by BCT. These 6U satellites have accurate pointing and tracking of targets in space with the accuracy required by the ARCSTONE measurements of lunar and solar irradiance: pointing accuracy better than 0.005o with stability of 1 arcsec per second in 3-axis.

(2) BCT also has excellent facilities at Boulder and Lafayette, CO, nearly co-located with the planned characterization site for final instrument characterization (LASP, University of Colorado Boulder). BCT also has a wide range of testing capabilities for performing full electrical functional testing on all components, balance-test reaction wheels to ensure low jitter (required for high accuracy and stable pointing), and random vibration and thermal vacuum testing.

(3) BCT has previous work on the ARCSTONE IIP project, including a dedicated accommodation study specific to the ARCSTONE form-fit (flight-like) Engineering Development Unite (EDU) payload and operations. The study addressed all critical sub-systems: on-orbit operations, pointing to Moon and Sun, mechanical, power/electric, thermal performance, flight and ground software, data storage and downlink. The government would incur substantial duplication of costs for any other company to recreate this historical data to be ready to start work on this new project.

(4) In addition, the scheduled launch date is approximately December 2023 which reflects an aggressive schedule. Due to the amount of rework that would be required if any other company were used, would result in further delay and have schedule and cost impacts which would exceed the budget approved and is not acceptable for this effort.

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:

The competition for this work was obtained via selection by peer-review and executive panels for ESTO IIP 2016 and ESTO InVEST 2020 programs. No other competition or solicitation of sources was performed. However, the notice required by FAR 5.2 will be posted.

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 contractor will provide sufficient breakdown by cost element, including fee, which will also be reviewed and analyzed in accordance with FAR 15.4.

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:

Over the past 4 years, LaRC’s ARCSTONE’s technical personnel have obtained in-depth market knowledge via engineering surveys in addition to reviewing technical journals and scientific data from other ESTO InVEST projects. The LaRC team has also attended several technical conferences to stay abreast of this technology (small and CubeSat spacecraft) with a conclusion that, at time of ARCSTONE IIP (2017) and InVEST (2020), BCT is the only company which can provide a 6U CubeSat bus with on-orbit pointing and tracking accuracy required by the ARCSTONE operations and verified in prior space-flight projects.

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

There are no other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

No other firms have expressed an interest in this acquisition.

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.

Spacecraft Bus for ARCSTONE InVEST

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

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

Dr. Constantine Lukashin Technical Representative

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

Lisa M. Harvey Contracting Officer

CONCURRENCE:

Susan E. McClain Procurement Officer

APPROVED:

David F. Young, Competition Advocate Langley Research Center