CSDA_OnRamp_SSS_20240827F EXE.pdf

SOURCE SELECTION STATEMENT FOR

COMMERCIAL SMALLSAT DATA ACQUISITION (CSDA) PROGRAM ON-RAMP 1

SOLICITATION No. 80HQTR23R0007

On August 16, 2024, I, along with other senior officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) met with the Source Evaluation Board (SEB) appointed to evaluate proposals for the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program On-Ramp 1 procurement. During that meeting, the SEB presented to me the full results of the evaluation of proposals that it conducted. This memorandum documents my award decision, which was reached at the conclusion of that meeting.

PROCUREMENT DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY

The CSDA Program procurement resulted in the award of a multiple-award, Indefinite delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to seven vendors in October 2023. The contract has a five year effective ordering period, and the ability to issue Firm Fixed Price (FFP) task orders. This contract supports the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its Earth Sciences Division (ESD). The minimum amount of supplies or services that shall be ordered during the effective ordering period is $500 per contract. The maximum amount of supplies or services that may be ordered during this effective ordering period is $476M, cumulatively across all awarded contracts.

The purpose of this contract is to acquire earth observation data and related services from commercial sources to support NASA’s Earth science research and application activities.

Emphasis is placed on data acquired by commercial constellations, affording the means of complementing NASA's Earth observations data with higher resolutions, increased temporal frequency or other novel capabilities. This contract provides a cost-effective means to augment and/or complement the suite of earth observations acquired by NASA and other US government agencies and those acquired by international partners and agencies. NASA requires End User License Agreements (EULAs) under each task order issued, which enables broad levels of dissemination and shareability of the commercial data with U.S. Government agencies and partners.

The CSDA contract includes an On-Ramp feature, which allows the original solicitation to be periodically re-opened to give new vendors the opportunity to submit a proposal to NASA for evaluation and potential award. The On-Ramp feature also gives the seven vendors already awarded a CSDA contract the opportunity to propose new data products developed (or data products based on new instruments) that were not available during the initial proposal submission.

This Source Selection Statement is for the CSDA On-Ramp 1 requirement, which was issued as a full and open competition procurement under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541990 for All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services.

NASA issued the On-Ramp 1 Request for Proposal (RFP) on February 23, 2024. One RFP amendment was issued on June 28, 2024, the main purpose of which was to issue a Final Proposal Revision (FPR) request, with FPRs due on July 8, 2024.

While the RFP stated that the Government intended to evaluate offers and award a contract(s) without discussions, I concurred with the Contracting Officer’s determination that establishment of a competitive range and the conduct of discussions were necessary. All Offerors’ proposals were determined to be “Potentially Acceptable” after initial evaluation and were included in the competitive range. Discussions were conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.306 and NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) 1815.306. After discussions concluded, the following 11 competitive range Offerors submitted timely and responsive FPRs:

Blacksky Geospatial Solutions, Inc Capella Space Corp.

Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc Iceye US Inc.

Planet Labs Federal, Inc Maxar Intelligence, Inc Satellogic Federal, LLC Umbra Lab, Inc Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc MDA Geospatial Service Inc The Tomorrow Companies Inc.

The SEB documented its evaluation findings in its presentation to me on August 16, 2024, which is discussed below.

EVALUATION AND SOURCE SELECTION PROCEDURES

The evaluation factors specified in the CSDA On-Ramp 1 RFP included Technical Acceptability Standards (TAS) and Price List Reasonableness. The RFP identified three potential ratings for each of the four TAS’s identified below: Acceptable, Potentially Acceptable, or Unacceptable.

The RFP stated that proposals must be rated “Acceptable” in all four TAS’s to be eligible for contract award, either upon initial proposal evaluations or after discussions and final evaluation.

The RFP Technical Volume included the following four TAS’s to be evaluated for each Offeror’s proposal to determine acceptability:

1) The Offeror’s narrative, including all of the proposal information required by provision III.11.2.1, is complete and adequately describes how it meets the minimum constellation of 1 satellite (s) - Sections 1.0.a-1.0.c of the CSDA IDIQ SOW.

2) The Offeror’s narrative, including all of the proposal information required by provision III.11.2.2, is complete and adequately demonstrates that data from the satellite(s) covers a period of at least nine (9) continuous months, after June 1, 2016 – - Sections 1.0.d-1.0.f of the CSDA IDIQ SOW.

3) The Offeror’s narrative, including all of the proposal information required by provision III.11.2.3, is complete and adequately demonstrates the ability to provide a comprehensive catalog of its commercial Earth Observation data products in accordance with Section 2.0 of the CSDA IDIQ SOW. At a minimum, the data catalog must include data sets, associated metadata, and ancillary information.

4) The Offeror’s response, including all of the proposal information required by provision III.11.2.4, is complete and adequately demonstrates that it has the ability to make the required data available for access in accordance with the Government-defined EULAs via providing data system capabilities for search, discover, and access data via (i) user interface and (ii) application programming interface.

To determine acceptability, each of the four TAS’s were evaluated for adequacy, reasonableness, credibility, and risk related to each Offeror’s ability to successfully address the TAS’s. A proposal was rated “Potentially Acceptable” in a TAS area when, after the initial evaluation, the SEB determined that additional information could be provided by an Offeror during discussions (if utilized) that may result in a proposal rating of Acceptable.

Each Offeror’s proposed Contract Price List was evaluated in accordance with FAR 15.305(a)(1) to determine the fairness and reasonableness of the proposed prices in comparison to the Offeror’s commercial pricing or other substantiating factors. Adequate price competition is expected to occur at the task order level in the Sustained Phase.

Additionally, Offerors were required to demonstrate their responsibility to be considered for contract award, in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in FAR 9.1 and NFS

1809.1. Offerors were also required to submit an Information Technology Security Management Plan (ITSMP) as well as a “Delivery of Metadata for Archive,” which will be issued as the first Task Order under this contract for all vendors.

EVALUATION RESULTS

TECHNICAL ACCEPTABILITY STANDARDS EVALUATION

For the Offerors listed below, the SEB determined that their FPRs satisfactorily addressed each of the TAS 1-4 requirements at the level of detail required by the Solicitation instructions, resulting in an Acceptable rating for each TAS:

Blacksky Geospatial Solutions, Inc Capella Space Corp.

Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc Iceye US Inc.

Planet Labs Federal, Inc Maxar Intelligence, Inc Satellogic Federal, LLC Umbra Lab, Inc

PRICE EVALUATION

The SEB’s evaluation of the Price List proposed by each of the Offerors listed below resulted in a determination that the prices proposed were fair and reasonable in comparison with the Offeror’s commercial pricing, in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified in the RFP.

The Price Lists proposed by these vendors will be incorporated into the resultant contract as Attachment D.

Blacksky Geospatial Solutions, Inc Capella Space Corp.

Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc Iceye US Inc.

Planet Labs Federal, Inc Maxar Intelligence, Inc Satellogic Federal, LLC Umbra Lab, Inc

RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION

The 11 eligible Offerors evaluated after FPR were determined to be responsible based on the Contracting Officer’s evaluation of responsibility in accordance with FAR 9.1. All 11 offerors provided acceptable ITSMPs and the Metadata for Archive Delivery, as required by the RFP.

DECISION

In making my determination, I reviewed the evaluation criteria and procedures that are summarized in this document and detailed in the RFP. During the presentation, I solicited input from the SEB and key management personnel in attendance who have responsibilities related to this procurement. I carefully reviewed the presentation and findings of the SEB in comparison to the evaluation criteria in the RFP and concur with the Board’s findings.

I determined that the evaluation results presented by the SEB, as documented in its presentation, were detailed and consistent with the evaluation criteria in the CSDA On-Ramp 1 RFP. I discussed with the SEB its rationale for the evaluation of the 11 Offerors for each of the four TAS ratings. I determined that the ratings were reasonable and valid for the purpose of making a selection decision. Furthermore, I determined that the price evaluation was detailed and consistent with the instructions and agree with the Board’s determination that the pricing of the proposed products is fair and reasonable.

I determined that based on the evaluation findings, the following eleven Offerors provided proposals for this effort that successfully met the RFP requirements. Therefore, based on the discussion above, I select the following 11 Offerors for contract award/modification under the Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program On-Ramp 1 procurement:

Offerors Blacksky Geospatial Solutions, Inc Capella Space Corp.

Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc Iceye US Inc.

Planet Labs Federal, Inc Maxar Intelligence, Inc Satellogic Federal, LLC Umbra Lab, Inc

Thomas P. Wagner Associate Director for Earth Action Source Selection Authority