JA23-085 CSS0074 HC101318A0001_JA_BRIDGE_HCA Signed_Redacted.pdf

CUI

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Controlled By: USSF

Controlled By: CSCO

CUI Category: PROCURE

Distribution/Dissemination Control: FEDCON

POC: Jessica Estrogano; jessica.a.estrogano.civ@mail.mil

LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION & APPROVAL (J&A)

FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) PART 8 ACQUISITIONS

Multiple Award Schedule (MAS)/Multiple Award Contract

Orders under MAS/General Services Administration Schedules (GSA)/Federal Supply Schedules

(FSS) FAR 8.405-6

Purchase Request Number: Not Applicable (N/A)

Contract Number: GS-35F-0221R/HC101318A0001

Task/Delivery Order Number: N/A

Procurement Title: CSS0074 – Inmarsat Aeronautical Services Blanket Purchase Agreement

(BPA) Bridge

Estimated Value: (BPA ceiling remains ; no additional ceiling required for the bridge action)

Statutory and Regulatory Authority: 10 U.S.C. 3204(a) and FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C)

J&A Number: JA23-085

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA), hereby approve this limited source justification pursuant to the authority of FAR 8.405-

6(a)(1)(i)(C). The acquisition referenced herein is conducted under the Statutory Authority of the

Multiple Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

Requiring Agency:

United States Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Commercial Satellite

Communications Office (CSCO)

6910 Cooper Avenue

Fort Meade, Maryland 20755

Contracting Activity:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)/Defense Information Technology

Contracting Organization (DITCO) PL8221

2300 East Drive, Building 3600

Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 62225

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S):

The nature of this action is to procure continued critical communications services in support of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Federal Agencies via a bridge modification to the current

BPA (HC101318A0001), tracked as CSS0074 and issued under GSA MAS Contract GS-35F-

CSS0074 - Inmarsat Aeronautical Services BPA Bridge- JA23-085

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0221R), and to all active orders currently in place under the BPA. The current BPA expires

August 31, 2023, and there is an urgent need to continue services. The period of performance

(PoP) for this bridge modification is nine months, from September 1, 2023 through May 31, 2024, plus a 3-month option period, from June 1, 2024 through August 31, 2024. The 3-month option period will only be exercised if all existing orders have not been transitioned during the initial 9-month period. This bridge action will ensure continued service for BPA orders until the award of the follow-on Inmarsat Aeronautical Services BPA (tracked as CSS0109) and subsequent discontinuation or transition of orders from HC101318A0001 to the follow-on BPA.

The estimated award date is 15 September 2023. The estimated price of this extension period

(already included in the current BPA ceiling) is . Funding will be obligated at the order level utilizing the appropriate fiscal year Defense Working Capital Funds. This bridge supports approximately 800 existing, individual Inmarsat Aeronautical services orders and any new orders until award of the follow-on BPA can be made. This bridge will ensure no service interruptions occur while providing mission partners sufficient time to transition services to the follow-on BPA.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES:

This BPA bridge will provide continued Inmarsat Aeronautical services in support of DoD and

Federal Agency missions. The requirement allows continuation of critical worldwide data and voice services for Inmarsat-equipped aircraft to meet mission needs until the award of the follow-on Inmarsat Aeronautical Services BPA (tracked as CSS0109) and subsequent discontinuation or transition of orders from HC101318A0001 to the competitively solicited follow-on BPA. Once the follow-on BPA is awarded and available for customer requests in the

DISA Storefront portal, all new orders will be placed on the follow-on BPA. The PoP for the bridge modification will be nine months with a 3-month option. As mentioned in Section 2 above, the 3-month option period will only be exercised if all existing orders have not been transitioned during the initial 9-month period.

The estimated price of this extension period (already included in the current BPA ceiling) is

4. IDENTIFICATION OF LIMITED SOURCE AUTHORITY AND DEMONSTRATION OF

CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

(a) Circumstances Justifying Limiting the Source.

In accordance with (IAW) FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C), in the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable

Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.

(b) Description of the Justification.

This justification is to extend services previously awarded on a competitive basis to

Satcom Direct Government, Inc., hereafter referred to as Satcom Direct. Failure to maintain the existing communications services currently being provided by Satcom Direct

Page 3 of 6 Pages until award of the follow-on Inmarsat Aeronautical Services BPA and subsequent transition to the follow-on BPA would result in loss of critical communications to hundreds of end users. The current Inmarsat Aeronautical Services BPA, HC101318A0001, is scheduled to expire August 31, 2023. The follow-on BPA, tracked as

CSS0109, was released to industry for competitive solicitation on June 15, 2023, and is currently in evaluations. Award of the follow-on BPA is anticipated in the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2024. The transition will begin immediately following the award of the follow-on BPA. Satcom Direct understands the requirements and possesses the requisite expertise and relevant experience to continue performance.

(c) Justification:

(1) Minimum Government requirements.

The Government requires continuation of Inmarsat Aeronautical Service orders to avoid a loss of service to hundreds of end users on the current BPA, HC101318A0001. Inmarsat Aeronautical services provide DoD and Federal Agency organizations with secure, worldwide voice and data connectivity using Inmarsat

Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), Swift Broadband (SBB), Fleet Broadband

(FBB), Global Xpress, a set of Inmarsat offerings collectively known as Classic Aero

(Inmarsat Aero H, Aero H+, and Aero I), Very High Frequency (VHF), and Datalink

(VDL); therefore, maintaining full-time availability of services is of the highest importance. This bridge action will allow time to evaluate and award the follow-on

BPA and transition active services to avoid a loss of critical communications to end users.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor.

The proposed sole source contractor is Satcom Direct. Due to the requirement for critical communications to continue beyond the August 31, 2023, expiration of

HC101318A0001, the incumbent, Satcom Direct, is the only source that can fulfill this requirement without risk of a break in service/support to end users.

(3) Discussion regarding cause of the limited source situation.

The United States Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Commercial

Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) began working the follow-on acquisition for HC101318A0001 12 months prior to BPA expiration. Due to various unforeseen delays in the acquisition and evolving mission requirements, the solicitation for the follow-on BPA, tracked as CSS0109, was released to industry for quotation on June

15, 2023. Upon award, estimated for 15 September 2023, all new orders will be issued under the follow-on BPA, but the Government requires an extension of

HC101318A0001 to bridge services between the predecessor BPA and the follow-on

BPA.

(4) Demonstration of limited source.

Satcom Direct, the current Inmarsat Aeronautical services BPA holder, is uniquely postured to support the DoD’s active satellite communications services without risk to critical communications. As indicated in 4(b) above, Satcom Direct understands the requirements and possesses the requisite expertise and relevant experience. Because

Page 4 of 6 Pages active services are slated to be transitioned to the follow-on BPA over the course of the 9-month bridge period (with a 3-month option), provision of services by any contractor other than Satcom Direct would result in duplicative transition of services.

(5) Procurement discussion.

This action will extend the current, competitively awarded BPA and all active orders until services provided via the active orders can be transitioned to the competitively solicited follow-on BPA. Upon award and transition of all active orders to the follow-on BPA, HC101318A0001 will be allowed to expire.

(6) Impact.

Failure to maintain the existing/active communications services provided by Satcom

Direct until the follow-on BPA is awarded and orders are transitioned would result in loss of mission-critical communications for hundreds of end users around the world.

Should these services not be continued, critical communications in support of warfighter missions and deployed units in all regions of the globe would be interrupted, resulting in unacceptable risk.

5. BEST VALUE DETERMINATION:

This requirement is for Commercial Satellite Communication (COMSATCOM) services for

DoD. COMSATCOM services must be acquired using one of the Future COMSATCOM

Services Acquisition (FCSA) contract vehicles, IAW the Acquisition Strategy for the FCSA and the subsequent approval by the Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (approved

Memo dated July 22, 2009). GSA has already determined that prices of supplies, fixed price services, and rates for services offered at hourly rates are fair and reasonable for the purpose of establishing the schedule contract. In addition, the prices in place for the existing BPA

(HC101318A0001) were evaluated and determined fair and reasonable prior to award of the

BPA using the proposal analysis techniques in FAR 15.404-1. The Proposed bridge extension pricing will be analyzed via comparison to the Independent Government Cost Estimate, to pricing currently in effect for HC101318A0001 and to GSA Schedule rates to ensure established prices have not been exceeded. By placing an order against a schedule contract using the procedures in FAR Part 8, the ordering activity has concluded that the order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs. A further determination will be made by the Contracting Officer that the bridge extension action represents the best value to the Government by conducting a price analysis as part of a fair and reasonable price determination.

6. MARKET RESEARCH:

Market research was conducted from May 2022 through December 2022 in advance of the solicitation for CSS0109, and this research reflected two GSA MAS 517410 schedule contractors with sufficient offerings to meet the Government’s requirements for the follow-on BPA.

CSS0109 was solicited among GSA MAS 517410 schedule holders on a competitive basis. The

Government requires continuation of the Inmarsat Aeronautical services under HC101318A0001

Page 5 of 6 Pages to avoid a loss of service to hundreds of end users until services can be transitioned from the current BPA, HC101318A0001, to the follow-on BPA, tracked as CSS0109. Thus, market research identifies that only the incumbent, Satcom Direct Government, Inc., a large business, can continue to provide the required services without a significant break in service for end users until such time as service can be transitioned to the follow-on BPA.

7. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS: None.

8. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE BARRIERS THAT LED TO THE

RESTRICTED CONSIDERATION:

Procurement history: HC101318A0001 was competed amongst GSA MAS holders under Special

Item Number (SIN) 132-55, and this competition was open to all schedule contractors in this

SIN. Satcom Direct, a large business, was awarded the BPA on February 7, 2018, with a period of performance consisting of a 1-year base period, four 1-year option periods, and a 6-month option period IAW FAR 52.217-8 (expiring August 31, 2023).

All services currently active under HC101318A0001 will be transitioned to the competitively solicited follow-on BPA, tracked as CSS0109, as soon as practicable. Upon award of the follow-on BPA, all new orders will be issued under the follow-on BPA (CSS0109). Upon completion of transition or the bridge extension, HC101318A0001 will expire. Future similar BPAs are anticipated to be awarded on a competitive basis.

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TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Jessica Estrogano SIGNATURE/DATE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Program Analyst, COMSATCOM Technical Support Branch, Commercial Satellite Communications Office

PHONE: 301-225-4584

REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Jared Reece SIGNATURE/DATE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Chief, COMSATCOM Technical Support Branch, Commercial

Satellite Communications Office

PHONE: 301-225-4784

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: Jenalle L. Hilmes SIGNATURE/DATE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Contracting Officer, DISA/DITCO/PL8221

PHONE: 618-418-6585

HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY (HCA) APPROVAL: I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Since this justification does not exceed $100M, this review serves as approval.

NAME: Douglas W. Packard SIGNATURE/DATE: See separate signature page

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Head of the Contracting Activity

PHONE: 301-225-4120

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO:

Jenalle Hilmes, 618-418-6585, jenalle.l.hilmes.civ@mail.mil, and Lynn Vail, 618-

418-6131, lynn.m.vail.civ@mail.mil.