ESES III JOFOC_FINAL.pdf

Rev.:4/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Electrical Systems Engineering Services (ESES III) 80GSFC18C0120

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) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is GSFC.

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 80GSFC18C0120 with Science Systems and Applications, Inc (SSAI). The estimated value of this extension is $48.4M, which can be absorbed in the current maximum ordering value. The ESES III contract currently expires on June 09, 2024. Award of the ESES IV contract was originally anticipated for March 28, 2024, followed by a 60- day phase-in period resulting in an effective date of May 29, 2024.

However, On May 21, 2024, we received a size standard protest which has been forwarded to the Small Business Administration for a determination. The contract extension period is based on the need to cover the award of the follow-on contract, due to delays in ESES IV award including the protest, and covers the transition to the follow-on contract (with the 60-day phase-in period). The option is requested in the event additional delays are encountered. As a result of this delay, an extension request is being made as follows:

This extension of up to 6 months, comprised of a 3-month and 2-week extension to the base ordering period, and a 2-month and 2-week Option, would allow for the ESES III contract to continue providing its services through December 8, 2024, if needed. The options are

June 10, 2024 – September 22, Three (3) month and two (2) week extension to current period of performance

September 23, 2024 – December 8, 2024

Two (2) month and two (2) week Option being built into this request to accommodate for potential contract award delays and only be exercised if additional time is needed. This action will allow for continued performance and continuation of mission critical services under the ESES III contract through December 8, 2024 (if option is exercised).

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 principal purpose of this contract is to provide electrical/electronic engineering support services and related work to the Electrical Engineering Division (EED), the Instrument Systems and Technology Division (ISTD), the Software Engineering Division (SED), the Mechanical Systems Division (MSD), the Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division (MESA) related organizations and other NASA Centers and locations specified in task orders, for the study, design, development, fabrication, integration, testing, verification, and operations of space flight, airborne, and ground system hardware and software, including development and validation of new technologies to enable future space and science missions. NASA GSFC is proposing to extend the current base contract effective ordering period by 3-months and two weeks and incorporates a 2-month, 2-week option period in order to allow for new and continued performance through December 8, 2024 (if necessary). The current ESES III maximum ordering value is $685M. The estimating ordering value to allow for new and continued performance through December 8, 2024, is $48.4M (approximately $8M per month). However, no increase in the contract maximum ordering value is necessary, as the $48.4M can be absorbed within the current contract maximum ordering value.

The contract extension period is based on the need to cover mission critical multidisciplinary work requirements under the ESES III contract during the award process of the follow–on contract, Electrical Systems Engineering Services (ESES) IV. The 3-month, 2- week base period extension with a 2-month, 2-week option period allows for continued performance and continuation of mission critical services under the ESES III contract, the completion of the Source Evaluation Board (SEB) evaluation process, award of the ESES III contract and completion of the phase-in process.

Most of the current ESES III task orders are expected to transition to the ESES IV contract and are expected to maintain or increase their current levels of support for the next year. As a result of the delays experienced with the award the ESES IV contract, it is now necessary to extend the ESES III contract’s period of performance beyond June 9, 2024, to allow for uninterrupted support for most of the task’s orders currently on ESES III. More specifically, this ESES III contract extension allows for the continuation of critical NASA missions such as Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE), Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), Roman Space Telescope (RST), On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM-1), GeoSpace Dynamic Constellation (GDC), and Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI), to name a few. For example, the PACE Mission was launched in February 2024 and is currently in the commissioning phase and collecting science data. RST and OSAM-1 projects are both undergoing subsystems environmental testing as the projects are preparing for their system level Integration and Testing (I&T). The personnel and support from the ESES III contract are critical and needed for RST and OSAM-1 to meet critical milestones.

Also, the GDC team is in the process of building an engineering development unit for the Power System Electronics. These milestones are directly on the critical path for RST, OSAM-1, and GDC missions’ success. A potential contractor change at this stage would highly disrupt the ability to deliver the work on schedule because it would require a steep learning curve if new personnel were to be brought on board. The administrative costs for both the government and a new contractor would be considerable. The projects are at critical points where they need to execute their schedules to keep their deliverables and commitments to the agency.

The multi-discipline nature of this contract’s support, and the mission-critical support requirements often demand specialized engineering manpower and procurements of specialized flight hardware that require engineering expertise to properly execute. The ESES III contract must be able to react quickly and readily provide uninterrupted support for these high priority projects. Project requirements depend upon the specialized skills and flexibility of the multidiscipline engineering services. The ESES III contract extension will allow for the needed continuity of services for these projects as they are in critical stages while allowing for any unexpected delays that these programs may experience.

Without an extension to the ESES III contract’s period of performance, NASA GSFC would be precluded from continuing current ongoing support requirements and issuing further new short-term task orders for services under this contract.

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 (10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1)).

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 that a sole-source award to Science Systems and Applications, Inc (SSAI) is necessary due to the nature of the work to be performed, the short duration of the extension period and because NASA currently has competitive follow-on procurement underway. As the incumbent contractor, SSAI is uniquely qualified to provide services required under the interim period. Services are needed for a short period until the 5-year follow-on contract is awarded. Increasing the maximum ordering contract value is NOT required as the ordering value is able to absorb the estimated costs. Furthermore, SSAI is able to continue performing services without requiring a startup period and/or the normal learning curve typically encountered by new incoming contractors. Should these services be interrupted, NASA will be unable to perform and fulfill critical multidiscipline engineering support and related services that are required by NASA’s RST, OSAM-1, GDC, DAVINCI, and DragonFly missions to remain on schedule. Furthermore, any interruption in services would cause major impacts to JWST and PACE, both currently undergoing on-orbit operations following their launches which occurred in 2021 and 2024, respectively. In determining a solution that represents the least amount of risk to the government, stability and continuity are considered to be critical factors. SSAI is considered the only contractor that can meet GSFC’s needs, given the remaining period of the contract. These services are absolutely required to ensure the success of the following critical events:

a. Continuing to support the on-orbit of PACE & JWST missions.

b. Finalizing RST, I&T Test Campaign of the flight Focal Plane Electronics (FPE) and the Command and Data Handling Unit (C&DH)

c. Finalizing the testing of the FLT Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for

OSAM-1

The unique skills required to support such critical missions and milestones cannot be readily replaced without a steep learning curve. The highly technical and varied activities associated with the ESES III contract require a very specialized set of skills, which were built up over the years. The learning curve that is required to cultivate the necessary across-the-board skills pertaining to the ESES III contract could take several years to overcome and at considerable cost. The incumbent already possesses the necessary skills required for uninterrupted performance. Therefore, NASA believes that the incumbent contractor, SSAI, is the only contractor capable of providing the necessary and specific skills, experience and expertise required.

If NASA attempts to procure these services from any other source in lieu of extending the contract, the combination of delay due to the competitive process and the time required to transition a new management team to coordinate staffing levels, schedules, and to become familiar with work requirements and systems would cause unacceptable delays in fulfilling NASA’s mission. Based on the time and costs that would be involved in procuring and phasing in another contract, SSAI is the only entity possessing the detailed knowledge necessary to provide seamless continuation of the services provided under the ESES III contract without risk of an unacceptable interruption or delay of critical services.

In addition, only allowing a short contract extension will avoid substantial duplication of cost to the Government. The duplication of costs that would be incurred if another contractor was brought onboard would be significant and would include duplication of phase-in costs. The duplicative phase-in costs of putting in place a short-term interim contract would not reasonably be expected to be recovered through competition. The duplicative costs would include the need to review contractor submitted plans and documents, such as Information Technology (IT) Security Plan, Safety and Health Plan, among others, for this period which will be completed for the follow-on that is awaiting award. In addition, the Government would incur significant additional administrative costs putting in place a short- term contract through the evaluation process, which could not reasonably be expected to be recovered through competition. This is unacceptable to the Government given that the current contract ends June 9, 2024, and that the costs are not expected to be recovered through a competitive acquisition. In order for the Government to avoid substantial duplication of costs and to avoid unacceptable delay in performance of critical requirements, a contract extension through September 22, 2024 is required.

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 (Sam.gov) was published on April 22, 2024, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source extension to SSAI. 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. NASA GSFC is proposing to extend the current contract period of performance through September 22, 2024, with the ability to extend through December 8, 2024, if all options are exercised. This proposed maximum ordering value increase is to accommodate additional work that is within the current contract scope and does not require the addition of new labor categories or updated labor rates. As CY6 rates were evaluated and determined fair and reasonable at contract award. Support from external organizations such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency may be utilized regarding determining Business Systems adequacy as needed.

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

Given the urgency of the need, and the immensity and complexity of the requirement, no in-depth market research was conducted. Within this limited time frame for implementing this contract extension, NASA GSFC does not believe that any alternate sources can take on full contract responsibility without risk of an unacceptable delay to critical milestones. The Government would unnecessarily incur significant additional cost if another contractor were to perform this effort. A competitive ESES IV contract is expected to be awarded by May 2024. An assessment of other existing current contracts was made with the conclusion that no viable contract vehicles existed that could reasonably support the requirement. The requirement for ESES III continuity of operations and the need to meet critical mission milestones for flight project missions leaves no feasible alternative except to extend the period of performance of the ESES III contract.

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

Detailed knowledge of the ESES III contract greatly aids the contractor’s ability to effectively and efficiently manage the tasks in a timely manner during the remaining duration of the contract period of performance. This will benefit the Government through lower technical risk. As previously stated, it is anticipated that an award to any other source for the remainder of the contract duration would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling NASA GSFC’s critical requirements and would duplicative costs.

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 (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above). The synopsis was posted on April 22, 2024 and closed on May 6, 2024. The Government received 0 responses.

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. The Government is in the process of conducting a competition for the follow-on competition.