Fair Oppotunity Exception - LENS 2025 - Redacted.pdf

Rev.:3/2025

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC)

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity

Description of the action being approved: This justification documents the basis for issuing a modification to an order under the Deep Space Logistics ENgineering Support (LENS) contract using an exception to the Fair Opportunity process. This modification is to add additional option periods from October 1, 2025 through November 29, 2025 and from November 30, 2025 through May 29, 2026.

Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs: This action is for a modification of existing order 80KSC021F0014, a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Task Order (TO) awarded under the General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) for systems engineering and integration support of all Deep Space Logistics (DSL) related work to develop, integrate, and execute the Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) missions. The total estimated ceiling price of the proposed modification is and the period of performance for the additional option periods is October 1, 2025 through November 29, 2025 and from November 30, 2025 through May 29, 2026.

Identification of Exception to Fair Opportunity:

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A), The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C), The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D), It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(E), For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(F), In accordance with section 1331 of Public Law 111-240 (15 U.S.C. 644(r)), contracting officers may, at their discretion, set aside orders for any of the small business concerns identified in 19.000(a)(3). When setting aside orders for small business concerns, the specific small business program eligibility requirements identified in part 19 apply.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(G), The order satisfies one of the exceptions permitting the use of other than full and open competition listed in 6.302 (10 U.S.C. 3406(c)(5). The public interest exception shall not be used unless Congress is notified in accordance with 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(7).

Supporting Rationale:

On November 30, 2020, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Office of Procurement (OP) Commercial Space Office awarded a GSA OASIS CPFF TO to MEI Technologies, Inc.

(MEIT). MEIT has since restructured as Aegis Aerospace, Inc. (Aegis). The CPFF included a 10-month base period, with three 12-month option periods, ending September 30, 2024; with an additional option year added extending the period of performance through September 30, 2025. The TO effective date was November 30, 2020, and will expire on September 30, 2025.

The Aegis OASIS master contract term expired December 19, 2024. However, TO Period of Performance (POPs) may extend for up to five years from the master contract term expiration date.

As a result of the TO’s expiration, the acquisition process for LENS II began in late 2024. The OASIS period of performance expired on December 19, 2024, but a new GSA IDIQ suite (OASIS+) was established as a replacement. Market research, including utilization of OASIS+ utilizing GSA’s eBuy, was conducted between January 29, 2025 and February 14, 2025. An Acquisition Plan to use OASIS+ for a follow-on acquisition was crafted based on the market research results and discussions with DSL, and was approved on April 10, 2025.

The final Request for Proposal (RFP) began routing for approval on April 2, 2025 and was approved on May 2, 2025.

On February 26, 2025, the President of the United States issued Executive Order 14222, which requires Agency head approval of all new awards until a comprehensive review of all contracts and grants has been completed. On March 17, 2025, NASA Headquarters (HQ) issued a new process in response to the Executive Order, requiring all request for proposals (RFPs) for new acquisitions obtain HQ approval prior to release. The LENS II RFP was routed to HQ for approval on March 27, 2025. Several communications have been received from HQ since this initial submittal stating the RFP is still under review. As of the writing of this memo, approval to release the RFP has not been received. Additional sources indicate the approval of this RFP may be further delayed while the agency awaits the confirmation of a new administrator and implements the direction included in recently issued Executive Orders and other Administration directives. This delay in approval of the LENS II RFP has drastically increased the need for LENS to be extended in order to avoid a significant gap in work.

The LENS engineering services support the Deep Space Logistics (DSL) project office at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). DSL is tasked with providing the launch service for the Gateway Logistics Module used in support of the Artemis missions (beginning with Artemis IV) and do so via a separate launch services contract, Gateway Logistics Services (GLS). The requirements of the original action, including systems engineering and integration support of all DSL related work to develop, integrate, and execute the GLS missions, were completed.

DSL was given the funding to execute Authority to Proceed (ATP) on their first mission (DSL-1 in support of Artmis IV) in November 2023, years later than originally anticipated.

This delay caused a significant reduction in work performed during LENS’s original contract period. In the time between award of GLS and ATP of DSL-1, a number of the Gateway requirements changed and the DSL team, including LENS personnel worked a significant contract modification to incorporate the updated requirements. In parallel, mission integration activities for DSL-1 including contract milestones through a pre-SRR Architecture Review were being worked. The pre-SRR Architecture Review was complete in November 2024 and included cost and schedule impacts to incorporate remaining updated requirements as a deliverable 30 days after the Pre-SRR Architecture Review. The next milestone, SRR, was originally scheduled to be completed in July 2025, but in May 2025 was replaced with a Mission Concept Review (MCR). Continuity within the DSL team during these design reviews will enhance the speed, quality, and effectiveness of NASA’s evaluation of the end-to-end services, ultimately contributing to mission success.

Given the above timeline of events due to the delayed LENS II acquisition and delayed ATP, DSL requested additional option periods be added to the contract. FAR clause 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, will be utilized to extend the contract for two months to November 30, 2025 to extend the length of the contract to five full years.

Additionally, FAR clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, will be utilized to extend the contract for six additional months through the addition of six one-month extensions, extending the total potential period of performance through May 29, 2026.

Due to ATP occurring three years after the establishment of LENS, the program did not have a significant workload during its first three years. ATP occurred in November 2023 and resultant negotiations regarding incorporating a portion of the requirement updates were finalized in May 2024. As a result, the LENS workload is expected to increase to its originally intended levels into this additional option period (FY26) once a programmatic decision is reached and program milestones continue.

A TO under OASIS Small Business (SB) is a Tier 3 Best-in-Class (BIC) Contract, the highest Category Management (CM) tier. The additional option periods boost the continued achievement of KSC’s CM goals. The Acquisition Plan for the LENS contract was valued at

, the maximum potential value of the initial award. Approval authority for Acquisition Plans valued at less than is retained by the Procurement Office Lead/Chief locally at

KSC.

The Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) anticipated a need for 22 work-year equivalents (WYE) in FY26, with an estimated value of . The addition of the proposed to the contract results in a total revised potential contract value of .

Adding an additional option period of up to eight months does not increase the potential contract value above the approval authority of Acquisition Plan, and is still significantly less than the maximum potential contract value of while remaining within the original scope and magnitude of the project. Additionally, the two-month extension creates a total potential contract POP of 5 years. The six-month extension after the two-month extension additionally does not require a Request for Deviation because FAR 52.217-8 was included in the original acquisition, and though the pricing for the six-month extension was not evaluated at the time of award, it was evaluated as part of this modification. Therefore, the addition of additional option periods to the LENS contract is justified.

Determination that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

In determining whether the anticipated cost to the Government was fair and reasonable, the technical value of retaining the same contractor throughout the additional option periods and the reasonableness of the proposed labor rates were analyzed.

The driving factor of the program’s decision to pursue additional option periods instead of recompeting the contract is to prevent work flow disruption while the program awaits the outcome of the LENS II acquisition. An updated acquisition schedule reflects any delays beyond an RFP issuance date of May 5, 2025 will cause an equal delay beyond the end of FY25 on September 30, 2025. Therefore, a release of the LENS II RFP as of the writing of this memo in June 2025 will result in an estimated procurement completion in October 2025, requiring at least a two-month extension of LENS to prevent a gap in work. As a result of Aegis being already embedded in the project, they can seamlessly begin work in FY26 without causing a delay in contractor support and without disrupting the program’s ability to complete major project milestones. Due to Aegis’ familiarity with the project and ability to continue work into FY26 without risking project disruption, their technical value represents the best technical value to the Government.

Additionally, Aegis included in their proposal for the FY26 option periods a list of positions and OASIS labor categories consistent with the requirements of the proposed task order for the period of October 1, 2025 – May 29, 2026. A price analysis was completed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.404-1 and NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) 1815.404-1 and has been documented in the contract file. Based on these analyses, this contracting officer has determined adding option periods to the contract represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

Other Facts:

Due to the contractor’s integration into the project and the ongoing DSL work being conducted, continuity of the team is the overarching reason for the additional option periods being added. As a result of the integration between government and contractor workforces, the contractor’s knowledge and expert familiarity with the work required, and the anticipated increased workload in FY26, no other provider is sought for this extension. Therefore, no market research was conducted for this action.

However, our experience in conducting the original procurement for LENS and initiating the LENS II procurement has given our office insight to market capabilities and pricing within OASIS and OASIS+ and an understanding that alternative sources for the work required of LENS exist within the market. While these alternative sources may be suitable in the longer term, no source can replace the support currently provided by Aegis without risking delays on the completion of current major project milestones. However, these barriers to competition will be significantly reduced once the LENS II RFP is allowed to be released by NASA HQ, allowing for a full competition to occur. As a result, competition for LENS II is expected in Calendar Year 2025, and will be procured through OASIS+. Therefore, while no market research was conducted for this action, our office has an understanding of the current market environment for a future procurement, and the addition of additional option periods to LENS with the current contractor will provide the Government with the best value.

A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

A Request for Proposal for the follow-on LENS II solicitation has been developed and is awaiting HQ approval before being released for proposal submittal consideration of all businesses on-ramped to the OASIS+ Total Small Business contract. The intention with the two-month and eight-month additional option periods of the LENS contract is to prevent a disruption in work while awaiting HQ approval of the release of the LENS II RFP.

Additionally, The CO will continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions for the same requirements.

DEEP SPACE LOGISTICS ENGINEERING SUPPORT (LENS) CONTRACT

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

SIGNATURE PAGE

I certify that the requirements and technical data contained herein, and which form a basis for this justification are accurate and complete.

Russell Saylor Technical Representative

I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Based on the content herein, it is determined there is substantial evidence to justify this exception to fair opportunity.

Geena Cesar Contracting Officer

APPROVAL:

Based on the information provided in this justification, and as the approving official, I have determined that the exception at FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) applies to the order.

Edwin Martinez Competition Advocate John F. Kennedy Space Center