Hypersonics JOFOC Ceiling.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC)

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) for Hypersonic Technology Development (HTD)

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 NASA 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 to increase the contract ceiling via modification to the existing Hypersonics Technology Development (HTD) contract, 80LARC21D0002, with General Electric Aviation (GE). The HTD contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) sole-source contract previously awarded to GE for both high-temperature ceramic components and turbine-based combined cycle technologies research based on the F-101 engine.

A contract modification to increase the ceiling is necessary due to the anticipated amount of work to be performed on the contract over the remaining four years of performance. During the first nine months of performance, 58% ($7.5M) of the contract ceiling value has been exhausted. Of the $7.5M in awarded task order value, 27% is funded by LaRC, 34% by Glenn Research Center (GRC), and 39% by the Department of Defense (DoD). Based on current projections, the contract ceiling value could be completely exhausted in the next nine to 12 months. The ceiling value shortfall is attributed to the fact that the original contract estimate did not account for recent unanticipated budget increases and changes in the geopolitical landscape that has resulted in increased interest in hypersonic research.

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):

NASA Langley continues to have a requirement to develop composite components and engine technologies to support the Hypersonics Technology Project (HTP) and Department of Defense (DoD) hypersonic vehicles research. The HTD contract allows NASA Langley and other NASA centers to obtain unique propulsion and structural/thermal analysis support, design support, and hardware that will be utilized to support the development of aircraft structures, such as control surfaces, leading edges, nose caps, and aeroshells, as well as the development of hypersonic air breathing engine technologies to support hypersonic propulsion. There is a demonstrated need to continue work to support hypersonic research in these key areas with the current DoD and NASA HTP customers. The majority of the requested increase discussed below comes from other partners/customers. As NASA employs some of the leading subject matter experts in the areas of hypersonic engine and materials research, the additional funding from Department of Defense (DoD) partners will be used to perform research and development efforts that benefit both NASA and DoD.

NASA Langley also continues to have a requirement to research/analyze the GE F-101 turbofan engine’s suitability for use on the Aether concept vehicle. The NASA-designed

Aether conceptual vehicle from the NASA Hypersonic Technology Project is a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) demonstrator-scale aircraft. The TBCC engine consists of a low speed turbofan system that can operate from take-off to ramjet takeover and a high-speed system that accelerates from this point to dual-mode ramjet operation for hypersonic flight.

Again, there is a demonstrated need to continue to advance the Aether jet research currently being conducted on the HTD contract.

This action will increase the total contract ceiling value from $13,000,000 by $20,000,000 to $33,000,000.

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.

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 as described below.

GE remains the only source for the carbon matrix ceramic (CMC) technology and F-101 engine required by NASA Langley to continue research already started under the current HTD contract. Award to any other source would result in substantial time and duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Agency’s requirements.

GE possesses proprietary processes that utilize a combination of in-house composite, densification, manufacturing, assembly, , and machining that allows for the fabrication of aerospace components that are used in high temperature/pressure environments. GE utilizes two different processes to develop CMC material systems for components: silicon carbide/silicon carbide (SiC/SiC) for turbines/hypersonics and carbon/silicon carbide (C/SiC) for hypersonics/space applications. GE also uses two proprietary processes, melt infiltration (MI) and chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), to create these material systems.

Additionally, the GE material systems are the only lightweight composite materials that have the multiuse capability in the hypersonic high temperature environment that have demonstrated fabrication at the scale required for the control surface structures (~ 3 ft long) required by NASA. GE has the capability to build sizes NASA requires for control surfaces, nose caps, and fuselage panels (~ 3 ft long) using either MI or CVI processing.

GE has worked on the development of these material systems since the 1990’s and has become the only source within the United States to reliably obtain test and flight demonstration articles of the size and type required by researchers at NASA. As a result of their research efforts, GE has an extensive database of material properties. The database is important because without it, material properties must be generated prior to the design of the components. Generating material property databases requires millions of dollars and 3 to 5 years.

A significant amount of CMC-related work has already been awarded under the HTD contract. Bringing in a new contractor is not feasible as it would require NASA to restart the research completed to date using a different material system, which in itself is not feasible, because no other contractor possesses the CMC technology that GE does.

For the engine technology research, the F-101 turbine engine is the only high-Mach (Mach 2+) flight proven turbine engine (with augmentor) that has fan bypass duct ratio of 2.0 required for acceleration of the Aether vehicle up to the ramjet takeover point. As the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the F-101, GE Aviation alone has the intricate knowledge base of the F-101 hardware design, performance capabilities, and thermal limitations for high-Mach flight required for this critical and complex technology research.

Additionally, due to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions associated with the Aether effort, the necessary turbofan engine must come from a U.S.-based company. G.E. is the only U.S.-based company that possesses a turbofan engine (F-101) that meets the Government’s specific high-Mach and fan bypass duct ration requirements.

Again, GE remains the only source for the F-101 engine and the research currently underway will lead directly into future research efforts, so it not reasonable nor feasible to compete and award a new contract.

An increase to the HTD contract ceiling will allow NASA and others the ability to continue critical hypersonics research efforts currently underway and begin new research uninterrupted.

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 (beta.sam.gov) will be published in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting will inform potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract ceiling increase modification to GE Aviation.

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:

Since this is an IDIQ contract, task orders will be utilized to issue work and the Contracting Officer will determine the cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable prior to award of the modification pursuant to the requirements of FAR 15.403-4.

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:

Additional market research has not been conducted for this increase. The market research conducted to support the original JOFOC and contract award was conducted in January 2020. In an email to the CO, the NASA technical leads reaffirmed that there is still no other source for the required CMC technology and F-101 engine aside from GE based on their knowledge and years of experience in hypersonics and material manufacturing and databases.

As stated in paragraph 6 above, a notice will be posted to the GPE and any responses received will be evaluated to determine their ability to meet the Government’s requirements.

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

GE has over 30 years of experience fabricating CMC components via the CVI process and has recently opened several manufacturing facilities supporting the MI process. LaRC now requires CMC components manufactured utilizing both the MI and CVI process. Other companies would need to develop and perfect the processes mentioned above to densify utilizing the MI and CVI processes, requiring tens of millions of dollars. For a company that does not currently have this capability, it would significantly increase cost and impact the schedule for the evaluation of aerospace hypersonic components and structures.

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

In accordance with FAR 5.201(b)(1)(ii), NASA intends to synopsize this modification to an existing contract for additional services wherein additional sources may respond. It is not anticipated that any additional sources will express interest in the acquisition. Market research during the initial contract award did not reveal any alternate sources, nor did any sources express interest when NASA synopsized the requirement on the government point of entry (GPE). Additionally, the services required are deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of this contract ceiling increase modification for the continued provision of highly specialized services.

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.

Hypersonic Technology Development Contract 80LARC21D0002

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

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

David E. Glass Technical Representative

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

Lisa M. Harvey Contracting Officer

CONCURRENCES:

David F. Young Competition Advocate Langley Research Center

APPROVAL:

Susan E. McClain Head of Contracting Activity, Langley Research Center

DAVID

GLASS

Digitally signed by DAV D

GLASS

Date: 2022.04.18 16:11:17 -04'00'

LISA

HARVEY

Digitally signed by LISA

HARVEY

Date: 2022 04.19 07:46:29 -04'00'

DAVID

YOUNG

Digitally signed by DAVID

YOUNG

Date: 2022.04.25 10:25 21 -04'00'

SUSAN

MCCLAIN

Digitally signed by

SUSAN MCCLAIN

Date: 2022.04.25 11:09:27 -04'00'