JEFO_SWO Business_SS_Bridge_Redacted_001.pdf

Version 4.0

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

FOR AN ORDER EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION

THRESHOLD (AUTHORITY: FAR 16.507-6(b)(3)

ST133017CQ0054/1332KP20FNEEO0050

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Satellite and Information Acquisition Division (SIAD) located in Silver Spring, MD, proposes to enter into a task order on the basis of other than full and open competition in support of future mission strategy and specialized analysis at the NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Office of Space Weather Observatory (SWO).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a justification for an exception to fair opportunity for a logical follow-on sole source contract to an existing Fixed-Firm Price (FFP) Task Order. Currently, this requirement for work has been completed through the ProTech Satellite Domain Contract under ST133017CQ0054/1332KP20FNEEO0050, which was put in place for SWO from September 24, 2021, to September 23, 2025, with a 6-month extension from September 24, 2025, to March 23, 2026. Due to SWO mission essential work toward its Space Weather Follow-On mission and launch on September 23, 2025, and government lapsed in funding from October 1, 2025, to November 14, 2025, along with continued mission essential work toward satellite handover, SWO needs continuation of services currently in place to meet timelines and priorities.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

To maintain the integrity of the joint NOAA-NASA mission, SWO requires a total investment of for a base period of 6-months and two 3-month option periods. The acquisition team aims to have the ProTech 2.0 recompete completed within an aggressive timeline of six

(6) month base period. However, we have planned two three (3) month options to be exercised if necessary.

We will process a new task order under ProTech IDIQ Contract No. under the Satellite Domain 1305M423DNEAA0010 with period of performance as follows:

6-month Base: March 24, 2026 - September 23 2026 3-month Option 1: September 24, 2026 - December 23, 2026 3-month Option 2: December 24, 2026 - March 23, 2027

These services are not merely supportive but are foundational to the mission-essential activities of the NESDIS/SWO portfolio.

Core Deliverables include:

Interagency Program Integration: Specialized management of business functions, including workflow optimization and the management of dual-agency facilities and property assets.

Expertise in operating in dual agency systems, travel coordination, facilitation, Crisis & Continuity Planning: Execution of COOP activities tailored to meet the distinct regulatory requirements of both NOAA and NASA.

Procurement Excellence: Expert advisory services focused on the pre-award phase of procurement, ensuring technical accuracy and cost-efficiency in multi-agency acquisitions.

Strategic Communication: Development of specialized materials to meet SWO’s unique joint NOAA-NASA mission; institutional knowledge and expertise of both NOAA and NASA communication processes, personnel, and priorities of each agency. Development of plans, materials that align with NOAA space weather priorities.

4. Authority and supporting rationale. The contracting officer has determined the circumstances of the acquisition meet the following statutory exception under 16.507-6(b)(3) as supported below:

Logical follow-on - FAR 16.507-6(b)(3) – In the interest of economy and efficiency, this order must be issued on a sole-source basis because it is a logical follow-on to Task Order to ST133017CQ0054/1332KP20FNEEO0050 which was issued under the ProTech IDIQ. On August 19, 2020, the Task Order Request for Proposal (TORP) was issued under the ProTech Satellite Domain set-aside for Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) concerns. All awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. The TORP closed August 27, 2020. The competition resulted in four (4) offerors submitting proposals. After evaluation, INNOVIM, LLC was awarded the Task Order on September 24, 2020.

Efficiency

Asset Transition (SWFO-L1 / SOLAR-1): Within the next 12 months, SWO will transition the SWFO-L1 satellite, now renamed SOLAR-1, and the satellite will be declared operational. The project has an aggressive schedule to meet milestones. A change in personnel at this juncture would introduce schedule risk and inefficiency for property-depending activities. If new staff were to be introduced, it would take weeks to months to gain access, get training, etc. This would be an inefficient use of time and resources.

Strategic Communication: SWO is currently executing a coordinated communication strategy for the SOLAR-1 post-launch activities. Continuity is vital to ensure messaging remains consistent across both agencies during this visibility window

Economy

Economy is realized through removal of government and industry burdens to prepare, compete, solicit, and evaluate a shortened performance-period contract. This logical follow-on sole source to INNOVIM will benefit the government in that it would eliminate the need to go through the many necessary processes, accesses, and training. INNOVIM under their current task have the access, training, and institutional knowledge that has helped SWO maintain an efficient support team. It would save the government resources to continue with INNOVIM, as Federal staff would need to process, train, and take over all activities until a new vendor were to be properly staffed and have access. It normally takes 2 to 6 weeks for NOAA new personnel security clearance to be completed. In addition, it takes an additional 2 weeks (often more) after NOAA new personnel clearance is completed to get NASA access alone. Replacing the current support team would require a lengthy "ramp-up" period, likely to cause missed milestones for upcoming joint missions.

Operational support: SWO navigates a complex interagency business operations model, and increased travel scrutiny. INNOVIM has demonstrated the specific capacity to manage these dual agency (NOAA/NASA) requirements. Transitioning to a new vendor now would result in a substantial duplication of efforts and a loss of momentum to complete critical travel management, facility moves, COOP activities, and other operational tasks. Once they go through the extensive process of getting their NOAA and NASA credentials it takes additional time for formal training, and cross training, usually with a federal staff. For Property activities, in addition to the required online training (~1 week of CLC and Sunflower training), it takes Federal staff (Property Accountability Officer or Property Custodian) approximately 2 weeks to cross train. Also, it takes additional time to gain accessibility to the Sunflower system. This would account for the effort of approximately 120 hours at Level 3 support. This situation could be avoided if the task continues with the current contractor. Continuing with INNOVIM would save the Government valuable resources that can be dedicated to program related efforts. This is similar for tasks related to travel support. For travel, two Level 2 contractors would have to take training, plus gain cross-training to gain office specific operational training. It takes approximately 3-4 weeks of cross training to become fully functional as a traveler, approximately 120-160 hours are saved if we continue with

INNOVIM.

Analysis of Logical Follow-on

The scope of the contract for the initial order and the extension is for a similar type of work in terms of the task areas, deliverables, and performance requirements, making it a logical follow

on. The period of performance begins when the current contract ends, ensuring a logical continuity of operations to support SWO. The task order will be awarded from the same Indefinite Delivery Vehicle as the current contract and use the same rate structure. Therefore, this action satisfies the criteria for a logical follow-on under FAR 16.505(b)(2) (i)(C).

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated price to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable based on market research from similar types of efforts with similar labor categories and historical prices for similar recent INNOVIM Task Orders. Prior to award of the proposed task order, price information shall be obtained from the contractor, and a price analysis will be performed and documented to sufficiently determine that the price to the Government of the proposed acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

If we cannot keep INNOVIM as the logical follow-on to bridge this current contract, then SWO would lack the staff that have the expertise and access to work in a joint program, that is in a critical period of its projects. While SWFO-L1, now SOLAR-1, is winding down and completing activities to transition, it would be a failure for SWO if we do not have the experts to help transition property, complete post-launch communications that are highly visible for SWO, NESDIS and NOAA. SWO needs INNOVIM to continue to provide expertise necessary to continue critical property activities ahead of satellite operation handover. SWO would also lack the expertise in communications to help draft, coordinate and implement important messaging to the space weather community, as well as the public. Often communications need immediate action and understanding of how SWO works and who to reach out to respond to almost immediate turnaround requests. This is vital as we meet critical milestones. Without that expertise there could be delays to the important messaging about SOLAR-1 as it becomes operational. A new contractor would take weeks to ramp up, gain access and understanding of the intricacies of space weather, understand the unique relationships it has with Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), and other stakeholders.

In addition, SWO is also in preparations for the new SWO efforts. For example, the SOLAR-A and L5 Projects are in the development phase. INNOVIM s expert communication is critical to the early development of communication and messaging around the mission. It will be important for these projects as they will have complicated partnerships that will need carefully coordinated communications. In addition, SWO is in the middle of coordination with NASA and NESDIS on facilities activities. SWO needs staff that are ready to take action in both NOAA and NASA systems. A delay in having staff that have the training, credentials, and access to both systems could delay the coordinated effort to bring staff to SWO’s current building. Impacts would be greater if SWO were to be required to move to the main Goddard campus. SWO also needs continuation of service that has expertise and institutional knowledge of the business operations of