JOFOC - CED 80JSC021D0034.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

Johnson Space Center (JSC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For 80JSC020NSIS/NASA Standard Initiator (NSI) and Detonator

(NSD)/80JSC021D0034

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 “JOFOC.”

This document is a JOFOC prepared by NASA/JSC.

The procuring agency is the NASA and the contracting activity is JSC.

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 a sole-source contract to Chemring Energetic Devices (CED) for the fabrication, assembly, and acceptance testing of NSI-1s, NSI-3As and NSD. The deliverable quantities will be for lots of either 200, 500 or 1000 of each device.

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 Government has a requirement for human-rated, flight certified pyrotechnic devices for the Orion Program, NASA Docking System, Jet Propulsion Laboratories Rovers, Space Launch Systems and other Agency-wide Programs. JSC Engineering Directorate’s Propulsion and Power Division (EP) is responsible for logistics management, manufacture oversight, and certification of the NSI and the NSD. EP procures NSIs and NSDs on a recurring basis from only qualified vendors.

The NSI is a two-pin electrically activated, hot-wire, electro-explosive device designed to convert electrical energy into a pyrotechnic output. The NSI-1 and NSI-3A configurations are identical with the exception of the mating electrical connector and connector seals. The NSD converts the NSI deflagration output into a detonation wave.

The estimated not-to-exceed value for all deliverables is $7,000,000. The period of performance is 5-years. The delivery period will take 2-years after each task order is awarded.

JOFOC – NSI/NSD

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 United States Code (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.

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 appropriate only when the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency, as described below.

Due to the criticality of the hardware, vendors must undergo a rigorous vetting process before becoming qualified. To become an approved vendor, they must successfully manufacture multiple lots of NSIs and/or NSDs. During facility qualification, they provide NASA with all drawings, procedures, inspection reports, traceability documents, testing results (e.g. thermal cycle, vibration, shock), radiographic inspection, leak testing, propellant weights, and firing results. The vendor also hosts three Phase Reviews in which NASA personnel (Engineering & Quality) visit the vendor facility and review all build documents.

This process is in place to ensure that the NSIs and NSDs are of the highest quality for use in human space flight. Currently, CED is the only qualified source for all three devices.

In addition, CED is uniquely qualified to provide these services to the Government based on the expertise they possess as a result of having solely developed and integrated the original device designs under various previous contracts throughout the Shuttle and Apollo Programs under Hi-Shear. More recently, NASA contracted with CED for each of the three devices, NSI-1s, NSI-3As, and NSDs under NNJ13HC26B. CED is also the only vendor that has propellant lots on hand that have been tested, approved and qualified by NASA for production.

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) was published on April 16, 2020, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to CED. 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. The contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable.

The contractor’s proposed price to any subsequent orders will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 15.404-2. The Contracting Officer will work closely with the Contracting Officer’s Representative to determine if the contractor’s proposed prices are fair and reasonable. This includes development of an Independent Government Estimate prior to receipt of the proposal and performance of a cost/price analysis as part of the proposal evaluation.

Proposed prices will be analyzed using historical prices from contract number NNJ13HC26B, internal governmental data, and data requested from the contractor. A technical evaluation will also be performed to analyze the basis of estimate and assess if the contractor’s proposal is adequate to meet the requirements of the Statement of Work. The Contracting Officer will review the results of the technical evaluation and cost/price analysis to identify any major issues or concerns. Any proposal issues or concerns will be addressed during fact-finding and resolved as necessary through negotiations.

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:

Market Research is continually being performed to assess potential new suppliers. The NSI and NSD are very specialized devices that have very stringent qualification requirements and only a handful of vendors have been qualified.

In 1966, Space Ordnance Systems was the first company to qualify to manufacture NSIs and was later sold to Universal Propulsion Company (UPCO) who completed a delta-qualification effort. Goodrich later purchased UPCO and they were not able complete a delta-qualification. Hi-Shear qualified in 1968 and was sold to CED in Torrance, CA. CED Torrance went through a delta qualification effort and continued manufacturing NSIs for NASA. CED’s Torrance Facility closed and the remainder of the delivery orders from the previous NASA contract (NNJ13HC26B) were transferred to the CED Downers Grove, Illinois Facility. CED Downers Grove invested significant time, and financial resources in training personnel and improving their facilities to become qualified to manufacture the devices.

To date, NASA has funded three different qualification efforts, and only one vendor was able to successfully complete the process (Hi-Shear/CED). UPCO was able to complete the delta-qualification, but once UPCO was purchased by Goodrich the company was unable to meet the delta-qualification and was no longer considered as a qualified vendor. There are current efforts to qualify another vendor (Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense) under contract NNJ17HK05C but until they are qualified, Chemring is the only qualified source for these devices.

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

None

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 (beta.sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (see section six above).

The synopsis was posted to beta.sam.gov on April 16, 2020, and concluded on April 22, 2020. No potential sources have expressed an interest in this acquisition.

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:

Efforts to overcome barriers to competition for procuring similar hardware are currently underway. NASA/JSC is currently working to qualify an alternate source under contract NNJ17HK05C with Ensign Bickford for NSIs. Upon completion of that effort NASA will have multiple qualified sources and competition will improve. 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.