JOFOC ETL Investigation without signature page.pdf

Rev.:4/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Johnson Space Center (JSC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For 80JSC024ETL/NESC Explosive Transfer Line Investigation/80JSC024PA007

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) Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

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 Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company for explosive transfer lines, their associated manifolds and testing and performance evaluation services.

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 requires Explosive transfer line modifications, testing and evaluation of the performance modifications, technical interchange meetings, deliverable explosive transfer line test leads, and deliverable manifolds.

The estimated value for all deliverables is $344,410.00. The period of performance is approximately12 months after receipt of order.

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. 3204(a)- 1, as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or service 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. 3204(a)-1 is based on the use of Ensign Bickford being the original supplier of the specialized components that need to be tested under this action. Ensign Bickford previously designed and developed the original Explosive Transfer Lines hardware that is used in support of multiple NASA Programs. Therefore, NASA cannot further investigate the performance of this hardware without working with the original supplier of this hardware.

The purpose of this purchase order is to further investigate the performance that was previously experienced during the previous system level testing performed in support of Artemis missions. To investigate this condition further, NASA must work with Ensign Bickford who provided the original Explosive Transfer Lines hardware. NASA has funded extensive development and qualification programs with this specific design that far exceed two million dollars. These development and qualification programs include system level tests and inflight tests that would cost the government more than two million dollars to reproduce with an alternate supplier design. In addition, it would require many years of work for the government and its Prime contractors to re-create the design, development, and testing of this hardware to support various NASA Programs that uses this hardware today.

The explosive transfer line design utilized is proprietary to Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company.

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 January 11, 2024, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to Ensign Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company. 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. A review will be performed of the costs associated with this work and compared to similar contracts NASA or its sub-contractors have awarded in the past for similar work scope.

The contractor’s proposed price to any subsequent orders will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 13. The Contracting Officer will work closely with the Contracting Officer’s Representative who is the system expert and has the historical knowledge of this requirement 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 price analysis as part of the proposal evaluation.

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:

Market research was performed to compare pricing for similar designs of explosive transfer lines and manifolds and how they may be utilized for this performance evaluation. Other portions of this test and evaluation program are specific to the designs used on the Multi- Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and NASA Docking System (NDS) and those aspects could not be competed because the specific design selected by those Programs is required. For those aspects NASA researched previously awarded NASA contracts for further research.

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

NASA has invested significant resources in NASA Contract NNJ06TA25C, 80JSC019C0012 and NAS15-10000. In many cases this explosive transfer line design has been required to function in environments that were a part of system level testing, and the full extent of these environments is not well defined. Repeating or re-creating these environments would be a significant cost and schedule impact to multiple NASA Programs in excess of two million dollars and minimum 2-year schedule impact. This estimate was developed after evaluation of costs associated with Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Pad Abort-1 test Program, Exploration Flight Test One Program, and Ascent Abort 2 test flight Programs.

An alternate source would be required to provide data and rationale on how their product is capable of meeting the environments of those test flights at various locations in the vehicle.

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 January 11, 2024, and concluded on January 19, 2024. 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:

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.

NASA does intend to compete a different portion of this performance investigation and will welcome other explosive transfer line suppliers to provide proposals to that other portion of the investigation.