JOFOC_IRMU_LAO_Redacted 80JSC021PA002.pdf

Rev.:01/2021

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Johnson Space Center (JSC)JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

For 80JSC021IRMUs

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 (JSC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is Johnson Space Center (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 Summit Products Corporation for Initiator Resistance Measurement Unit (IRMU) Hardware & Software Upgrades. The total estimated cost of this effort is and the estimated period of performance or lead-time for delivery is Weeks.

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):

This procurement will result in upgrading the current NASA IRMU systems to be self-contained by eliminating the existing need for peripheral support equipment and control software. The upgrade will occur in 4 phases. Phase 1 was completed under a separate contract and the feasibility study conducted during this phase formed the basis for this work.

This effort will address Phases 2, 3 and 4. Phase 2 is estimated at with a lead time of 28 weeks and consists of the development of a first article prototype level system for evaluation and testing at JSC. Phase 3 is estimated at and has an estimated lead time of weeks consists of the upgrade of a single IRMU, that is representative of the final deliverable configuration and will be modified to incorporate all the necessary design change enhancements developed in Phase 2, for qualification testing at JSC. Phase 4 has an estimated cost of and a lead time of weeks and will cover a pre-production review, modification of the existing IRMUs (QTY16) and subsequent acceptance testing at JSC. The IRMUs will be shipped to the Contractor, as available, for modification. Once returned to NASA, JSC will perform acceptance testing.

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 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.

The acquisition of the upgraded IRMUs is a non-standard service. Special engineering, design, and fabrication are necessary. Summit Products was the original manufacturer of the hardware and support software. Original selection was made on a best value competitive basis. As such, Summit Products has the required specialized knowledge and a unique understanding of the design and construction of the systems. Any modifications to the system and/or its software by other than NASA authorized personnel or Summit Products will invalidate product hardware certifications and may potentially compromise and/or create unsafe equipment. Award of the purchase order to another vendor would result in considerable negative impacts to both cost and schedule as any other source would need to reverse engineer the system. The modified hardware and software would then require a lengthy review process and re-qualification testing resulting in addition cost and schedule impacts.

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 TBD, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole source to Summit Products Corporation). 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.

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 continuously being performed to assess the availability of any similar devices. The IRMU is a very specialized device that has stringent qualification requirements that apply to manufacturing the NASA Standard Initiator (NSI). NSIs are government furnished pyrotechnics and are built as class I critical flight hardware. The IRMU measures the resistance of those devices. Currently, there are low voltage current meters available commercially but none with the precision or accuracy that is required of the IRMU. Over the years, users of NSIs have inquired about alternatives to the IRMU but to date, there are no comparable measurement systems.

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 (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above).

The synopsis was posted to beta.sam.gov on TBD and concluded on TBD.

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 primary motivation for this upgrade is to eliminate the reliance on external software. The original software was designed for Windows XP and is not compatible with any other Operating System. NASA directives and policies have mandated and encouraged the replacement and disposition of all outdated and obsolete software and systems, necessitating the upgrade to the existing IRMU systems. A follow-on procurement is not expected as NASA plans to maintain the IRMUs going forward. As part of this procurement, NASA is specifying additional keyboards, mice, displays and the software code to preserve this ability to update in house.

(Initiator Resistance Measurement Unit (IRMU)