JOFOC-VIPER NSS-FINAL-Redacted.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Ames Research Center

Moffett Field, California 94035-1000

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Summary Information:

Initiating Office: NASA Ames Research Center, Code S

Contracting Activity: NASA Ames Research Center, Code JAZ

JOFOC Number: JA-FY20-J04

Purchase Request No.: PR# 4200714709

Procurement Title: Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER)

Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS) Protoflight Unit

Total Estimated Value: $FOIA Ex. 5

Period of Performance: The period of performance will be approximately 20 months

(estimated start date of March 1, 2020 through end of October, 2021) with no options.

Statutory Authority: 10 USC 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other

[FAR 6.303-2(b)(4)] Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

1. This document is a justification for other than full and open competition in accordance with the requirement of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303 and NASA FAR Supplement

(NFS) 1806.303.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) proposes to negotiate a sole source contract with Lockheed Martin (LM) to procure a protoflight version of a neutron spectrometer for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover

(VIPER) mission payload. Specifically, LM’s Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) shall fabricate, assemble, and test a protoflight version of the VIPER Neutron Spectrometer System

(NSS) instrument and deliver the protoflight unit to NASA with standard flight instrumentation paperwork, including test results and other mission assurance documentation, as well as a full set of flight-critical spare parts.

The VIPER NSS is a protoflight version of the NSS that was developed for the Resource

Prospector (RP) mission, which was cancelled on April 24, 2018. The VIPER mission was approved to proceed in October 2019.

The period of performance of this contract will be approximately 20 months with an estimated start date of March 1, 2020 through October 31, 2021. No options will be included in this effort.

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

The purpose of this procurement is to build, test, and deliver to NASA a protoflight NSS and a full set of flight-critical spare parts for the VIPER mission. The instrument shall conform to the design, specifications, interface control documentation, form, fit, and function of three NSS engineering test units (ETUs) which were developed previously for laboratory testing and qualification for the Resource Prospector (RP) mission.

The protoflight unit and critical spare parts shall be tested and delivered to NASA in accordance with the following table:

Table 1: Test and Delivery Schedule

Critical design April 2020

Instrument delivery for acceptance and flight qualification testing March 2021

Flight critical spares July 2021

End item data package September 2021

Instrument to Rover Integration & Test (I&T) October 2021

The schedule, established by the VIPER Project Office at NASA Ames Research Center, is based on meeting a fixed launch window. This window is constrained by (1) the NASA requirement that VIPER land on the lunar south pole at a time of maximum sunlight in 2022, which begins in December 2022; (2) the orbital mechanics of the Earth and Moon.

The estimated cost for this procurement is $FOIA Ex. 5. The government estimate is derived as follows: current and anticipated labor rates for LM over Fiscal Year 2020-2022 (with inflation assumption); anticipated labor hours required for protoflight fabrication and test based on previous flight systems; anticipated labor hours for development and management of documentation for materials and processes, cost of electrical, electronic, and electromechanical

(EEE) parts based on mission assurance requirements and the existing bill of materials for

ETU-1, ETU-2, and ETU-3; and, cost of piece parts based on existing design and previously-used vendors.

The following table provides a high-level breakout of the estimated costs:

Table 2: Estimated Costs

Deliverable Labor Cost ($) Material Cost ($) Total Cost ($)

Protoflight Unit FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5

Critical Spares FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5

Documentation and Control FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5

Total Estimated Cost FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5 FOIA Ex. 5

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority for this procurement is 10 USC 2304(c)(1) as implemented by Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

LM is the only entity with the capability to provide a protoflight version of the needed instrument with the precise technical specifications for measurement sensitivity, instrument mass, power, volume and telemetry, while meeting mission assurance and schedule requirements.

LM has been the designer and developer of the NSS instrument since 2011, initially supporting

Resource Prospector (RP) mission requirements and then VIPER. LM, through a series of interorganizational and subcontract mechanisms, has previously worked closely with the

NASA RP and VIPER teams in the development of the aforementioned three ETUs. The ETUs have been successfully tested in both a laboratory environment and in multiple field demonstration exercises. The units have also passed key spaceflight environmental tests. The

NSS was designed and developed at LM’s Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) in Palo

Alto, CA, through task orders issued against these ARC support service contracts:

Lockheed Martin Space Ops – ETU-1 Design and Build – Programs and Projects

Contract # NAS2-02090, Task Order TO.45.2 Neutron Sensor for Resource Prospector.

Lockheed Martin Space Ops – ETU-1 Support – Programs and Projects Contract #

NAS2-02090, Task Order 68.3.1 RES 1.0 NSS Instrument Support for Resource

Prospector.

University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) – Troubleshooting and ETU-1

Refurbishment – University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) Contract# NAS2-

03144, Task Order TO.120.0.AC.SST SOAREX Support/Resource Prospector

NIRVSS Project Task.

Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc. (SGT) ETU-1 Refurbishment and ETU-2 Build –

Intelligent Systems Research and Development Support (ISRDS) 2 Contract

#NNA14AA60C, task SGT-88 ETU-1 Refurbishment and ETU-2 Build

Millennium Engineering and Integration Services (MEI), ETU-3 Fabrication and Test –

Project and Engineering Support Services (PESS) Contract # NNA13AC87C, task 252

RPM NSS Instrument.

LM was originally tasked to develop the NSS for RP due to its experience with: (1) gas proportional counters in the successful POLAR/PIXIE space instrument; (2) pre-existing designs for high-voltage power supplies for use on spaceflight instruments (for the successful

ROSINA mass spectrometer on the ESA Rosetta mission, PIXIE and prior space instruments);

and, (3) pre-existing custom designs for a charge-sensitive pre-amplifier flown on PIXIE and previous space instruments. LM specifically utilized the capabilities and facilities of LMATC, the research laboratory for Lockheed Martin Space, to develop the NSS. Subsequent support service contractors, listed above, continued to rely on LMATC to develop the NSS and deliver a series of engineering test units. All of the technical work was performed at LMATC. The prime contractors only provided subcontract management and oversight.

ETU-1 and ETU-2 have been used in VIPER (and previous RP) mission design and development, particularly in interface design, mechanical placement on the prototype host system, avionics software development to handle command and telemetry, and detailed mission requirements definition. Consequently, the mission depends on an identical article, in terms of mass, power, function and performance; an alternative system could affect other VIPER interfaces, which could lead to significant cost and schedule impacts to the VIPER mission.

A third LMATC-built engineering model, ETU-3, will be delivered to NASA January 2020 for a technology demonstration mission aboard the first Commercial Lunar Payload Services robotic lunar lander in 2021. The NSS design associated with ETU-3 is currently at the advanced Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 which means the follow-on protoflight unit will have been tested and flight-qualified, and ready for implementation into the VIPER flight system (TRL 8).

For this procurement, NASA will contract directly with LM, the original source, to build, test, and deliver a protoflight instrument and a full set of flight-critical spares of the NSS instrument for the VIPER mission, which builds upon, and requires, the unique ETUs previously designed and developed by LM. The instrument shall conform to the established instrument requirements, specifications, interface control documentation, form, fit, function, and electrical and mechanical interfaces that are identical to the previously delivered NSS ETUs. NASA will provide contract management and oversight.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source or from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided.

Specifically, FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii) states:

(ii) Supplies may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof, when it is likely that award to any other source would result in-

(A) Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition; or

(B) Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. (See 10

U.S.C. 2304(d)(1)(B) or 41 U.S.C. 3304(b)(2).)

The following analysis demonstrates that both substantial duplication of cost and unacceptable delays in fulfilling NASA’s schedule requirements would result from contracting with any source other than LM.

(A) Substantial duplication of cost. Issuing a contract to a new vendor would result in duplicative non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs, due to NASA’s previous investments in the ETU-1, ETU-2 and ETU-3 instruments. This includes not only the labor costs needed for initial design familiarization, but also the costs to develop all the assembly test plans and procedures, and the test set-up for testing and tuning this specific instrument prior to delivery. LMATC has the facilities, the historical corporate knowledge and ingrained skills of the instrument engineers as well as their ability to tune the instrument to the required specifications. Acquisition of these specialized facilities, as well as a similarly skilled and experienced workforce, by a new vendor, if even available, would be a substantial duplication of cost to the Government.

The Government’s conservative estimate of the minimal savings is approximately

$FOIA Ex. 5 based on known historical labor costs, as shown in the following table:

Table 3: Estimated Labor Savings

Duplicative task Total Estimated Savings ($)

Design familiarization labor FOIA Ex. 5

Test planning and documentation labor FOIA Ex. 5

Instrument assembly labor FOIA Ex. 5

Instrument testing and specific tuning labor FOIA Ex. 5

Total savings from duplicated costs FOIA Ex. 5

(B) Unacceptable delays. Issuing a contract to a new vendor will result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. The schedule of this instrument build is on the VIPER mission schedule critical path to launch. This schedule is derived from a fixed launch window to the south pole of the Moon driven by NASA 2022 launch date requirements which is dependent on the natural orbital dynamics of Earth and Moon.

The NSS team is required to deliver the instrument for integration with the Rover in

October 2021 in order to meet this launch schedule. Working back from this date, using the known durations needed for the ARC team to perform acceptance testing and instrument calibration and characterization, the instrument must be delivered to ARC no later than March 2021. (See Table 1 above for additional schedule requirements.)

http://uscode.house.gov/browse.xhtml;jsessionid=114A3287C7B3359E597506A31FC855B3

The VIPER mission (and therefore the NSS) schedule is highly compressed because the mission will remain on the same schedule, with the same fixed launch window, as the previously cancelled RP mission. Prior to the cancellation of the RP mission, the NSS team had been working with ARC procurement to develop an acquisition strategy.

This activity was halted when the RP mission was cancelled in April 2018. It was not until July 2019, approximately sixteen (16) months later, that this mission and the NSS team was revived by NASA under its new name, VIPER. The VIPER schedule was finalized in August 2019, and funding became available for this procurement in October

2019, at which time the NSS team determined, having already lost sixteen (16) months in the mission schedule, that only a non-competitive acquisition to LM would fit within the VIPER project’s or the agency’s schedule requirements. This type of approach is necessary because (1) the fixed launch date requires delivery of the instrument by

March 2021, and (2) contract lead time is approximately twelve (12) months for delivery of the instrument and eight (8) additional months for integration with the

Rover. Thus, the Government determined that issuance of a sole source, non-competitive contract to LM would significantly reduce the risk of unacceptable delays that would jeopardize the success of the VIPER mission.

The following table shows the Government’s analysis of estimated schedule delays by initiating a full and open competition:

Table 4: Estimated Schedule Delay Analysis

Task Causing Delay

Delay

(# of Additional

Weeks)

Final Delivery

Date

Open competition procedures (solicitation, evaluation, source selection) FOIA Ex. 5

New contract team formation FOIA Ex. 5

Parts research and procurement (assuming competitor does not have specific parts in inventory) FOIA Ex. 5

Instrument testing/tuning to NASA requirements FOIA Ex. 5

Estimated best case delivery date FOIA Ex. 5 *

* This date would exceed the required delivery schedule by FOIA Ex. 5, increasing the risk of overall mission success to an unacceptable level.

Based on the analysis above, the Government has met the standards of both substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays in fulfilling NASA’s requirements and has demonstrated that a sole source procurement to LM is within the authority of FAR 6.302-

1(a)(2)(ii).

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable:

Market research was conducted to identify potential sources that could meet the requirements for this effort. As discussed in detail in Item 8 below, there are only a few companies in the world that are developing similar technologies, and these companies do not currently have the capabilities to meet the requirements within the required schedule.

Furthermore, in accordance with FAR 5.203, on November 26, 2019, a Notice of Intent (NOI), 80ARC20NOICB1, was posted on the Federal Contract Opportunities website to inform the public of NASA’s intent to solicit, negotiate, and award a sole source contract to LM for the work to be performed by LMATC. The notice provided instructions for interested organizations to submit capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort to the Contracting Officer. No written or verbal responses were received, and no vendors expressed an interest on the

“Interested Vendors List” on the Contract Opportunities website (www.beta.SAM.gov).

7. 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. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed in accordance with FAR 15.404. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the modification is fair and reasonable. In accordance with FAR 15.404-1(a)(3), a cost analysis will be used to evaluate the reasonableness of individual cost elements, and a price analysis will be conducted to verify that the total proposed price is fair and reasonable. Pre-negotiation objectives will be prepared prior to the initiation of negotiations and will be approved in accordance with FAR 15.406 prior to the conduction of negotiations.

8. Description of the market survey conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted:

Market research was performed in 2017 under the RP mission. The purpose of the research was to determine whether there are interested and available sources capable of meeting the requirements for development of the NSS.

The analysis of the research revealed there are a few organizations that specialize in Neutron

Spectrometers, but only LM has the capabilities to meet the NSS requirements within the required schedule. A few of the organizations that were identified that may be developing similar technologies are:

1) FOIA Ex. 5 has developed a FOIA Ex. 5. The FOIA Ex. 5 is at FOIA Ex. 5 and has not yet been tested to NASA’s definition of TRL 6. FOIA Ex. 5

2) FOIA Ex. 5 is developing a FOIA Ex. 5 for the FOIA Ex. 5 which is currently in FOIA

Ex. 5. This FOIA Ex. 5 is considered TRL 3 at this time and would not meet TRL 6 by the anticipated preliminary design review date of April, 2020. FOIA Ex. 5

3) FOIA Ex. 5, a FOIA Ex. 5 located in FOIA Ex. 5, has developed a FOIA Ex. 5. This is a FOIA Ex. 5 and was not designed for spaceflight. FOIA Ex. 5

More recent market research was conducted in September 2019; a search of the SBA Dynamic

Small Business, NASA Vendor Database (NVDB), and Vendor Information Pages (VIP) http://www.beta.sam.gov/ databases using NAICS 541715 and keywords "neutron spectrometer" produced no matches. A search of the same keywords on the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation

(FPDS-NG) revealed an interagency agreement (NNH04AA17I) between the Department of

Energy and NASA for a "Drill-integrated 3He Neutron Spectrometer." However, this does not meet the form/fit/function required of the NSS payload. This requirement is not available on

AbilityOne or the General Service Administration/Federal Supply Schedules (GSA/FSS).

Additionally, the Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) program is not applicable to this specialized, non-commercial requirement nor is this requirement available through catalogs or similar literature.

Furthermore, as per Item 6 above, a NOI (80ARC20NOICB1) was posted on November 26, 2019, on the Federal Contract Opportunities website to inform the public of NASA’s intent to solicit, negotiate, and award a sole source contract to LM. No written or verbal responses were received, and no vendors expressed an interest on the “Interested Vendors List” on the Contract

Opportunities website (www.beta.SAM.gov).

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

FAR 6.302-1(b)(1) states use of this authority may be appropriate in situations such as the following:

(1) When there is a reasonable basis to conclude that the agency’s minimum needs can only be satisfied by-

(i) Unique supplies or services available from only one source or only one supplier with unique capabilities.

The NSS protoflight instrument must be built with the identical form, fit and function to the current design with flight-reliability level EEE parts. LM is the only vendor with the facilities designed for space flight and the only vendor that has the resources and expertise in place today to deliver the instrument within the required schedule. Moreover, the required instrument’s design includes a critical LM unique custom FOIA Ex. 4. LM used FOIA Ex. 4 to initiate and refine the FOIA Ex. 4 over many years, and NASA has benefited from the maturity of the

FOIA Ex. 4 in multiple missions.

10. A listing of sources, if any, that expressed in writing an interest in the acquisition:

In accordance with FAR 5.203, on November 26, 2019, a Notice of Intent (NOI), 80ARC20NOICB1, was posted on the Federal Contract Opportunities website to inform the public of NASA’s intent to solicit, negotiate, and award a sole source contract with LMATC.

The notice provided instructions for interested organizations to submit capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort to the Contracting Officer. No written or verbal responses were received, and no vendors expressed an interest on the “Interested Vendors List” on the

Contract Opportunities website (www.beta.SAM.gov).

11. A statement of the 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:

Currently, there are no compatibility requirements for future systems or programs other than

VIPER. The final deliverable for this procurement will be the end item data package and any assertion by LMATC to limited data rights will be evaluated during the proposal phase. Market research will continue to be conducted to determine if any other vendors have the capability to meet NASA ARC’s future requirements.

and complete.

CARROLL

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition for: JOFOC Number:

VIPER Neutron Spectrometer Protoflight Unit JA-FY20-J04

SIGNATURE PAGE

Requirement Initiator: I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate Richard C. Elphic and complete

_10-15-19_ Signature Date

Contracting Officer: I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government will Caroline J. Brown be fair and reasonable and certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. [FAR 6.303-2(b)(12)]

Digitally signed by CAROLINE BROWN Date: 2019.12.19 19:18:16 -06'00'

CONCURRENCE:

Director, Code P:

Jay A. Bookbinder

Procurement Officer:

Kelly G. Kaplan

APPROVAL:

Center Competition Advocate: CAROL CARROLL

Digitally signed by CAROL

Deputy Center Director: Date: 2020.02.03 10:42:05 -08'00'

Carol W. Carroll Signature Date

Cc (After approval):

JAC Admin Assistant: 241-1

JAY

BOOKBINDER

Digitally signed by JAY

BOOKBINDER

Date: 2020.01.29 16:34:00 -08'00'

KELLY

KAPLAN

Digitally signed by KELLY

KAPLAN

Date: 2020.01.13 12:49:08 -08'00'

CAROLINE BROWN

FOIA Ex. 6