MARK IVB WX Guardian JA Posting.pdf

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for other than full and open competition supporting a sole source contract with Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems for the MARK IV-B Meteorological Data Station (MDS) program. The document justifies a 7-year contract (1 base year + 6 option years) to support the operation and maintenance of nine worldwide operational sites and a test bed/training suite that process weather satellite data 24/7 for military operations.

The contract includes Firm Fixed Price CLINs for sustainment activities and Cost Plus Fixed Fee CLINs for various projects. Key services include systems engineering, hardware/software maintenance, training, cybersecurity, and processing of satellite weather data from 25 international satellites. The J&A cites Lockheed Martin's 32 years of experience and unique capabilities as justification for sole source award, noting that only Lockheed Martin and one small business responded to an August 21, 2023 sources sought notice. The government determined that transitioning to a new contractor would cost approximately 6 months of duplicate costs and risk unacceptable mission capability gaps. The contract award FA8820-25-C-B001 was made on January 29, 2025. The contracting activity is Space Systems Command (SSC) at Peterson Space Force Base, CO.