MEOLUT JOFOC Ceiling Increase Signed.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

For

Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MELOUT) Maintenance, Sustainment and Modernization Contract

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) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD.

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the contracting activity is Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD.

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 new work modification to contract number 80GSFC20C0111 with Techno-Sciences (TSi), LLC, formerly known as, “McMurdo, Inc.” for the continued development and sustainment of the NASA Search and Rescue (SAR) Laboratory (SARLab), a satellite testing ground station and research and development environment for emerging SAR technologies. This sole-source modification seeks to increase the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) maximum ordering value.

Specific work related to Phased Array Antenna System (PAAS) integration was added to Task Order 2 of this contract, an increased cost that wasn’t foreseen 3 years ago during contract formulation, adding cost to the contract above the allowed unilateral 20% increase This cost increase is due to unforeseen/unexpected work elements necessitates a contract ceiling increase for work that can only be undertaken by TSi, as detailed below.

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 National Search and Rescue Plan gives NASA the role of developing and implementing aerospace technology for application to search and rescue and related activities. NASA supports both the first and second generations of the operational SAR Satellite (SARSAT) system and provides SAR related technical services to other national government organizations for a variety of applications, both civil and military. NASA is responsible for providing this technical capability through the development and sustainment of the NASA SARLab.

The contractor will continue to be responsible for the maintenance, sustainment, operational SARSAT support, and the engineering activities supporting the modernization and enhancement of the SARLab Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MEOLUT) ground station. This includes end-to-end systems management (e.g., management of requirements development, verification and validation, integration and test planning, risk management, configuration management, safety, and mission assurance, etc.). Furthermore, the contractor will continue to be responsible for the sustainment and maintenance of ground segment antenna systems, along with the associated hardware and software systems, and network interfaces.

The Government issued a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)/Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a five (5) year ordering period ending September 30, 2025. The current maximum value is $4.8M. This maximum value must be increased to $7.0M to allow NASA to maintain its MEOLUT systems consistent with the U.S. SARSAT operational assets that it supports. NASA’s partner agency in the U.S. SARSAT program has updated their capabilities through new technology infusion using alternate antenna types, namely phased array antenna technology. While NASA anticipated capability upgrades such as routine refresh cycles and technology advances in line with current program infrastructure in the original estimate, SARSAT partner agencies in 2023 significantly changed its architecture to include phased array antennas. This type of antenna is a recent change within the SARSAT system due to technology that became available after the award of the NASA MEOLUT contract. The NASA MEOLUT is required to reflect the architecture of the operational agencies as closely as possible and is being funded by its partners to maintain its ground systems accordingly.

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) 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 “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements” as described below.

TSi possesses the knowledge and expertise to successfully continue the installation of GSFC SARLab MEOLUT hardware and software, as well as continued maintenance of proprietary and company specific MEOLUT infrastructure.

Under NASA GSFC contract 80GSFC20C0111, TSi is currently responsible for the continual upkeep of unique and specialized ground station equipment and software for the MEOLUT. This includes the proprietary RCCnet program used for beacon geo-locating/reporting representative of operational SARSAT MEOLUTs. This proprietary software package is required for elements of operational SARSAT support during SARSAT system-wide anomaly resolution, as well as serving as the software backbone behind future MEOLUT-specific tasks due to the shared software configurations with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States Air Force (USAF), and United States Coast Guard (USCG) partner facilities supporting real-world SAR operations. It is not possible for NASA to allow another vendor access to the TSi proprietary software (of which NASA has no ownership) to perform the tasks required.

Any non-TSi hardware/software solution that replaces current existing infrastructure creates undue cost, schedule, and operational constraints to NASA and the COSPAS-SARSAT Program. Use of another vendor’s infrastructure does not allow for relevant or efficient troubleshooting of national COSPAS-SARSAT anomalies.

Additionally, use of another vendor does not allow for activities to be effectively shared with national Sarsat program partners (NOAA, USCG, USAF) currently utilizing TSi hardware and software packages. NASA, as a testbed for current and future ground station system, must follow the design of interagency partners engaged in national SAR activities.

The activities included in this contract are specifically tailored to MEOLUT ground station initiatives requiring identical configurations to operational Sarsat systems, necessitating the selection of TSi for fulfillment of all elements of this contract.

These activities are required to verify and validate MEOLUT ground station requirements using existing GSFC SARLab MEOLUT infrastructure.

For activities involving Phased Array Antenna System (PAAS) development/integration into the exiting GSFC MEOLUT, TSi is the developer of customer-side interfaces including MEOLUT scheduling software and existing server infrastructure. Use of a vendor other than TSi, LLC for integration of PAAS hardware into the existing GSFC SARLab MEOLUT infrastructure would not be possible as the hardware/software in the existing system is TSi proprietary (of which NASA has no ownership), as stated above.

6. AR 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 in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to TSi, formerly known as, “McMurdo, Inc.”. 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. With contract rates already established through September 30, 2025, TSi shall be required for new task requirements to submit task proposals to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. The proposal analysis by the Contracting Officer’s Representative and the Contracting Officer will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract task orders are fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer’s Representative and the Contracting Officer will evaluate the cost proposed to determine that the direct labor rates, direct labor hours, skill mix, other direct costs, indirect costs, and fee(s) are fair and reasonable. This may also include support from external organizations, as needed.

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 was not conducted due to the specialized and vendor-specific nature of the contract under consideration. No other commercial company has the data and technical rights to the hardware and software currently maintained and installed by TSi.

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).

Posted on and closed on with no responses.

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.

JOFOC Signature Page Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MELOUT) Maintenance, Sustainment and Modernization Contract

Technical Representative: I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

Cody Kelly Digitally signed by Cody Kelly Date: 2023.08.28 _______________________12:09:38 -05'00'

Cody Kelly Technical Representative NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Contracting Officer: I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

SHERIKA Digitally signed by

SHERIKA WILSON

Date: 2023.08.28

WILSON______________________________

Sherika Wilson Contracting Officer NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Digitally signed by MARY

STEVENS

Date: 2023.08.28

MARY

13:16:49 -04'00'

CONCURRENCE:

STEVENS 14:34:35 -04'00'_________________________________

Mary Stevens Procurement Officer NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

APPROVED:

Raymond J. Rubilotta Competition Advocate NASA Goddard Space Flight Center