NIA IDIQ JOFOC_Ceiling Increase_FINAL.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Langley Research Center (LaRC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For National Institute of Aerospace

Contract No. NNL13AA08B

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 (JOFOC) prepared by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC). The procuring agency is NASA and the contracting activity is LaRC.

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 an out-of-scope modification for a ceiling increase in the amount of $6M on the single-award, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, NNL13AA08B, with the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA).

The initial NIA IDIQ contract (NAS1-02117), along with its complementary Cooperative Agreement (CA), 80LARC17C0004, was originally awarded in 2002 as part of a dual instrument procurement strategy for providing essential leading-edge research and development of revolutionary new technologies, comprehensive graduate and continuing education in science and engineering, and dissemination (including promotion and outreach) of the results of the research and technology developed within the NIA. Since award of the initial IDIQ contract, LaRC has issued follow-on sole source IDIQ contracts to NIA in five-year increments, in accordance with the initial strategy. NASA mission requirements have increased significantly since the most recent contract extension and ceiling increase which were executed in January 2018 (NNL13AA08B, Modification 000008). New and evolving requirements under projects such as Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD), Human Landing System (HLS), and Air Traffic Management - eXploration (ATM-X) have constrained existing resources under the contract and led to significant expenditure of the available contract ceiling. The requested ceiling increase will ensure the success of NASA mission requirements through the end of the original 20-year dual instrument procurement strategy ending on September 25, 2022.

An assessment of historical trends under the contract determined that an average of $6M per year has been expended under contract NNL13AA08B since the original award in 2013 which is higher than originally estimated when the contract was awarded and the extension/ceiling increase was executed in modification 000008. The $6M ceiling increase will provide an approximate 5-10% buffer for unforeseen mission requirements. The current maximum contract value of $55M will be increased to a total of $61M upon approval of this action. The total value of task orders issued to date is approximately $54.8M and performance is just over 8.5 years into the nearly 9.5-year period of performance extending from April 1, 2013 to September 25, 2022. As the contract has already reached 99.6% of the current ceiling, approval of the requested increase is crucial to allow NASA’s mission critical work to continue without disruption through the remaining period of performance.

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 NIA contract is a single award IDIQ contract with a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) for cutting edge research and development efforts and a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) CLIN for efforts related to training, workshops, education, lectures, and conferences. The functional requirements of the scope of work include:

Conduct leading edge aerospace and space sciences research and develop revolutionary new technologies by creating innovative, synergistic partnerships among, LaRC, academia, and industry.

Provide comprehensive graduate and continuing education in science and engineering by using both a local campus and exploiting innovative distance-learning concepts.

Dissemination (including promotion and outreach) of the results of the research and technology developed within the NIA.

Contracted support through the NIA IDIQ contract is vital to supporting the key research areas of LaRC’s programs within the following technical disciplines: Systems Analysis, Advanced Concepts and Mission Analysis; Planetary Traversing, Capture, and Entry Technology; Aerosciences; Structures and Materials; Intelligent Aerospace Automation and Controls Systems; Atmospheric and Vehicle Sensor System Technology; Atmospheric Chemistry, Climate, and Radiation Science.

Evolving mission requirements within multiple NASA projects have expended the available contract ceiling earlier than previously estimated. For instance, the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project is investigating the utilization of flight demonstrations to rapidly mature and transition integrated electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) technologies and associated EAP-based vision systems for introduction into the U.S. fleet no later than 2035. This large-scale initiative led to the award of a near $4M task order under the IDIQ contract in April 2021 for EPFD systems analysis support. Continued support from the IDIQ contract will be necessary to meet the future anticipated requirements under the EPFD project, as well as many others, through the period of performance end date of the contract.

Additionally, the NIA IDIQ contract was awarded with the Cooperative Agreement (CA) as part of a 20-year dual instrument procurement strategy commencing in 2002. Under the CA, NASA funds the initiation of collaborative research with the NIA for the purpose of stimulating private sector research in the key areas of interest to NASA. Subsequently, when NASA requires further maturation of such research for NASA mission purposes, NASA relies on the IDIQ contract to procure follow-on efforts. Pursuant to this synergistic procurement strategy, approval of the requested ceiling increase will enable NASA to continue to obtain work from the NIA for NASA’s direct use or benefit and maintain the capabilities that are fostered by the CA through the joint period of performance end date of September 25, 2022.

The current period of performance is April 1, 2013 through September 25, 2022. The current maximum contract value of $55M will be increased to a total of $61M upon approval of this JOFOC and will cover work through the end of the current period of performance, September 25, 2022.

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: (1) 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii), 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 that the services needed are available only from one responsible source and no other type of service will satisfy the needs of the Agency as described below.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii), services may be deemed to be available from only the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Agency’s requirements.

As noted in Section 2, the NIA CA and IDIQ contract were originally awarded as part of a synergistic, dual-instrument procurement strategy. Under this strategy, the NIA provides LaRC with the specific expertise needed to take a concept from the early phases of a research and development effort through the final phases of technology development. These research phases must be conducted sequentially to obtain the required work needed to fulfill NASA’s missions. Under the CA, NASA funds the initiation of collaborative research with the NIA for the purpose of stimulating private sector research in areas of interest to NASA.

Subsequently, when NASA requires further maturation of such research for NASA mission purposes, NASA relies on the IDIQ contract to procure follow-on efforts. Examples of such follow-on efforts include Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) studies, On-Demand Mobility (ODM) studies, and critical capability development using the cell-centered unstructured-grid Navier-Stokes solver software, USM3D. Research to support the complicated mission directives of NASA requires LaRC to utilize a seamless transition between the CA and IDIQ to ensure there is no loss of the knowledge that has been developed over time to support mission success.

When considering the diverse and specialized requirements as described above and in Section 3, the NIA is the only contractor that can provide uninterrupted services without substantial duplication of effort or costs that would otherwise be incurred if NASA LaRC were to attempt to procure a new contract for these services. Competing and awarding a new contract to a new contractor or expending the resources to add the work into an existing enterprise contract without the specialized contractor expertise for the remaining NIA performance period is not in the best interest of the Government nor the contractor community. The cost of competing, awarding, and administering a contract would create a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Additionally, market research conducted by LaRC and in coordination with HQ Office of Procurement (OP) and the Engineering Services Enterprise Requirements Manager (ERM) identified no existing contract that could accommodate NIA’s specialized services.

Further, transitioning specialized research in an ad-hoc manner and/or twice in a short period would be highly disruptive to established mission workflows. The NIA contract provides NASA LaRC with essential research capabilities by means of its academic consortium of leading research universities that serve as the core of NIA’s academic research program. In addition to the consortium members, NIA has established relationships with many other colleges, universities, and contractors across the nation. Due to NIA’s broad range of scientific and engineering research under the CA, it has established the essential cross disciplinary technical capability and in-depth skills that are necessary to conduct cutting-edge and revolutionary investigative work. Without approval of this request, attempting a transition could result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements and capability gaps, resulting in major mission impacts. These impacts include potential loss or disruption in essential capabilities in theoretical analyses and exploratory studies, and the practical application of investigative findings in a number of fields of research, for example:

research on hybrid electric propulsion architecture exploration, wind tunnel software, aviation global demand forecast model development, on-demand mobility studies, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

In addition, NIA’s highly specialized researchers and consortia workforce would be difficult to replace in a short period. Repetitive contract transitions that are not intentionally planned nor offer the required amount of time to effectively transition institutional and operational knowledge could result in the loss of key scientists and engineers that afford NASA the flexibility and ability to respond to emerging opportunities and maintain NASA as a premier global leader in aeronautics, science, space technology and exploration systems. Through the requested increase to the contract ceiling, NASA LaRC can continue to leverage NIA as mission directions evolve within LaRC and NASA and maintain continuity of the mission.

Increasing the ceiling on this contract will allow NASA to complete the restructuring of research, science and engineering support services consistent with Agency transformation initiatives including NASA’s Mission Support Future Architecture Program (MAP) and effectively provide for services to be transitioned to a carefully planned enterprise solution, LaRC’s Research, Science, and Engineering Services (RSES) procurement.

In order to align the NIA performance end date with the contract start date for the LaRC’s RSES procurement, the NIA contract will be extended via a separate modification for 6-months pursuant to FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, which is included in the contract. The RSES approved acquisition strategy involves consolidation of five (5) existing NASA LaRC instruments, including the NIA contract and the NIA cooperative agreement.

Key acquisition milestones for RSES are as follows: Procurement Strategy Meeting December of 2021, Final Request for Proposal issued in March of 2022, Award in January of 2023, and Contract Start in April 2023 after an approximately 80-day phase-in period. The extension is necessary to align the periods of performance for each of the contracts/agreements, complete the acquisition strategy and requirements development, and execute the source evaluation activities. This extension will serve as a bridge to allow for continuation of the leading-edge research and development, graduate and continuing education in science and engineering, and dissemination services provided under the NIA contract while the RSES procurement activities are completed. Furthermore, this will allow the work under the existing LaRC research, science, and engineering contracts/agreements to transition simultaneously to the new procurement(s) pursuant to the new strategy.

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:

Full and open competition need not be provided for based on the requirements of this action and the authorities provided in FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), Only one responsible source and no other supplies and services will satisfy agency needs. A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (sam.gov) was published on December 2, 2021 in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award a sole-source modification to the NIA IDIQ contract to increase the contract ceiling.

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 requested $6M ceiling increase, bringing the ceiling from $55M to $61M, is expected to meet future mission needs through the end of the current period of performance based on historical task order expenditures with an approximate 5-10% buffer incorporated for unforeseen mission requirements. The Contracting Officer expects the anticipated cost to the Government to be fair and reasonable. The contractor shall be required to submit a proposal for each task order (FFP or CPFF) for evaluation by the Government. The proposal analysis will include a comparison to an independent Government estimate and negotiation of costs to ensure that the awarded task order value is fair and reasonable pursuant to the requirements of FAR 15.403-4. In addition, there is enough cost data available from the prior eight years of performance under the current IDIQ contract and from prior IDIQ contracts to determine fair and reasonable costs.

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:

NASA recognizes that market research may produce offerors capable of providing the necessary leading-edge research and development, graduate and continuing education, and dissemination and outreach services currently provided under the NIA IDIQ contract.

However, as discussed in detail in Section 5, it would be cost-prohibitive and impractical to conduct a competition at this time to onboard a new contractor, and satisfactorily ensure performance without great risk of disruption or degradation of the mission. The costs and disruptions would be greatly exacerbated if the requirements were competed again a short time later pursuant to the LaRC’s approved RSES acquisition strategy. Additionally, the LaRC researched potential enterprise and strategic sourcing options for all work included in the RSES scope, in collaboration with HQ OP and the Engineering Services Product Service Line (PSL) Enterprise Requirements Manager (ERM) and identified no existing contracts capable of meeting the specialized research and development services required.

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

None. The requirements of FAR 6.303-2(b)(9)(ii) are detailed in section 5 above.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

In accordance with FAR 5.201(b)(1)(ii), NASA published a synopsis for this ceiling increase to the existing contract wherein additional sources may respond. However, as discussed in Section 8 above, it is cost-prohibitive and impractical to conduct a competition at the current time to onboard a new contractor after nineteen years, and satisfactorily ensure performance without substantial duplication of cost, and great risk of unacceptable delays, disruption, and degradation of the mission. In addition, requirements from this contract have already been added to the RSES competitive procurement.

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:

NASA is taking steps to remove barriers to competition by consolidating requirements from the NIA IDIQ contract and CA along with other contracts into the RSES consolidated competitive procurement. These other contracts include the Technology, Engineering, and Aerospace Mission Support (TEAMS) 3 contract (80LARC17C0003), Science, Technology, and Research Support Services (STARSS) III contract (NNL16AA05C), and remaining portions of the Langley Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES) II contract

(NNL15AA03B).

NIA IDIQ CONTRACT

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

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

Edward A. Adcock Contracting Officer’s Representative

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

Stacy M. Hollis Contract Specialist

Liliana J. Richwine Contracting Officer

CONCURRENCE:

Stephen P. DeLange Office of the General Counsel, Langley Research Center

CONCURRENCE:

David F. Young Competition Advocate, Langley Research Center

APPROVAL:

Susan E. McClain Procurement Officer Head of Contracting Activity, Langley Research Center