Orion_Corridor_2_JOFOC_Amended_2.21.2018.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center

Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

Amendment 001 – 2/20/2018

This amendment raises this justification’s value from $6,000,000.00 to $7,500,000.00. No other changes have been made to this justification.

Due to the urgency of the corridor’s development, the original estimate was based on rough orders of magnitude provided by utility subcontractors that only had a short period of time to survey and determine the construction requirements of the corridor. After two months of surveying and planning, many utility subcontractors have submitted quotes that are higher than their original estimates. The current estimate is approximately $6,900,000.00. However, not all of the utility subcontractors have submitted quotes.

Because it is possible that the remaining subcontractors may submit quotes above their previous estimates, it is in the best interest of the government to raise the value of this justification to $7,500,000.00, which is the government’s maximum estimate.

Determination of Fair and Reasonable cost will be determined pursuant to section VII of this document.

I. Description of Procurement

I recommend that the Glenn Research Center negotiate a contract with RPTS Express, Inc.

to provide the planning, subcontracting, coordination, and monitoring with local public utilities to develop a Transportation Corridor from Mansfield Lahm Airport (MFD) to NASA Plum Brook Station, Sandusky, OH. This Transportation Corridor is required to permit the safe passage of the Orion Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) spacecraft from MFD to NASA Plum Brook Station for critical environmental testing that must be successfully completed prior to EM-1 Launch.

This contract for the Transportation Corridor will be for a 12-month period valued at $6,000,000.00. The anticipated award date is December 31, 2017, with an estimated completion date of December 31, 2018.

II. Statutory Basis for Other than Full and Open Competition

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C.2304 (c)

(2) "...unusual and compelling urgency."

III. Rationale for Selection of Statutory Basis

The above referenced procurement is for the infrastructure changes necessary to complete a Transportation Corridor between Mansfield Lahm airport and the Mason Road gate of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station. This effort involves the necessary studies, planning, subcontracting, coordination, and monitoring with local utilities to identify the locations of electrical, cable, phone, fiber optic, broadband, and other pole-supported utilities along the previously identified transportation route and execute a plan to relocate, as needed, utilities obstructions to allow safe passage of the EM-1. This transportation route is entirely off GRC/Plum Brook Station property, and private sector utilities obstructions and requirements must be part of the Transportation Corridor design consideration.

Due to changes in Program responsibilities and schedule, GRC has only recently been requested to assume final transportation corridor development responsibilities from MFD to Plum Brook Station. This requires GRC to award a contract in an unusually short period to avoid major disruptions to the Orion testing schedule.

This work is in direct support of Orion Exploration Mission-1 environmental testing, which is scheduled to be performed at Plum Brook Station in January 2019. This work must be completed during the summer of 2018, per the utility providers’ 2018 available work schedule, to ensure that the EM-1 vehicle can make safe passage for the January 2019 testing. In discussions with the affected utilities, the utility providers must complete route engineering no later than February 15, 2018, and construction scheduling with utility providers must occur no later than March 1, 2018. The work includes engineering analysis, replacement of hundreds of utility poles, and disconnection and temporary rerouting of over eight hundred lines belonging to various utilities, raising/replacement of poles, and reconnection of all utilities on the new, taller poles. Construction work of this nature and scope cannot be completed during the winter months, and therefore must be completed during the 2018 work calendar (February (as weather permits) – October to accommodate the EM-1 vehicle move in January 2019.

The Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources because not implementing this route preparation work now results in an inability to move the EM-1 vehicle to Plum Brook Station. This will result in either a) the EM-1 vehicle not being environmentally qualified for launch, which incurs huge risk in mission success, or b) a slip of the environmental testing into late 2019 or severe impact of the entire Orion Program schedule with a year slip. See table below for required milestones: A total program slippage of one year would amount to $1B in program delays.

RPTS Express, Inc. is in a unique position to perform this work. RPTS Express had previously been under contract by Lockheed Martin, NASA Orion’s prime contractor, to perform the route surveys and overall logistics of transporting the EM-1 spacecraft. This includes extraction of the vehicle from the SuperGuppy, providing over-the-road transport in Ohio, and previous alternate route preparation. Due to its extensive knowledge of the EM-1 vehicle, its working relationship with NASA’s prime contractor, and its handling of all other logistics across the ground and water transportation routes RPTS Express is the only transportation company that has the current program and requirements understanding to execute this work in the short timeframe required. Any other contractor would spend additional time and effort to achieve the program knowledge currently held by RPTS and jeopardize the EM-1 test and launch schedule.

IV. Description and Results of Market Survey

Due to compelling urgency a market survey was not performed for this interim procurement. Based on the fact that RPTS Express was under a subcontract with Lockheed Martin to analyze this transportation corridor work and is currently under an existing subcontract with Lockheed Martin as the vehicle transportation provider, RPTS Express is considered to be the only source with the detailed program and requirements knowledge to execute the requirements in the limited timeline.

V. 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 Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2

The Contracting Officer has determined that a notice to the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website is not required in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(2), exceptions, which specifies that the Contracting Officer (CO) need not submit the notice when the proposed contract action is made under the conditions described in 6.303-2 and the Government will be seriously injured.

VI. Sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition

No synopsis of this procurement has been published. This is in accordance with FAR 5.202(a)(2), exceptions, which specifies that the CO need not submit the notice required by 5.201, Synopsis of proposed Contract Actions, when the contract action is made under the conditions described in 6.303-1 and the Government will be seriously injured.

VII. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

The Contractor will be required to submit a detailed cost proposal. The Contracting Officer and technical community will evaluate the technical and cost information, including fee, and use this information to negotiate the final contact cost. Additionally, the Government has cost information from the Lockheed Martin subcontract, as well an internal IGCE estimate that can be used as benchmarks for this evaluation and negotiation and will ensure the contracted amount as fair and reasonable.

VIII. Actions to Remove or Overcome Barriers to Competition

As explained above, this is a stand-alone activity to prepare a single transportation corridor for a particular spacecraft move. It is not anticipated that this would be a recurring activity. However, if this requirement does reoccur, a procurement approach will be used to seek competition to the greatest extent possible.