Redacted Exception to Fair Opportunity ATLAS.pdf

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity or to Use Brand-Name Restriction

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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(3) Description of the supplies/services required to meet the agency's needs:

ATLAS is a space object tracking and cataloging system intended to replace the legacy system, SPADOC. In addition to maintaining SPADOC's existing capabilities, ATLAS will automate orbit determination, identify potential object collisions, and enhance cross-system data-sharing capabilities.

The software delivery for ATLAS is not executed in a single action. The technical baseline has various capabilities, such as SDA Engine, Common SDA workflows, Dynamic Event Processing and Enhanced Sensor Interfaces, whose mission thread software are available and tested with the warfighter as they are produced for the production environment.

The priority in this new DO is to meet a critical milestone within the path to ATLAS IOC event, which is to develop stable specific mission thread software needed to ultimately decommission SPADOC and be available for the warfighters use. Even though the partial delivery of ATLAS will occur by early 2025, the ATLAS IOC event is not expected until end of 2025, thereby the need to have a contract vehicle in place during this time.

In addition to the ATLAS IOC event, the Government needs to continue development on all of the ATLAS mission threads indicated by the backlog tracker. This will ensure that the software is sufficiently stable, which means that the software is reliable and free of major bugs or issues. This path to software stability is tracked through 3-month Program Increment capability deliveries. The program office expects the stabilization to occur either in 2026 or 2027.

This uncertainty on when software will be stabilized is due to the unexpected increased complexity of integration and interdependencies with other legacy SDA systems. Thus, the technical baseline changes constantly. The Government has implemented a program increment planning event every 3 months to communicate the updates on the changes of the milestones based on the recent changes in the technical baseline.

Once stabilized, the program office plans to compete the requirements for software maintenance and enhancement of the mission threads in the future.

(4) Identification of the exception to fair opportunity and the supporting rationale:

FAR 16.505(b)(l)(i) requires the Contracting Officer to provide each awardee under a multiple award contract a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,500 unless a statutory exception applies. The specific exception that precludes the fair opportunity process for this acquisition is FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), "only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized."

The SSC/BCCS Program Office conducted market research and assessed the Starfleet IDIQ Joint Industry Team (JIT) composed of the seven IDIQ vendors. Through joint discussions, the SSC/BCCS Program Office confirmed that the L3Harris team is the only team with the highly specialized ATLAS subject-matter expertise, software, and hardware that can satisfy the customer requirement. The L3Harris team is the only vendor with unique and highly specialized interoperable hardware/software, unique security expertise, on-site GFE, and experience developing/building/ integrating and modernizing the ATLAS enterprise interoperability capability with multiple legacy systems. For example, L3Harris currently possess highly specialized software and enterprise interoperability capability/interface for the Cheyenne Mountain Communication Processing Systems, CAVENet, and other non-traditional data pre-processors for 18 SDS, the NSDC, and our FVEY mission partners. The L3Harris team designed and created this interoperability capability for these multiple systems which requires highly specialized subject-matter expertise to bridge these legacy systems. There is no other development team that has the unique knowledge and highly specialized skill set to collectively accumulate these multiple data streams into one interoperable and modern tool to consolidate and better enable the SDA C2 Enterprise within unique security requirements. Additionally, the L3Harris team maintains the legacy contract SDA C2 Enterprise Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/hardware and developmental software tools to include the L3Harris developed Astrodynamics Support Workstation (ASW) software/hardware package that integrates ATLAS to the multiple, legacy data and messaging tools.

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Instructions for Completing the Template IAW FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

(2) State whether the action is a new order or a modification to an existing order. Identify the basic multiple award contract number and the order number for the current action. Also identify the type of the order/line items on the order (e.g., Firm Fixed price, Cost Plus Fixed Fee, etc.).

(3) Specifically describe the supplies/services to be acquired including the price/cost and quantity of each item in the order and the total estimated value of the order. For services, state whether services are performance-based, and if not, provide rationale for not being performance based. State the delivery/performance schedule/period for the items under the order. Explain how the requirement/order fits under the scope of the basic multiple award contracts.

(Note: The Contracting Officer must ensure that the order is issued within the period of performance and within the maximum value of the contract).

(4) Include the appropriate exception from FAR 16.505 (b)(2) and the supporting rationale. FAR16.505(b)(1)(i) requires the Contracting Officer to provide each awardee under a multiple award contract, a fair opportunity to be considered for each order exceeding $3,000 unless a statutory exception applies. The specific exception that precludes the fair opportunity process for this acquisition is FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(__) [Insert A,B, C, D, or E]. If a brand name product description is being justified, use this section to explain why the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government's requirements and why other companies' similar products/services do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A): “The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays”. When using this exception provide a detailed justification with supporting documentation that explains the exact urgency of the requirement and the mission impact if awarded to any other contractor. The user/customer typically provides this supporting information. Recommend attaching supporting documentation to the back of the document. General statements of urgency are not acceptable.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B): “Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized”. When using this exception provide a detailed justification, with supporting documentation, as evidence of the “unique or highly specialized” nature of the procurement. The user/customer typically provides this supporting information.

Supporting documentation may be attached to the back of the document. General statements are not acceptable.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C): “The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency as a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order”. When using this exception provide information on the previously competed order under this contract and detail the economies and efficiencies that will be obtained by going sole source for the follow-on order. The user/customer typically provides this supporting information.

General statements are not acceptable.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D): “It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.”

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(E): “For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.”

Discuss the market research that was conducted by the user/technical team/contracting officer among the supplies/services of all awardees that resulted in the conclusion that a fair opportunity exception applied. The narrative in this section should provide a high level of confidence that the requirements of FAR 16.505(b)(1) and DFARS 216.505-70 could not be met. If no market research was conducted, state so and provide the rationale. If any other awardee expressed interest in fulfilling the requirement, but was not considered a potential source, explain why that awardee cannot provide the required supplies/perform the service.

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If the use of a brand name purchase description is being justified, the market research should include an analysis of any industry proposed alternative products or approaches to meeting the requirements. Additionally, the Government's efforts to identify as many potential sources as practicable offering the required brand name item(s) should be addressed.

(5) This paragraph needs to be tailored based on the types of CLINs in the order and the pricing arrangements on the basic multiple award contract. If the contract did not establish the price for the supply or service, the Contracting Officer must establish prices for each order IAW FAR 15.4. The paragraph needs to describe the steps that will ensure that the prices/estimated cost of the order will be fair and reasonable. For example, even if firm-fixed prices were obtained under adequate price competition in the award of the multiple award contract, the Contracting Officer still needs to consider market conditions and other factors that may have changed since contract award and explain the basis in the determination that prices/costs are fair and reasonable prior to award of the order.

(6) Provide any other facts supporting the use of exceptions to the fair opportunity process.

(7) Include a statement of the actions, if any, to be to be taken to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made. If no actions are planned, so state and provide reasons.