SATPC0039425 Tab 06 RDSS..pdf

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA SHARED SERVICES CENTER

RECOMMENDATION AND DETERMINATION TO SOLICIT FROM ONE SOURCE

OR BRAND NAME

PICK ONE

Sole Source:

☒I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center negotiate with Nevada Thermal Spray Technologies (NTST) only for the coatings listed on the attached quote. The total estimated cost of this effort is and the estimated period of performance is 09/1/2025.

OR

Brand Name Justification:

☐I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center negotiate with only with vendors who can provide the subject band name from Manufacture Name for Enter Supply or Service to be procured.

The total estimated cost of this effort is Enter Dollar amount and the estimated period of performance or lead-time for delivery is Date.

This recommendation is for the acquisition of supplies or services determined to be reasonably available from only one source/only one manufacture. Competition is impractical for the following reasons (please answer the questions below):

1. What are the reasons for soliciting only the suggested source/suggested brand name? Please provide the unique characteristics of the items or services along with the supporting rationale and the market research performed to substantiate your reason for the suggested source/brand name.

NASA requires specialized ceramic coating deposition for advanced materials research. NTST is uniquely positioned as the sole source capable of depositing boron carbide (5 mils), silicon carbide (2 mils), and silicon nitride (5 mils) coatings to both aluminum and titanium substrates with required precision and consistency. The company's unique characteristics include specialized robot programming for automated deposition ensuring repeatability across large batches, and proprietary substrate preparation processes including chemical cleaning, grit blasting, and specialized fixturing specifically developed for these ceramic compositions. NTST's established preproduction experimental protocols ensure coating optimization before production, providing quality assurance essential for NASA's research.

Preliminary market research indicates no other thermal spray provider offers this combination of ceramic coating materials with required thickness precision and dual substrate compatibility.

2. What is the impact to the government if another vendor/brand is used? Include any dollar, schedule, or compatibility impacts if possible.

Selecting an alternative vendor could create significant technical and operational impacts. Alternative providers typically lack specialized process knowledge for these ceramic compositions, necessitating extensive development work that would substantially increase costs and timelines. The absence of established robot programming and automated deposition at competing vendors would compromise coating uniformity. Schedule impacts could be severe, as alternatives would require months of process development and qualification testing compared to NTST's 10 working day delivery. The risk of coating defects with untested processes could compromise research results and require costly rework. Alternative vendors' lack of dual substrate experience would increase coating adhesion failure probability. The combined effect would be substantially increased costs from development timelines, potential failures, and research delays while introducing variables that could invalidate data consistency.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

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NTST is the only company that we have identified capable of depositing these coating compositions with such high fidelity. They have extensive experience in processing these material compositions as coatings.

Please let me know if you need any additional information. Thank you!

Technical User Name Date

Title

Office