SATPC0040777 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 Fabric Development Inc only for Advanced Textile Custom Development. The total estimated cost of this effort is and the estimated period of performance or lead-time for delivery is 12-16 weeks from receipt of raw materials.

OR

Brand Name Justification:

☐I recommend that NASA, NASA Shared Services Center negotiate with only with vendors who can provide the subject brand name from vendor for supply or service to be procured. The total estimated cost of this effort is 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.

Fabric Development, Inc. has been the exclusive supplier of Ortho Fabric to NASA since its initial development more than 40 years ago. Ortho Fabric has been the primary outer layer used in extravehicular activity suits since the early Space Shuttle missions, through the International Space Station era, and remains in use for advanced spacesuit systems today. FDI has maintained the manufacturing processes, material consistency, and quality control practices necessary to meet the strict requirements for EVA fabrics operating in the harsh space environment. The production of Ortho Fabric involves the precise weaving of multiple advanced fibers into a highly specialized construction with specific areal weight, weave pattern, and performance characteristics. FDI possesses proprietary knowledge and dedicated equipment for producing Ortho Fabric at the required quality standards. No other known supplier currently has the capability to replicate the exact construction, nor the tooling and process controls necessary to ensure form, fit, and functional equivalency to heritage Ortho Fabric. Use of an alternate vendor would require full requalification of the material, including mechanical, thermal, and environmental testing to establish equivalency. This would introduce substantial cost and schedule impacts and risk the introduction of uncontrolled variability in an otherwise stable design. Procuring Ortho Fabric from FDI ensures continuity with decades of historical data, validated performance, and certified flight heritage, eliminating unnecessary rework and compatibility concerns for legacy and forward-looking programs. FDI’s Ortho Fabric remains an integral part of NASA’s EVA suit configuration and material baseline. Continued sourcing from FDI supports programmatic consistency, avoids deviation from established hardware interface requirements, and minimizes the risk of non-conformance or integration failure. Attempting to develop an alternate source at this stage of the program would divert resources from higher-priority development areas and threaten mission readiness timelines.

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

If a vendor other than FDI were used to manufacture Ortho Fabric, the government would incur significant technical, schedule, and cost risks. Ortho Fabric is a highly specialized textile composed of

Page 2 V2.0 3-15-2017 multiple advanced fibers woven in a proprietary configuration that has been validated over decades of use in NASA’s extravehicular activity (EVA) suits. FDI has been the sole source of this fabric since its inception and maintains the only known capability to replicate it to specification. Engaging an alternate vendor would require the reengineering of the fabric design, development of new tooling and process controls, and extensive testing to demonstrate equivalent performance under spaceflight conditions. This would include thermal, mechanical, flammability, and abrasion testing, as well as compatibility assessments with existing suit components—all of which would extend the schedule by many months and significantly increase program costs. Furthermore, deviating from the established source would risk introducing uncontrolled variability into a critical pressure garment component. Ortho Fabric plays a central role in abrasion resistance, structural integrity, and long-term durability of the suit’s outer layer.

Substituting it without full material and process validation could lead to performance degradation, integration incompatibilities, or even mission safety concerns. Additionally, the current suit hardware is configured and qualified based on the legacy Ortho Fabric’s known characteristics. A new material would require requalification not only of the fabric itself but of any suit assemblies or subsystems in which it is integrated—potentially requiring new test campaigns and delaying readiness for future missions. In short, attempting to source Ortho Fabric from a new vendor would undermine decades of configuration stability and introduce unnecessary technical and programmatic risk. Continued procurement from FDI is essential to preserve material continuity, reduce integration risk, and maintain the flight-proven performance that NASA’s EVA systems depend upon.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Pursuant to FAR 5.201, shall be synopsized in the Government wide Point of Entry (GPE) by the Contracting Officer. In addition, the brand name justification must be referenced or attached.

3/11/2026

Technical User Name Date

Title

Office