Utah State Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC).pdf

Rev.:5/2024

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

Ohalo III Hosted Hardware: Utah Reusable Root Module (URRM)

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 prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), John F. Kennedy Space Center.

(KSC).

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the contracting activity is KSC.

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 a sole-source contract to Utah State University for the design, documentation, and fabrication of flight-ready, reusable space crop rooting module hereafter referred to as Utah Reusable Root Module (URRM) which integrates into NASA’s Ohalo III test rig to grow space crops on the ISS as a demonstration for continuous crop production.

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 URRM will be developed, built, documented, tested, and integrated with Ohalo III on the ISS. Utah State University will perform Performance and Qualification Tests, Phase III Flight Safety Review, Delivery of Ground, Flight, Spares, and On-orbit demonstration. The estimated period of performance is April 1, 2025, through October 9, 2026. The estimated value of this action is $1.4 M.

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 10 U.S.C.

3204(a)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 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 URRM was first proposed by Utah State University (USU) in response to NASA Research Announcement Notice of Funding Opportunity No. NNH22ZDA002N, and awarded as a Phase A grant entitled, " Development of Microgravity Food Production: Plant Watering, Volume Management, and Novel Plant Research on the International Space Station”, NASA Grant No.80NSSC20K141. Subsequently, a Phase B grant was awarded to USU with a period of performance from 04/01/2023- 03/30/25. USU developed Microgravity Food Production technology for Hosted Hardware (HH) in Ohalo III for testing in ISS under these two competitively awarded grants. USU has developed proprietary processes, specialized skills, and exclusive knowledge related to the ability to design, build, and operate their URRM.

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:

A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (Sam.gov) will be published on “TBD”, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting will inform potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source contract to Utah State University. The Statement of Work will be listed in the solicitation to provide any potential source the opportunity to respond. Any responses received as a result of the Synopsis will be appropriately dispositioned and documented in an addendum to this document.

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 Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable.

It is anticipated that the Contracting Officer will be able to make a fair and reasonable price determination based upon one or more of the criteria set forth in FAR 13.106-3(a)(2). The Contracting Officer anticipates making a comparison to historical prices paid for the same or similar items (13.106-3(a)(2)(ii)) based upon prior NASA purchases.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted (e.g., urgent, and compelling requirement):

Announcement Notice of Funding Opportunity No. NNH22ZDA002N and awarded a Phase A and a Phase B grant entitled, " Development of Microgravity Food Production: Plant Watering, Volume Management, and Novel Plant Research on the International Space Station”, NASA Contract No.80NSSC20K141. USU developed the URRM for Hosted Hardware in Ohalo III for testing in ISS under these two competitively awarded contracts.

USU has developed proprietary processes, specialized skills, and exclusive knowledge related to the ability to design, build, and operate the URRM.

The Contracting Officer reviewed the synopsis issued for the NASA Research Announcement Notice of Funding Opportunity No. NNH22ZDA002N. Within this synopsis it was stated that: “The focus of Phase-B of this NOFO is on hardware design and development of a prototype unit for ground testing and evaluation. In a future envisioned Phase-C, the goal will be to develop flight hardware for testing in an EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack on the International Space Station (ISS). The long-term vision is to consider how such hardware could be adapted for supplemental crop production on a long duration transit mission to Mars.”

It is determined that USU, as part of the original solicitation and during Phases A and B, developed the URRM, which NASA wishes to test in accordance with the envisioned Phase C of the original solicitations. During the URRM technology development, USU acquired skills, knowledge, and expertise that uniquely them for the next phase of the project and cannot be solicited through another vendor. This includes further developing the URRM technology to deliver water, nutrients, and oxygen at optimal levels within plants' root zones at reduced gravity. The URRM technology developed by USU also optimizes reusable peat growth media for multiple plant growth cycles without the need for re-supplying.

It would be impractical, costly and ineffective for NASA to solicit and award to another source for this effort. NASA will require the unique capabilities of USU to evolve from the preliminary design reviews into the fabrication and space flight certification phase that’s required for producing URRM to be flight ready.

In summary, USU is the sole developer of this specific technology required for the URRM application. This non-commercial hardware developed in partnership with NASA is not readily available in the marketplace. Market research has determined that no other entities have the unique technology solutions and cannot be duplicated by another company that will meet NASA's timeline that is required to deploy and test crop technology solutions in Ohalo on the ISS. USU has the water distribution models and test data that validate the model; they have models for microgravity, and they have test data with plants. They have microbial data that shows their technology solution maintains oxygen content in the root zone even with microbial degradation of plant roots, which is novel and unique.

Based upon the above, USU is the only source reasonably available for this sole-source acquisition.

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

None.

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

A notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action will be synopsized on the GPE website (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6 above).

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 will continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions for the same requirements.

Ohalo III Hosted Hardware: Utah Reusable Root Module (URRM)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

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

Orlando Melendez Technical Representative

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

Tammy Clark Contracting Officer

APPROVED:

Edwin Martinez Competition Advocate Kennedy Space Center

Orlando Melendez

Digitally signed by Orlando Melendez Date: 2025.01.17 16:25:19 -05'00'

Tammy Clark Digitally signed by Tammy Clark Date: 2025.01.17 16:55:23 -05'00'

Edwin Martinez

Digitally signed by Edwin Martinez Date: 2025.02.04 15:02:28 -05'00'