Antarctic Science and Engineering Support Contract
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KBR Services, LLC has been awarded the Antarctic Science and Engineering Support Contract, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity agreement under which the National Science Foundation will procure critical logistical and operational services to sustain U.S. scientific activities in Antarctica. Task orders issued under this contract may utilize various contract types—including Firm Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursement, Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee, or Cost-Plus-Award-Fee—with the specific type determined by the Contracting Officer based on the nature and risk profile of each requirement. The contract supports the United States Antarctic Program, which enables all U.S. scientific research and related logistics across the continent and in the Southern Ocean, requiring complex, year-round operations in one of the planet’s most extreme and isolated environments. Services encompass life-support systems, infrastructure maintenance, communications, facility development, and science instrumentation support, performed in partnership with federal agencies, military units, academic institutions, and international collaborators. The nature of the work involves high levels of operational uncertainty due to harsh environmental conditions, evolving site requirements, and the indispensable need to ensure personnel safety, making fixed-price arrangements impractical without exposing contractors to unacceptable risk or inflated pricing. As a result, the contract structure is intentionally flexible to accommodate these challenges and allow appropriate financial risk mitigation. Although some services might resemble commercial offerings in other contexts, the extreme conditions and integration of domestic and international operations render the entire scope non-commercial and unsuitable for standard commercial contracting terms. The acquisition was competitively procured, and the contract is managed by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support in Alexandria, Virginia, with performance centered at U.S. Antarctic Program facilities. All contract-related communications and inquiries are directed through designated point of contact personnel.
General Info
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$0NAICS
Place of Performance
USAP Facilities, N/A, ATASet-Aside
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Award Issued Date
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Full Description
KBR Services, LLC is awarded an IDIQ contract with a hybrid contract type structure. Task Orders issued under this IDIQ may be Firm Fixed Price, Cost Reimbursement, Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee, or Cost-Plus-Award-Fee. Task Order contract type will be determined by the Contracting Officer.
The United States National Science Foundation (NSF) proposes to purchase a host of services which sustain life and scientific operations in the Antarctic region under a single award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. NSF manages the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) on behalf of the Nation per Presidential Memorandum 6646, “United States Antarctic Policy and Programs”. The USAP supports all U.S. scientific research and related logistics in Antarctica and aboard USAP vessels that operate along the continental margin and in the Southern Ocean. Work in Antarctica is carried out in partnership with grantee institutions, other Federal agencies, the military, other National Antarctic Programs, and private industry. Logistic services, communication services, program management, facility maintenance, infrastructure development, and science instrumentation support are all services captured as part of the requirement.
The requirement directly supports the US research facilities in Antarctica. Services are highly complex, consisting of maintaining life-supporting logistics, communications, and infrastructure in one of the most remote parts of the world, all while ensuring successful execution of science. Failure to effectively perform certain elements of the requirement results in risk to human health. Support of infrastructure requirements may result in significant re-work costs if errors are made, or site conditions change. The need for the contract to accommodate a requirement which by its nature changes year to year means that performance uncertainties are constant. Factors such as these result in a very high level of financial responsibility for the contractor, necessitating some form of mitigation via other-than-fixed-price. The requirement is considered to have too many uncertainties, which complicates the ability for fixed-price contracts to capture the requirement’s risk without offering an excessively high fixed-price.
While some of the ASESC services could be considered commercial in a normal environment, the austere performance conditions, among the most austere and difficult on the planet, and complex nature of the requirement demands the use of terms and conditions which are not similar to those offered to the general public. Commercial services that are performed in the United States as part of this effort are so integrally related to the international services that it is not feasible to separate the requirements. As such, the services required for ASESC are not commercial in nature.
Award is the result of a competitive procurement.
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