Notice of Intent to Sole Source - FCDAS Argos Pad

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Satellite and Information Acquisition Division (SIAD) located at 1325 East-West Highway Silver Spring Metro Center Building 2 (SSMC2) Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, intends to award an out-of-scope modification to contract #AB-133E-16-CN-0132 on a sole source basis in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1, "Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements". The proposed source is McMurdo, Inc. located at 4296 Forbes Blvd. Lanham, MD 20706. The requirement is to provide site preparation for a dedicated 2.4m Argos X/L-band antenna at the Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station (CDAS) in Fairbanks, Alaska by September 30, 2018. This will allow the Argos Data Collection System (DCS) and Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO), Satellite Products and Services Division (SPSD), Direct Services Branch (DSB) within the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to accomplish its mission of supporting the global Argos DCS ground segment in advance of "Argos-4" launches by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in early 2019, NOAA in late 2021, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) in 2022. McMurdo is already contracted to perform similar site preparation work in support of the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) Program at the Fairbanks CDAS. Contracting site preparation work of the Argos platform concurrently with the SARSAT work to McMurdo would save the government 8 months in establishing the platform. If the Argos platform does not get installed by the end of September 2018 it will be delayed until June, as pouring concrete and performing trenching and underground cabling work will not be feasible due to the freezing weather. This modification is necessary to avoid a break in service for this critical mission requirement for both the Argos DCS and the SARSAT program. There are currently no high latitude stations that can support L-band downlink which will be the only downlink available from the Argos-4 instrument scheduled to launch in early 2019 on OceanSat-3. High latitude platforms provide more over passes due to the polar orbit of these satellites. This platform would significantly reduce data latency. A full and open competition to complete the work would cause intolerable delay to the Direct Services Branch and pose an operational risk to the Government. The Government anticipates modifying the contract to add a Firm Fixed Price CLIN with a period of performance ending on September 30, 2018. This notice is published for informational purposes only and is not a request for competitive quotations. However, any firm who believes they can meet this requirement may submit a response in writing. Responses must include a written narrative statement of capability, including detailed technical information demonstrating the company's ability to meet the above requirements. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement to competition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Written responses must be received no later than 15 calendar days after publication of this synopsis to the person listed as the Government point of contact in this announcement. All questions must be submitted in writing to the attention of the Government Contract Specialist. If no responses are received, the Government will proceed with the sole source negotiation. NOTHING HEREIN SHOULD BE MISCONSTRUED AS A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS, QUOTES OR BIDS. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTATION IS AVAILABLE OR WILL BE ISSUED. The National Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code is 334511, and the size standard is 1,250 employees.