ORS-1 Sources Sought

NOTICE OF CONTRACT ACTION (NOCA) 07 October 2014 NOTICE OF AWARD OF A SOLE-SOURCE CONTRACT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. This is a notice of award for a sole source contract under the statutory authority Title 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A), services are only available from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. In addition, FAR 6.302-1(b)(2), supports only one source if the existence of limited rights in data, patent rights, copyrights, or secret processes; or similar circumstances apply. The Government conducted extensive market research, to include reviewing multiple statements of capabilities that were received in response to the ORS-1 Sources Sought Synopsis that was posted to FedBizOps back on 31 March 2014, which lead to development of the acquisition strategy. As a result, the government found that the incumbent contractor is the only source that can provide the immediate services for the current critical mission. As the previous contract performance period expired on 29 September 2014, the government awarded a new contract for 2.25 years of continued ORS-1 sustainment support. This sole source contract will allow the incumbent, UTC-A to continue ORS-1 Program Sustainment support for the space vehicle which includes GSEG sustainment efforts in support of the ORS-1 operational architecture. This contract provides operational sustainment services for the ORS-1 space vehicle and ground support system based on efforts and tasks requiring a unique and experienced skill set applied to the one of a kind ORS-1 space vehicle and GSEG ground support system. Satellite emulators and software test environments are used to support ongoing operations and anomaly resolution. Continuous service of the ORS-1 system is required to support ongoing operations and ensure there are no mission impacts or interruptions of services allocated by USSTRATCOM. This sole source contract includes firm fixed price (FPP) and cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) line items and 5 three month options, with total contract value of $13.5M. The sole purpose of this contract is to ensure these critical mission requirements continue without disruption. This notice of award is for informational purposes only, and is not a request for competitive proposals. The Government contracted with UTC-A for the ORS-1 sustainment contract on a sole source basis because UTC-A holds Limited or Restricted Software Rights (DFAR 252.227-7014(a)(15)) for the majority of the required software and these services have become a "highly specialized service". At this time, there are no other contractors who are capable of providing these services without an unacceptable delay to mission schedules. This is expected to be the final sustainment contract for the ORS-1 Space Vehicle and supporting ground segment GSEG and no additional contracts for follow on systems of this type are expected in the future. This is due to the limited remaining life expectancy of the ORS-1 space vehicle and architecture with no planned replacement expected to be funded in the future, no other actions are planned to facilitate competition for this acquisition. As such, no actions are planned for the government to purchase ORS-1 software to overcome the major barrier for other companies to effectively compete to provide these services.