Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition -Unusual and Compelling Urgency Avionics Unit Post

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

UNUSUAL AND COMPELLING URGENCY

For 80MSFC26Q0007/Secondary Payloads Avionics Units and Sustaining Engineering/Space Launch System (SLS)
1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.104-1(a)(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).
The procuring agency is NASA, and the contracting activity is MSFC/PS44 Space Launch System (SLS) Spacecraft Payload Integration & Evolution (SPIE) Procurement Support Office.
2. FAR 6.104-1(a)(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 under solicitation number 80MSFC26Q0007 with Space Vector LLC.
The general purpose of this contract is to procure Secondary Payload Avionics Units and engineering support for Artemis IV and V, including a spare unit, in order to provide the Avionics Units (AU)s NASA requires as part of the SLS Secondary Payload Deployment System (SPDS) to control the deployment of secondary payloads from the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Stage Adapter (MSA) during these missions. This requirement is critical to NASA’s Artemis campaign and its overall mission to safely land humans on the lunar surface.
The Artemis campaign’s timeline, and its included mission dates, are a vital component of the government’s need. For reasons discussed below, delays to mission execution as a result of developmental challenges are likely to result in mission failure. This contract is necessary to ensure that development of a lunar landing capability is complete in time to support NASA’s Artemis missions.
a. The Artemis Campaign and National Strategic Interests. The Artemis campaign consists of several interconnected NASA programs, encompassing multiple contracts and international efforts. Each component of the campaign is required to reach the agency’s end state of landing humans on the lunar surface. Among these programs Rev: 06/2026

JOFOC Unusual and Compelling Urgency

80MSFC26Q0007

are: the Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s primary space launch capability; Orion,