NASA | The Contracting Education Academy

August 30, 2018 By cs

OTAs: Preserving the authority

Other Transaction Authorities are the latest buzzwords in federal contracting, and for good reason.

OTAs have become critical to rapid prototyping in the defense realm, in some cases cutting off years from the time warfighters wait for new systems and capabilities.

OTAs are a business tool that let the government buy products and services using means other than those governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations. These authorities, initially conceived by NASA in the 1950s and later expanded to the Defense Department in 1994, have recently surged in use and popularity — and praise. However, they also elicit a fair amount of criticism and debate about their future.

Fairness during the award process, soundness of proposals and lack of public information throughout the course of the award are among issues detractors highlight on OTAs. If their supporters want to preserve this acquisition instrument, they must address these concerns.

They’re not small concerns.

Keep reading this article at: https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2018/08/03/insights-hawk-carlisle-ota.aspx

July 12, 2018 By cs

Proposed rule would create a separate, more restrictive standard for ‘adequate price competition’

On June 12, 2018, the Department of Defense (“DoD”), the General Services Administration, and NASA proposed a new rule that would limit the “adequate price competition” exception to certified cost or pricing data requirements on all DoD, NASA, and Coast Guard procurements.

Currently, FAR 15.403-1 prohibits contracting officers from requiring contractors to submit certified cost or pricing data to support a contract action when the contracting officer determines that the prices agreed upon are based on “adequate price competition,” which the regulation defines in one of three ways:

Two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, submit priced offers that satisfy the Government’s expressed requirement where award will be made in a best-value competition and there is no finding that the price of the otherwise successful offeror is unreasonable;
Only one offer is received from a responsible offeror, but there was a reasonable expectation that two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, would submit priced offers, the offer received was submitted with the expectation of competition, and the determination that the proposed price is based on adequate price competition and is reasonable has been approved at a level above the contracting officer; or
Price analysis clearly demonstrates that the proposal price is reasonable in comparison with current or recent prices for the same or similar items, adjusted to reflect changes in market conditions, economic conditions, quantities, or terms and conditions under contracts that resulted from adequate price competition.

The proposed rule, however, would eliminate the second and third definitions for the DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard. Instead, for these agencies, a price would be based on adequate price competition “only if two or more responsible offerors, competing independently, submit responsive and viable offers.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=715666

May 11, 2018 By cs

FAR rule implements higher dollar threshold for GAO’s protest jurisdiction over DoD, NASA, Coast Guard task orders

In a new rule announced May 1, the FAR Council implemented prior statutory changes to GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction.

For task orders issued by the Department of Defense, NASA, or the Coast Guard, the rule provides that GAO will have jurisdiction only over task orders “valued in excess of $25 million.”

For civilian agencies, GAO continues to have jurisdiction over protests of task orders “valued in excess of $10 million.” The rule also permanently repeals a pre-existing FAR clause that had set a September 30, 2016 expiration date on the ability to protest civilian agency task orders.

The new rule — codified as FAR 16.505(a)(10) — implements Section 835 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which directed the FAR Council to establish the new DoD, NASA, and Coast Guard threshold. (The sunset date for protests of civilian agency task orders had previously been repealed by the GAO Civilian Task and Delivery Order Protest Authority Act of 2016.) According to the FAR Council, its new rule is designed to “follow[] the statute exactly.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/05/new-far-rule-implements-increased-minimum-dollar-threshold-for-gaos-protest-jurisdiction-over-dod-nasa-and-coast-guard-task-orders/

April 24, 2018 By cs

Military will award $10 million to the company that can launch satellites on short notice

U.S. military leaders are bullish about small satellites as tools to spy on adversaries and provide secure communications, but there’s just one problem: There isn’t a good way to get them into space, on demand.

Inspired by NASA’s partnerships with rocket makers like SpaceX, the Pentagon is turning to private industry, as half a dozen companies, most backed by venture capitalists, are working to launch small satellites more cheaply than ever to meet the demands of a growing number of small-satellite startups.

“There’s already a lot of commercial money going into development for these boosters,” Todd Master, a program manager at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency told Quartz at the Space Symposium, a conference bringing together space companies and government officials in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “But nobody is asking them to be much more responsive. Our discussions with them are: Could you go faster? Could you go from anywhere? And they’re like, ‘Yeah, but nobody is asking us to do that.’”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/04/us-military-will-award-10-million-company-can-launch-satellites-short-notice/147588

April 6, 2018 By cs

The magic of ‘other transaction authorities’

Space and Missile Systems Center’s Maj. Steven Pugh arrived at an industry conference held at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency recently to talk about the big pot of money he has to spend — $100 million over the next five years to be precise — on anything that could help the Air Force improve its spacecraft, launch or ground systems.

And the best thing about it is that contractors, academics, or whoever comes forth to compete for this money can ignore the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the dreaded FAR, and do an end run around its notorious red tape.

Those with good ideas can take the Air Force money — as long as there is a one-third cost share — and build prototypes without having to use Defense Department-approved accounting standards, adhere to the new cybersecurity rules, or comply with innumerable edicts that add to overhead.

This is all made possible by a once out-of-fashion contracting vehicle known as the “other transaction authority,” or OTA. The OTA has been around for decades. It was intended to allow nontraditional contractors or small businesses to build prototypes for the Defense Department, NASA and other agencies.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2018/3/30/the-magic-of-other-transaction-authorities

Other Transaction Authorities are the latest buzzwords in federal contracting, and for good reason.

On June 12, 2018, the Department of Defense (“DoD”), the General Services Administration, and NASA proposed a new rule that would limit the “adequate price competition” exception to certified cost or pricing data requirements on all DoD, NASA, and Coast Guard procurements.

In a new rule announced May 1, the FAR Council implemented prior statutory changes to GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction.

U.S. military leaders are bullish about small satellites as tools to spy on adversaries and provide secure communications, but there’s just one problem: There isn’t a good way to get them into space, on demand.

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