NASA, Johnson Space Center, BE13, Houston, TX

13 -- SIDE HATCH CREW ESCAPE SYSTEM COMPONENTS FOR THE SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER SOL 9BE13-30525P POC JOHN TRAHAN, Tel:713-483-0543 Contracting Officer:ANN SULLIVAN, Tel:713-483-1863 The Government is interested in acquiring replacement Confined Detonating Cords (CDC), Through Bulkhead Initiators (TBI's), hinge cutter assemblies, and collar severance assemblies for the Space Shuttle Orbiter fleet. These components comprise the side hatch crew escape system. --The items shall be delivered to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. --A contract is anticipated to be awarded in October of 1995 with delivery of the components in April of 1996. --Refer to numbered Note 22. The proposed contract action is intended to be awarded on a sole source basis. --The Government intends to award a contract to OEA Aerospace, Inc. by other than full and open competition for the Side Hatch Crew Escape System. OEA is the only vendor who has NASA approved procedures and tooling for the fabrication of these components. OEA has also passed all of the required qualification tests for the production of this hardware since the current flight hardware in the Orbiter fleet was produced by OEA in the 1986 - 1988 time frame. Any other vendor would be required to develop the tooling, manufacturing procedures, and test fixtures to begin production. In addition, any other vendor would be required to produce qualification test articles to ensure the technical performance requirements of their hardware would meet NASA specifications. The up-front engineering costs coupled with the added qualification costs are estimated to be in the area of $200,000 above the cost of the production units. Clearly, it is the Government's best interest to award a contract to OEA for the production of this hardware. (0110)

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