Lunar Rover

Attestation of assurance

The fairness monitor (FM) hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the competitive selection process for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program Lunar Rover Mission, commencing with the issuance of the request for proposal (RFP) until the close of its evaluation phase.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process we observed or monitored for the above activities, was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by:

Project requirement

The procurement process for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program Lunar Rover Mission initiative was conducted in two phases. The phase 1 RFP (9F052-200303/B) was for the procurement of the phase A—definition of the requirements. Under this RFP, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) awarded 2 contracts.

Only the 2 successful bidders from the phase 1 RFP process (9F052-200303/B) were invited to participate in the subsequent phase 2 RFP process (9F052-200303/C) for further development of the lunar rover under the phase B, C and D as follows:

• phase B—Preliminary design definition
• phase C—Detailed design definition
• phase D—Manufacturing of the project

Samson was engaged on March 10, 2022 as a FM to observe the competitive acquisition process for the Lunar Rover Mission phases B, C and D, undertaken by PWGSC on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), as part of solicitation 9F052-200303/C. Samson is an independent third party with respect to this activity.

This project is expected to demonstrate Canadian capabilities on the lunar surface. The rover will be launched through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative in 2026.

This report covers the activities of the FM starting with the issuance of the RFP on June 8, 2022 until the close of its evaluation phase.

We reviewed all the information provided and observed all relevant activities subsequent to our engagement.

This report includes:

• our attestation of assurance
• a summary of the scope and objectives of our assignment
• the methodologies applied and relevant observations from the activities undertaken

Fairness monitoring engagement and observations

In accordance with the terms of our engagement, we:

• familiarized ourselves with the relevant documents and observed the procurement activities, that is the RFP and related amendments and the related questions and answers process
• identified fairness-related matters to the contracting and technical authorities
• ensured that responses and actions were reasonable and appropriate

Activities and observations: Request for proposal phase

The phase 2 RFP (9F052-200303/C) was sent to the 2 qualified suppliers on June 8, 2022 and had a closing date of August 3, 2022.

Three amendments were issued, the last of which was on July 15, 2022. Questions from potential bidders were accepted and answers were provided through the amendments.

The FM reviewed the RFP documents, as well as all questions and answers provided during the RFP posting period, to ensure that fairness considerations were satisfactorily addressed.

Both qualified suppliers submitted a bid. No fairness issues were identified.

Activities and observations: Proposal evaluation phase

An evaluation committee was appointed to evaluate the proposals. The evaluation committee was composed of one Chair and a total of 18 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and CSA evaluators with experience and expertise in engineering, science, operations and management. Evaluators were assigned specific criteria to evaluate based on their expertise. A minimum of 3 evaluators per criteria was maintained.

An information session for the technical evaluation team was held on August 4, 2022. The evaluation of the bids consisted of a review of the documentation submitted by the bidders as indicated in the RFP. The evaluation of bids began on August 5, 2022.

In accordance with the evaluation procedures and basis of selection section of the RFP, the phased bid compliance process was applied and consisted of 3 phases:

• evaluation phase 1: Financial bid
  • to determine whether the bid included a financial bid and whether it included all information required by the RFP
  • only bids found responsive to the requirements reviewed in this phase were entitled to receive an evaluation phase 2 review
• evaluation phase 2: Technical bid
  • to identify any instances where the bidder had failed to meet any eligible mandatory criterion
  • only bids found responsive to the requirements reviewed in this phase were entitled to receive an evaluation phase 3
• evaluation phase 3: Final evaluation of the bid
  • to complete the evaluation of all bids found responsive to the requirements reviewed at evaluation phase 2

PWGSC requested clarifications from the bidders when required during the bid evaluations. In accordance with the phased bid compliance process, PWGSC sent compliance assessment reports (CAR) to the bidders on September 21, 2022.

In accordance with evaluation phase 3: Final evaluation of the bid of the phased bid compliance process, the bids were assessed against the entire requirements of the RFP, including the mandatory and point rated technical and managerial and the mandatory financial evaluation criteria. Consensus meetings took place on August 16 and 17, 2022 to evaluate the point rated technical and managerial evaluation criteria.

The responsive bids were then ranked according to the total number of points obtained for the point rated technical and managerial evaluation criteria, starting from the highest total number of points to the lowest, as per the RFP. The responsive bid with the highest total number of points was recommended for award of a contract. The final evaluation summary with the results of both the technical and managerial and financial bid evaluation was signed on September 26, 2022 by PWGSC and submitted to the FM for review on October 4, 2022.

The FM reviewed the bid evaluation plan and attended the team information session. The FM attended the consensus meetings with the evaluation team. The FM reviewed the notices sent to qualified suppliers as well as their responses. The FM reviewed the CAR sent to the qualified suppliers as well as the final evaluation summary to confirm the winning bidder.

No fairness issues were identified.

Reference documents

Documents related to the solicitation 9F052-200303/B are available on CanadaBuys or the project office, documents related to the solicitation 9F052-200303/C are available through the project office.

Addendum to the final report

November 30, 2022

Addendum to the FM final report dated October 10, 2022 regarding the competitive selection process for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program Lunar Rover Mission undertaken by PWGSC.

This addendum to the final report covers the period following the conclusion of the evaluation phase, including contract award and debriefings.

Fairness monitoring activities related to contract award and debriefings

Two bids were received in response to the RFP, and both met the mandatory requirements. The responsive bid with the highest total number of points was recommended for award of a contract.

The bidders were informed of the bid evaluation results on November 14, 2022. PWGSC awarded the contract to the successful bidder on November 14, 2022.

Both bidders requested a written debriefing on their respective bid. Their respective evaluation summary results report was sent by PWGSC on November 16, 2022.

The FM reviewed the correspondence with bidders as well as their respective evaluation summary results reports.

Attestation of assurance

The FM hereby provides the unqualified assurance statement below concerning the competitive selection process for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program Lunar Rover Mission.

It is our professional opinion that the competitive selection process that we observed or monitored was carried out in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Original signed by: