U.S. GAO rejects protest of space taxi deal with Boeing, SpaceXReuters
By Irene Klotz 9 minutes ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - The Government Accountability Office rejected Sierra Nevada Corp’s protest of $6.8 billion (4 billion pounds) in contracts that NASA awarded to Boeing Co (BA.N) and Space Exploration Technologies to develop and fly commercial space taxis, officials for the congressional watchdog said on Monday.
The contracts, awarded in September, include test flights to the International Space Station and from two to six operational missions per company. Boeing's contract was $4.2 billion. SpaceX, as the privately owned firm is known, was awarded a $2.6 billion contract.
The space taxis will allow NASA to fly U.S. astronauts to the space station, about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth. Since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA has had to purchase rides with station partner Russia for $63 million per person.
Sierra Nevada objected to NASA's selection of Boeing because its price tag was $900 million more than Sierra Nevada's. It also argued that NASA failed to follow its own procurement guidelines, which emphasized safety and price over schedule.
The GAO, an independent nonpartisan agency, said that despite Boeing's higher price, NASA considered the aerospace company's proposal the strongest of all three "in terms of technical approach, management approach, and past performance."
The GAO also noted that SpaceX's bid for its contract was lower than Sierra Nevada's, and that NASA “ultimately concluded that SpaceX’s lower price made it a better value" than Sierra Nevada's offer.
As for Sierra Nevada's claim about NASA failing to follow its own guidelines, the GAO said NASA informed bidders "that their proposals would be evaluated against the goal of certification by the end of 2017.”
NASA hopes to break Russia’s monopoly on crew transport before the end of 2017.
Sierra Nevada had hoped to sell NASA its Dream Chaser miniature space shuttle to fly crews to and from the space station.
Sierra Nevada, Boeing, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp (ORB.N) are competing for a new round of station cargo delivery contracts. Awards are expected this spring.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by David Gregorio)
http://news.yahoo.com/u-gao-rejects-protest-space-181940235.html
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