Lawsuit
seeks to stop Boeing, SpaceX work on NASA space taxi
Send a link to a friend
[October 17, 2014]
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL Fla (Reuters) - Privately
owned Sierra Nevada Corp filed a federal lawsuit to stop NASA work on
newly awarded space taxi development contracts while a bid protest is
under way, the company’s vice president said on Thursday.
|
NASA last month selected Boeing and privately owned Space
Exploration Technologies for a fourth and final round of funding to
develop, test and fly commercially owned and operated space taxis.
NASA is looking to buy rides for astronauts traveling to and from
the International Space Station beginning in 2017, breaking Russia’s
monopoly on crew transport.
The contracts, which have a combined value of up to $6.8 billion,
include six operational missions for each carrier.
The Sept. 16 awards however, sparked a protest by losing contender
Sierra Nevada, which asked the Government Accountability Office to
review how NASA assessed the proposals and ended up selecting
Boeing’s $4.2 billion bid.
Sierra Nevada asked for $3.3 billion, $900 million less than Boeing.
SpaceX, as the California-based company is known, offered to do the
same work for $2.6 billion. The GAO is expected to issue a ruling by
Jan. 5.
NASA instructed Boeing and SpaceX to stop work on the contracts
after Sierra Nevada filed its Sept. 26 protest, but the U.S. space
agency rescinded the order on Oct 9.
“Under statutory authority available to it, NASA has decided to
proceed with the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability
contracts,” NASA wrote in a statement posted on its Commercial Crew
website.
“The agency recognizes that failure to provide the … transportation
service as soon as possible poses risks to the International Space
Station (ISS) crew, jeopardizes continued operation of the ISS,
would delay meeting critical crew size requirements, and may result
in the U.S. failing to perform the commitments it made in its
international agreements,” NASA said.
[to top of second column] |
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Sierra Nevada asked the U.S. Court
of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., for a temporary restraining
order and a preliminary injunction to overturn NASA’s decision to
resume work on the contracts.
“Contrary to the GAO position that there be a stay, NASA
unilaterally decided to continue work,” Sierra Nevada vice president
Mark Sirangelo said in an interview. The bid protest will remain
with the GAO, he added.
If Sierra Nevada should win its protest, the competition may be
restarted. A hearing on Sierra Nevada’s injunction request is
scheduled for Friday morning.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|