US Govt Accountability Office discards Blue Origin's protest over NASA-SpaceX contract

The US Government Accountability Office, on Friday, denied protests filed by the rocket company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin Federation and Dynetics. The protesters challenged their non-selection for awards and the award of optional contract line item numbers to Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). The US Government Accountability Office said that the rules for the procurements are not the same as those for standard competitive federal procurements. The US watchdog said that the agencies generally enjoy broader discretion in selecting the proposals most suitable to meet their research and development needs when utilizing broad agency announcement procedures.

The government accountability office said that NASA made an award to SpaceX for a total evaluated price of $2,941,394,557. It noted that Elon Musk's company submitted the lowest-priced proposal with the highest rating while the offers submitted by Blue Origin and Dynetics were significantly higher.

Arguments made by the protestors:

• The space agency was required to make multiple awards.
• NASA was required to open discussions, amend, before making any final announcement.
• NASA unreasonably evaluated all three of the proposals.
• NASA improperly waived a mandatory solicitation requirement for SpaceX. 

GAO refuted all the allegations made by Blue Origin

However, GAO concluded that NASA did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award.  "NASA’s announcement provided that the number of awards the agency would make was subject to the amount of funding available for the program. In addition, the announcement reserved the right to make multiple awards, a single award, or no award at all. In reaching its award decision, NASA concluded that it only had sufficient funding for one contract award," read the statement released by GAO. It further concluded there was no requirement for NASA to engage in discussions, amend, or cancel the announcement as a result of the amount of funding available for the program.

Would not compromise with the safety of astronauts: NASA

Meanwhile, NASA released a statement in which the space agency has argued that it would not compromise the safety of astronauts while approving any contracts with the private players. "NASA is moving forward with urgency, but astronaut safety is the priority and the agency will not sacrifice the safety of the crew in the steadfast pursuit of the goal to establish a long-term presence on the Moon," said the American space agency.

(With inputs from the statement released by GAO and NASA)

(Image Credit: AP)