Sierra Nevada loses "space taxi" GAO bid protest

Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems' Dream Chaser spacecraft. (Sierra Nevada Corporation)

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a protest filed by Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Louisville-based Space Systems over its lost bid to serve as NASA's "space taxi" to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Space Systems filed the protest on Sept. 26, after its Dream Chaser bid for NASA's commercial crew contract was rejected. The contract was split between Boeing Co's CST-100 capsule for $4.2 billion and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft for $2.6 billion.

"While the outcome was not what SNC expected, we maintain our belief that the Dream Chaser spacecraft is technically very capable, reliable and was qualified to win based on NASA's high ratings of the space system," Space Systems said in a statement.

Much of the bid protest content is not public record, and will not be until the GAO releases its full decision. However, a release on the GAO website offers some insight into Space Systems' case.

At the heart of the company's protest was a claim NASA deviated from evaluation criteria by including time-sensitive goals as a major factor a piece of the puzzle that Space Systems said was not listed by NASA as integral to the selection process, according to a GAO release.

Space Systems also said its cost was significantly lower than one of the winning bids a factor the company said should have carried more weight and that NASA improperly evaluated SpaceX's proposal both on price and mission suitability.

The GAO does not rule on the merits of each company's contract proposal. Instead, the office reviews the process by which NASA reached its conclusion to determine if the agency did so fairly.

The GAO "found no undue emphasis on NASA's consideration of each offeror's proposed schedule, and likelihood to achieve crew transportation system certification not later than 2017" and said NASA reached the conclusion on cost fairly.

"NASA concluded that the proposals submitted by Boeing and SpaceX represented the best value to the government," the GAO statement reads. "NASA also recognized several favorable features in the Sierra Nevada and SpaceX proposals, but ultimately concluded that SpaceX's lower price made it a better value than the proposal submitted by Sierra Nevada."

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Sierra Nevada loses "space taxi" GAO bid protest