GAO dismisses lunar lander contract protests
Source: Spaceflight Now
Date Published: 08/02/2021
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The Government Accountability Office ruled Friday that NASA did not violate procurement law or regulations when it awarded a single $2.9 billion moon lander contract to SpaceX, denying appeals from competitors Dynetics, a Leidos company, and Blue Origin, owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos. NASA managers initially hoped to award two moon lander contracts, but “down selected” to a single provider — SpaceX — in April based on current and projected funding levels from Congress. Blue Origin and Dynetics protested the award, claiming NASA was required to make more than one award given the announcement’s stated goal and that the space agency should have given them an opportunity to adjust their bids when it became clear funding was not available to pay for more than one proposal. “In denying the protests, GAO first concluded that NASA did not violate procurement law or regulation when it decided to make only one award,” the government said in a news release. “NASA’s announcement provided that the number of awards the agency would