spacetoday.net: Report: Losing bidder may protest ISS cargo contract

Posted: Sat, Jan 3, 2009, 10:03 AM ET (1503 GMT)
The company that lost a bid to win a NASA contract to ferry supplies to the International Space Station may protest the contract awards, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. PlanetSpace, a small company with several major aerospace companies as subcontractors, was one of three companies to bid on NASA's ISS Commercial Resupply Services program this fall, but lost out to Orbital Sciences Corporation and SpaceX. PlanetSpace's proposal was scored higher than Orbital's, according to source selection documents, but NASA chose Orbital because of concerns about PlanetSpace's management weaknesses and ability to handle technical risk. Sources told the Journal that PlanetSpace officials are consulting with lawyers on the possibility of filing a protest, but no decision has been made. A formal debrief is likely to take place in early January, after which PlanetSpace would decide whether to protest.