spacetoday.net: NASA revises procurement strategy for commercial crew program

Posted: Fri, Dec 16, 2011, 7:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
Boeing CST-100 illustration

Citing uncertain budgets, NASA announced Thursday it was switching from a fixed-price contract back to Space Act Agreements (SAAs) for the next phase of its commercial crew development program. NASA had planned to issue an RFP next week for the "Integrated Design Phase" of the program, designed to mature several potential vehicles to the critical design review level of development. However, NASA officials said a "dynamic budget environment", including uncertainty about how much money the program will get in future years, led it to go back to the more flexible SAAs used in the first two phases of the effort. A formal request for proposals for this program will go out in early 2012. The overall commercial crew program seeks to support the commercial development of spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the ISS, as well as for other commercial applications. The program received less than half of the requested funding for 2012, and as a result NASA officials say they don't expect vehicles to be ready to enter service until 2017.