SpaceX protests NASA launch contract award
SpaceX has filed a protest over the award of a launch contract to United Launch Alliance for a NASA planetary science mission, claiming it could carry out the mission for significantly less money.
The protest, filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Feb. 11, is regarding a NASA procurement formally known as RLSP-35. That contract is for the launch of the Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids of Jupiter, awarded by NASA to ULA Jan. 31 at a total cost to the agency of $148.3 million. The GAO documents did not disclose additional information about the protest, other than the office has until May 22 to render a decision. NASA said that, as a result of the protest, it's halted work on the ULA contract.
[...] SpaceX confirmed that the company was protesting the contract. "Since SpaceX has started launching missions for NASA, this is the first time the company has challenged one of the agency's award decisions," a company spokesperson said in a statement to SpaceNews. "SpaceX offered a solution with extraordinarily high confidence of mission success at a price dramatically lower than the award amount, so we believe the decision to pay vastly more to Boeing and Lockheed for the same mission was therefore not in the best interest of the agency or the American taxpayers," the spokesperson added. ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
[...] A key factor in the decision to award the contract to ULA was schedule certainty. Lucy has a complex mission profile with a series of flybys in order to visit several asteroid either leading or following Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. That results in a launch window that is open for only about 20 days in October 2021. Should the launch miss that window, the mission cannot be flown as currently planned.
Could it be retaliation for recent audits? Still, a matter of ±$70 million or so is almost nothing compared to the billions being spent annually on the Space Launch System.
Lucy (spacecraft) and trojans.
Also at Ars Technica and Teslarati.
Previously: NASA Selects Two Missions to Visit Asteroids
Related Stories
NASA has selected two new missions to explore asteroids. One mission will visit several Jupiter trojans, while the other will visit 16 Psyche, the most massive metallic M-type asteroid and the eleventh most massive asteroid known:
NASA has selected two missions that have the potential to open new windows on one of the earliest eras in the history of our solar system – a time less than 10 million years after the birth of our sun. The missions, known as Lucy and Psyche, were chosen from five finalists and will proceed to mission formulation, with the goal of launching in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
[...] Lucy, a robotic spacecraft, is scheduled to launch in October 2021. It's slated to arrive at its first destination, a main belt asteroid, in 2025. From 2027 to 2033, Lucy will explore six Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are trapped by Jupiter's gravity in two swarms that share the planet's orbit, one leading and one trailing Jupiter in its 12-year circuit around the sun. The Trojans are thought to be relics of a much earlier era in the history of the solar system, and may have formed far beyond Jupiter's current orbit.
[...] The Psyche mission will explore one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt – a giant metal asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, about three times farther away from the sun than is the Earth. This asteroid measures about 130 miles (210 kilometers) in diameter and, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, is thought to be comprised mostly of metallic iron and nickel, similar to Earth's core. Scientists wonder whether Psyche could be an exposed core of an early planet that could have been as large as Mars, but which lost its rocky outer layers due to a number of violent collisions billions of years ago.
The budgets for Discovery Program class missions are capped at $450 million.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's use of cannabis during an interview with Joe Rogan has led to safety reviews at both SpaceX and Boeing:
In addition to spurring problems for the car company Tesla, Elon Musk's puff of marijuana in September will also have consequences for SpaceX. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that NASA will conduct a "safety review" of both of its commercial crew companies, SpaceX and Boeing. The review was prompted, sources told the paper, because of recent behavior by Musk, including smoking marijuana on a podcast.
According to William Gerstenmaier, NASA's chief human spaceflight official, the review will be "pretty invasive" and involve interviews with hundreds of employees at various levels of the companies, across multiple worksites. The review will begin next year, and interviews will examine "everything and anything that could impact safety," Gerstenmaier told the Post.
[...] One source familiar with NASA's motivations said the agency has grown weary of addressing questions about SpaceX's workplace culture, from the long hours its employees work to Musk's behaviors on social media. "SpaceX is the frat house," this source said. "And NASA is the old white guy across the street yelling at them to 'Get off my lawn.'"
The "Big Falcon/Fucking Rocket" (BFR) has been renamed. The upper stage will be called Starship, while the booster will be called Super Heavy:
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted late Monday night that he has renamed the company's largest (and yet to be built) BFR rocket to Starship. Or more precisely, the spaceship portion will be called Starship. The rocket booster used to propel Starship from Earth's gravitational grasp will be called Super Heavy.
Plans to add a "mini-BFS" second stage to the Falcon 9 were scrapped less than 2 weeks after they were announced. Yet another design change for the BFR/Starship was also hinted at:
SpaceX seeks FCC OK for 1 million satellite broadband Earth stations
SpaceX is seeking US approval to deploy up to 1 million Earth stations to receive transmissions from its planned satellite broadband constellation.
The Federal Communications Commission last year gave SpaceX permission to deploy 11,943 low-Earth orbit satellites for the planned Starlink system. A new application from SpaceX Services, a sister company, asks the FCC for "a blanket license authorizing operation of up to 1,000,000 Earth stations that end-user customers will utilize to communicate with SpaceX's NGSO [non-geostationary orbit] constellation."
The application was published by FCC.report, a third-party site that tracks FCC filings. GeekWire reported the news on Friday. An FCC spokesperson confirmed to Ars today that SpaceX filed the application on February 1, 2019.
If each end-user Earth station provides Internet service to one building, SpaceX could eventually need authorization for more than 1 million stations in the US. SpaceX job listings describe the user terminal as "a high-volume manufactured product customers will have in their homes."
SpaceX drops protest of NASA launch contract
SpaceX withdrew a protest April 4 that it had filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office Feb. 11 regarding a NASA launch procurement formally known as RLSP-35. That covered a contract NASA awarded Jan. 31 to ULA for the launch of Lucy, a mission slated for launch in October 2021 to visit several Trojan asteroids in the same orbit around the sun as Jupiter.
[...] SpaceX's decision to withdraw the protest comes to[sic] a relief to many familiar with development of Lucy. They were concerned about potential additional costs to the mission and threats to its schedule if GAO upheld the protest and forced NASA to recompete the contract for the launch. That additional work, such as planning to be compatible with two different launch vehicles while the contract was recompeted, threatened to negate any launch vehicle savings.
SpaceX will assist NASA's first-ever mission to redirect an asteroid
NASA has chosen SpaceX to help out on its first-ever attempt to deflect an asteroid. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will blast off on a Falcon 9 rocket in June 2021 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Its mission: To smash a satellite into the Didymos asteroid's small moon in a bid to knock it off its orbit. What sounds like the plot of a Michael Bay movie could turn out to be NASA's first line of defense against Earth-bound asteroids.
[...] The total cost for the mission is expected at around $69 million including the launch service, which NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage. Fresh off the back of its successful Falcon Heavy launch and triple landing, SpaceX's involvement in DART sees its relationship with NASA evolving beyond its commercial payloads and resupply missions to the ISS. As usual, Elon Musk shared his reaction in a tweet: "Thanks on behalf of the SpaceX team. We ♥️♥️♥️ NASA!"
Coincidence? Maybe.
Double Asteroid Redirection Test contract also at Space News.
Previously: NASA to Redirect an Asteroid's Moon With Kinetic Impact
ESA Plans "Hera" Follow-Up Mission to NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test
SpaceX Protests NASA's Award of "Lucy" Launch Contract to ULA
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:03AM (7 children)
NASA is big on process.
They must have had a reason if they awarded a more expensive option.
Perhaps to support a second launch option.
Cost is not everything. Even if X is cheaper and still reliable, it does not mean that there are not overriding factors.
If there was such a reason, it should be out in the open for all to see.
It will be interesting to see if NASA choose a more expensive path on purpose and if so, what drove them to do this.
Supporting old school space while incubating new school might not necessarily be bad, at least in the short term.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:35AM (6 children)
The reason is in the linked earlier article:
Musk is still an unknown risk factor. He rules the company singlehandedly, and at the same time behaves irresponsibly. Without him the work contracted to SpaceX may crumble. The promised review will determine how SpaceX is set up and operated. The money difference is nothing, compared to dependability of the supplier.
(Score: 3, Funny) by RandomFactor on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:54AM (5 children)
450,000 miles is a heck of a road trip.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:44AM (4 children)
Double standards- sure it’s ok if YOU smoke a doobie but not Musk
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @03:08AM
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Saturday February 16 2019, @03:18AM (2 children)
450,000 miles refers to the distance his Tesla has traveled so far. Quite the accomplishment for frat boys (maybe Real Genius [imdb.com] frat boys...)
The cult of personality aspect mentioned is not an entirely unreasonable concern though. He needs to have the appropriate plans and processes in place in the organization for the continuance of the company in the event he gets some bad buds or something.
That's just good business.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @07:55PM (1 child)
Bad buds? The fuck are YOU smoking?
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Saturday February 16 2019, @08:37PM
Ehhh, did I mix up my druggie slang? Buds = marijuana buds. I'm not talking about smoking your headset :-p
Maybe it's just an archaic term?
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by aristarchus on Saturday February 16 2019, @01:53AM
n/t
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:10AM (2 children)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:17AM (1 child)
Ok I'll be the guy.
Please restrict your usage of that phrase to more appropriate situations.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:28AM
You Sir, Are An Officer And A Gentleman.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Some call me Tim on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:26AM
Don't worry Elon, I've heard that NASA is giving you the follow on mission called Charlie Brown. Its objective is to kick one of the asteroids that LUCY is holding. Good luck, we're all counting on you!
Questioning science is how you do science!
(Score: 2) by eravnrekaree on Saturday February 16 2019, @03:47AM (1 child)
Their reasons for using ULA seem sound. SpaceX has shown to be reliable enough for commodity space hardware, but when you are dealing with one off craft with very specific needs and which have taken years to build, its worth it to go with the more expensive launch platform for now that has a longer track record of reliability for that extra level of assurance. Sometimes its good to be a little bit overcautious, Especially this will be true with JWT which has been in development for a decade. Over time, SpaceX will hopefully prove its reliability to launch more risky stuff. It makes sense to continue to use the older tried and tested technology for high risk stuff while developing newer technology beginning with lower risk payloads.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @02:33PM
I'm hoping you mean that as a joke, because for ULA to remain relevant, I believe your words badly need to be a joke.
Ultimately, reliability is measured in actual success rate, not the amount of gold plating in the process.
The process stuff began to help remember lessons learned from things like Apollo 1,
but with time it seems to have grown to move the focus from the mission to the process itself.
Time will tell if X has moved this balance too far, but there is no doubt that ULA has moved too little if at all.
Hopefully, a review of this award will provide the reflection for both to adjust.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 16 2019, @05:22PM
somebody needs to send this link to NASA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBlIvghQTlI [youtube.com]