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Commercialization

GAO Rules Against Sierra Nevada Corp.

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
January 5, 2015
Filed under ,
GAO Rules Against Sierra Nevada Corp.

Statement on Sierra Nevada Bid Protest Decision, GAO
“On January 5, 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest filed by Sierra Nevada Corp., of Louisville, Colorado, challenging the award of contracts to The Boeing Co., Space Exploration, of Houston, Texas, and to Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), of Hawthorne, California, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for NASA’s Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Contract (CCtCap).”
Keith’s note NASA PAO has released this statement: “The GAO has notified NASA that it has denied Sierra Nevada Corporation’s protest of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract awards. NASA is pleased the GAO’s decision allows the agency to move forward and continue working with Boeing and SpaceX on the Launch America initiative that will enable safe and reliable crew transportation to and from the International Space Station on American spacecraft launched from the United States, ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia for such transportation. The case remains under the protective order and blackout until the GAO releases its decision.”

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8 responses to “GAO Rules Against Sierra Nevada Corp.”

  1. Matt Johnson says:
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    Imagine if Back to the Future had showed us struggling just to get back to 1960s style capsules in its depiction of 2015! I guess the reusable lifting body shuttle is still an idea ahead of its time, sadly.

    • Hug Doug ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ says:
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      Well, wings are dead weight in deep space, capsules are far more weight-efficient. The space Shuttle was a chimera of conflicting design requirements, not at all ideal for just about everything that it was required to do. Lifting body spacecraft are great for a more gentle reentry profile from LEO, but for just about anything else, they’re not really practical.

      • DTARS says:
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        Doug I saw a video don’t have the link for UK Space port where one of the systems would fly like an aeroplane from the runway use jets I think? Then rocket boost to a high speed, then release its 2nd stage/payload to orbit and fly back to the runway.

        My add imagine a first stage delta winged horizontal launched plane that does the Spacex reboost trick to not need heavy shielding like shuttle Maybe an engine in nose to avoid flipping.

        • Hug Doug ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ says:
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          you might be thinking of the DARPA XS-1 challenge, and conflating it with the British Skylon spaceplane.

          • DTARS says:
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            http://m.youtube.com/watch?…
            Looks like artist dream 3rd generation Skylon lol. Looked cool anyway. 🙂

          • Hug Doug ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ says:
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            that’s not a proposed spaceplane concept, it’s a generic spaceplane / inside joke – it looks like the Pan Am spaceplane from 2001 A Space Odyssey movie.

            http://i317.photobucket.com

            oh, there’s two different spaceplanes used in the animation. the ones on the ground / takeoff sequence are different from the spaceplanes in flight. both are seen at the very end of the animation.

            neither are actual concept spacecraft.

    • Paul451 says:
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      Imagine if Back to the Future

      Dude, they had anti-gravity. I guarantee you if we develop anti-gravity this year, we’ll be flying everything: capsules, spaceplanes, Bigelow bubbles, old Shuttles, bare spacesuits, WWII battleships…

  2. Michael Spencer says:
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    The Skylon engine that powers Reaction’s plane has solved a major hurdle by figuring out how to pre-cool incoming air. AFAIK that was the major hurdle, but the project is still on very meager funding (perhaps due to the crazy austerity that overtook Europe a few years ago)? Perhaps someone knows of other major technological hurdles?