Orbital ATK Sues DARPA Over MDA’s SSL GEO Satellite Servicing Contract, SpaceQ “The days of on-orbit servicing, or satellite servicing, living in obscurity are over. On February 7, Orbital ATK, Inc. and their subsidiary Space Logistics LLC, filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia to stop the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from awarding Space Systems Loral (SSL), a subsidiary of Canada’s MDA, a contract to […]

NASA OIG: Review of NASA-Funded Institutes “We found NASA does not aggregate information on the universe, status, or funding levels for the many institutes it supports. The absence of this information makes it difficult for Agency leaders to strategically evaluate the scope or purpose of its institute investments or for Congress and other stakeholders to understand how NASA is spending more than three-quarters of a billion dollars of its budget […]

Keith’s note: This NASA Langley procurement notice modification is a classic example of a broken government process. Read it carefully. What is/isn’t this modification modifying/not modifying? TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY – DECONVOLUTION APPROACH FOR THE MAPPING OF ACOUSTIC SOURCES –DAMAS– This is a modification to the synopsis entitled [ENTER TITLE AND SOLICITATION NO.] which was posted on [ENTER POSTED DATE]. You are notified that the following changes are made: [ENTER DESCRIPTION […]

NASA JSC Unveils ‘Valkyrie’ DRC Robot, IEEE Spectrum “While NASA’s official position is that Valkyrie is a genderless humanoid (as is Robonaut), the robot does have some features that we would call unmistakably female. For example, there’s the name of the robot. “Valkyrie” (the roboticists call it “Val” for short) refers to the female figures in Norse mythology who decided which warriors fought valiantly enough in battle to be taken […]

NASA Makes the Grade on the SBA Procurement Scorecard, NASA “NASA has achieved an “A” on the fiscal year 2012 (FY12) Small Business Administration (SBA) Procurement Scorecard. During the past six years, NASA’s demonstrated commitment to the agency’s small business program has raised the agency’s overall grade from an “F” to an “A” after receiving a grade of “C” in FY09 and FY10 and a grade of “B” in FY11. […]

Final Report – IG-13-016 – NASA’s Management of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and ISS Commercial Resupply Contracts, NASA OIG “The OIG review found that despite an almost 3-year delay in development, SpaceX completed its demonstration flights and two resupply missions to the ISS. Although each experienced some anomalies, none was serious enough to substantially impact the missions.” “Similar to SpaceX, Orbital has experienced delays in its development program and these […]

NASA JSC Solicitation: Human Health and Performance Organizational Conflicts of Interest “NASA/JSC is requesting information from industry regarding potential organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) arising from the Human Health and Performance Contract (HHPC). The nature of the work anticipated under HHPC may create a situation, where there could be a potential for an OCI as currently described in FAR Subpart 9.5. “

NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships – Fall 2012 Fellowship Grant “Point of Contact Name: Claudia M Meyer Title: NASA Space Technology Research Grants Program Exec Phone: 000-000-0000 Fax: 000-000-0000 Email: [email protected]” Keith’s 4 Nov. note: Where is area code 000? You can “contact” Claudia Meyer at GRC (no mention of GRC in the NASA HQ procurement notice) at 216.977.7511 or at [email protected] (via people.nasa.gov). Keith’s 8 Nov update: No one […]

NASA MSFC RFI: Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion Demonstration Mission “NASA MSFC is seeking a partner capable of providing a spacecraft bus as a part of a technology development proposal team. Responses to this RFI will provide information necessary for the selection of spacecraft providing partners for the proposal team in late Summer/early Fall 2010. This RFI seeks input from vendors with experience and facilities for designing, fabricating, and integrating Low Earth […]

NASA JSC Solicitation Notice: Open Innovation Support Services “NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC) has a requirement for an Open Innovation Service Provider with an extensive external network that can be used to introduce collaboration opportunities to the public. Specifically, NASA JSC is looking for an offeror that supports a network of experts that can facilitate solutions to a vast array of issues and challenges facing the future of human health and […]

NASA JSC Solicitation Notice: Open Innovation Support Services “NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC) has a requirement for an Open Innovation Service Provider with an extensive external network that can be used to introduce collaboration opportunities to the public. Specifically, NASA JSC is looking for an offeror that supports a network of experts that can facilitate solutions to a vast array of issues and challenges facing the future of human health and […]

Keith’s 30 June update: This RFI has been cancelled. Funny how these things happen, eh? NASA JSC Solicitation: Request for Information on Human Rated Centrifuge Capabilities “NASA/JSC is hereby soliciting information about potential sources for use of human rated centrifuges that can simulate the Orion spacecraft ascent and entry accelertation environment. Specific information solicited is: The accelerations levels that can be achieved and sustained. The change in acceleration levels (jerk) […]

House Panel Raises Conflict of Interest Concern at NASA, Congressional Quarterly “The House Science Committee is taking aim at NASA over a recent contract award that its chairman says wasnt scrutinized enough for possible conflicts of interest. The contract in question, worth $1.2 billion over five years, is for managing and operating NASAs system of space-to-ground receivers and transmitters that allow the agency to communicate with its spacecraft, including astronauts […]

NASA JSC Solicitation: Sources sought for the SEA – Strategic Education Alliance Cooperative Agreement“Posted Date: Dec 08, 2006 … All responses shall be submitted to Kirby Condron no later than December 20, 2006 at 3:00 CST. In providing your response please reference SEA-SSS.” Editor’s note: Notice the turnaround time: 12 calendar/8 working days – and the time of year. Either JSC already knows who they will fund – or they […]

Editor’s note: If you go to this page you will see that APL is now listed as a NASA Center – not only at the top of the page – but also along with the award notices listed below. It would certainly seem that NASA sprouted another field center overnight (with a contract award amount of $750,000,000 for the 5 year base period and an option for and extensive of […]

GSA chief wants to end NASA contract, AP“The head of the U.S. General Services Administration has taken the unusual step of asking the White House to deny NASA’s request to extend a multibillion-dollar government-wide information technology contract. A $4 billion space agency contract for buying computers and other IT products from IBM Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Unisys Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and CDW Corp., among others, is scheduled to end next […]

Audit of NASA’s Use of Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Services in Managing NASA Contracts. Quality Control Review Report on Headquarters Exchange Financial Statements for Fiscal Years Ended in September 30, 2003, and September 30, 2004. Addendum: Memorandum with Management Comments provided in response to the 23 Aug 2006 Final Memorandum on NASA’s Acquisition Approach Regarding Requirements for Certain Engineering Software Tools to Support NASA Programs.

New Grant System Excludes Mac Users – Electronic Forms Compatible Only With Microsoft, Washington Post“The new “Grants.gov” system, under development at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, aims to replace paper applications with electronic forms. It is being phased in at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies. All 26 grant-giving agencies are supposed to have their application processes fully […]

“NASA appreciates the thoughtful responses and questions submitted during the early phase of this RFI. It is important to keep in mind the purpose of this RFI, to gather ideas on what alternative management models might be feasible for NASA’s field centers. There is not just one way to organize ourselves to accomplish the exploration strategy, hence we are gathering and studying multiple ideas. We have answered the questions we […]