NASA on Thursday both delayed its Cargo Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract award and eliminated Boeing [BA] from contention for the program thought to be worth as much as $14 billion.
NASA said on its CRS-2 procurement page that the award is now slated for no later than January 30 to allow additional time for the agency to assess proposals. This is the second time that NASA has postponed its CRS-2 award as it has pushed it back three times since last December.
CRS-2 is the successor to the current CRS program that delivers food and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). Orbital ATK [OA] and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) are the contractors for CRS.
Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Kaplan said Thursday the company was notified of its dismissal in a letter Thursday morning. Boeing’s elimination means SpaceX, Orbital ATK, Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Sierra Nevada (SNC) are the remaining competitors. SpaceX spokesman John Taylor and Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Allison Rakes both declined to comment Thursday on their company’s respective statuses for CRS-2. Lockheed Martin has been reported as having been dismissed from CRS-2 contention.
Orbital ATK spokesman Barry Beneski said the company is still in the running and will continue to respond to any additional NASA information requests. A SNC representative did not respond to a request for comment by press time Thursday.
The guaranteed minimum value for any awarded contract is for six missions.