The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on July 16 denied Ball Aerospace’s [BLL] bid protest of NASA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) contract award to Orbital ATK [OA] in March.
GAO Managing Associate General Counsel for Procurement Law Ralph White said in a statement the details of Ball’s challenges, and GAO’s decision resolving them, are covered under a protective order. GAO has asked the parties to identify information that cannot be publically released so that it may issue a public version of the decision.
White said the delivery order awarded to Orbital ATK was valued at approximately $470 million while Ball’s price for the spacecraft was significantly higher. White said Ball argued that Orbital ATK’s lower-price, but lower-rated proposal, should not have been selected because it violated the terms of the solicitation and because, in Ball’s view, the evaluation of proposals was unreasonable.
Ball argued in April that though Orbital ATK’s total price, plus the options for JPSS-2 and JPSS-4, was lower, Ball’s JPSS-2 proposal was over $25 million less than Orbital ATK’s. Ball argued that if the option for JPSS-3 was included, the company’s overall price was lower.
Ball argued only JPSS-2 is authorized and appropriated and the likelihood of sticking with the same design for JPSS-4 in 14 years is very uncertain as technology continues to change. Ball is the incumbent for JPSS-1.
NASA in March awarded Orbital ATK a $253 million contract for JPSS-2, with a $130 million option for JPSS-3 and an $87 million option for JPSS-4. The competition, GAO said, was open to contractors holding Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition (RAPID III) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts, provided the contractor had participated in a JPSS spacecraft accommodation study.
GAO regulations allow companies to ask for bid protest decision reconsideration within 10 days. Otherwise, they can pursue legal remedies in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Ball spokeswoman Roz Brown said July 16 the company has no present intention to ask GAO for reconsideration, but will consider the question after receiving and reviewing the public version of the decision. Brown said Ball, in the meantime, is on track to meet its commitments on JPSS-1, which she said is performing on time and on schedule.
Orbital ATK spokesman Barry Beneski on July 16 deferred comment to NASA. When asked if NASA lifted its stop work order issued issued to Orbital ATK on April 8, NASA spokeswoman Karen Northon declined to comment, citing a protective order.
JPSS is a joint NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program.