NASA Opening Competition For Space Taxi Development

(FLORIDA TODAY) -- NASA in February plans to open competition for a third round of funding to further development of private spacecraft that could taxi astronauts to the International Space Station later this decade.

The request for proposals will reflect the revised contracting strategy announced in December. NASA changed its approach to account for the $406 million its Commercial Crew Program received this year - less than half what NASA requested from Congress.

The limited funding and uncertain outlook for future years raised the likelihood that only one company might emerge to provide a viable crew transportation service.

That outcome would have undermined program goals to reduce costs and spur a market for flights of non-NASA crews.

"The main premise of (NASA's) procurement approach to control costs - competition - may no longer be viable," the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported last month.

NASA agreed, scrapping its original plan to award 21-month contracts this summer that hoped to complete designs for at least two crew commercial systems.

Instead, in July or August, the program will sign a new set of Space Act Agreements that agree to pay multiple companies incrementally as they meet technical milestones over a still undetermined period of time.

Such agreements guided two previous rounds of funding totaling $365 million, including $316 million split among four companies last year.

In reverting back to them, NASA sacrificed some technical control in an effort to keep more players in the game longer.

The fixed-price contracts that were discarded would have allowed NASA to dictate some spacecraft design requirements to ensure they met safety standards.

But Space Act Agreements legally require a more hands-off approach. NASA can only offer advice, increasing the risk that companies may pursue designs that need adjustment later, causing delays to flights now projected to begin in 2017.

Offsetting that risk, the requirements are now available for all to refer to, and companies know the standards they must meet if they hope to win future contracts.

Some commercial space advocates argued all along that contracts governed by complex federal regulations were a less efficient and innovative way to proceed with the development effort, and should be avoided until NASA was ready to buy seats on flights.

During a Dec. 20 industry forum at Kennedy Space Center, representatives from two competitors applauded NASA for its quick "pivot" in strategy.

Ed Mango, manager of the commercial crew program based at KSC, said the revised approach provided the flexibility necessary to maintain competition amid the budget uncertainty.

"We have to make progress toward a commercial (crew) capability, and we wanted to do that as soon as we possibly can," he said.

A follow-up meeting is planned in February, around the same time the first commercial cargo vehicle is expected to visit the space station.

Also that month, the agency will outline its budget request for 2013, shedding more light on the funding levels anticipated for the new crew vehicles. Until they are ready, NASA must buy rides to the station from Russia.