NASA today released its rationale behind the decision to award Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts to Boeing and SpaceX. The CCtCap Source Selection Statement is the formal explanation for the contract choice and was not previously released because it was under a protective order and blackout while the Government Accountability Office reviewed a protest Sierra Nevada Corporation filed.
2 thoughts on “NASA Releases CCtCap Source Selection Statement”
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Why didn’t you just kill a chicken and examine its entrails? The upshot is that NASA is fully committed to disposable rockets and capsules; 1960s-era technology for the twenty-first century and, supposedly, to go to Mars. The manned space program continues to waste inordinate amounts of money — all of the past investments in finding ways to lower the cost of getting to orbit as well as the ongoing costs of the expensive launch systems we continue to use. The SLS and Orion are not the means we need to go to Mars and return and the plan to grab a tiny asteroid is ludicrously unambitious and pointless.
I was really hoping that they would show the scoring process. That is how many points were awarded in each category. All they gave was some examples and clues. They had nothing but praise for Boeing, seemingly most impressed with speed of response and being comforted by minimal innovation equals most likely to be on time. Criticized SpaceX for non-rad hardened computers (just like the Space Shuttle) and already proven in the cargo delivery to ISS. Boeing gets extra Business points for “Investment” category that the others weren’t evaluated on. What is that anyway? And given Boeing’s highest price, obviously they have the least personal investment, and have stated that they expect to profit on only NASA business, not counting on any other income to spread costs over.