NASA poised for second shot at $1.2B MSOC award

NASA will try a second time in mid-December at an award of a potential $1.2 billion technical and professional services contract.

The space agency has confirmed such in an update to the Mission Systems Operations Contract schedule posted before the Thanksgiving holiday. Phase-in would commence in early January of next year with a contract start date in early March, NASA says.

A pair of protests from Engility Corp. -- through the TASC unit -- and Leidos have apparently convinced NASA it should redo the award.

Engility and Leidos filed their protests on July 24 and July 28 respectively after the agency first awarded the MSOC contract to Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies.

Those protests halted SGT’s ability to start the contract, its largest ever dollar-wise and a milestone win against two larger competitors.

But everyone will evidently get a second look at the contract as the Government Accountability Office dismissed all protests Aug. 14. NASA did not request new proposals this time around.

In the meantime, Leidos and fellow incumbent Raytheon have continued work under the current contract that supports programs such as the International Space Station, Orion, Space Launch System and the Commercial Crew Program.

The MSOC contract covers technical and administrative services in areas such as IT, cybersecurity, ground system communications networks, hardware, software and facility management.

Leidos inherited its place on the contract through its 2016 merger with the former Lockheed Martin IT business.