More money's available for prizes now, it would seem... But how much would anyone like to bet that NASA won't instead try to plow this money back into its parasitic bureaucracy?

http://www.space.com/spacenews/americas/demo_062304.html

NASA Rescinds Kistler Flight Demo Award

By BRIAN BERGER
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 03:48 pm ET, 23 June 2004

WASHINGTON - NASA nixed a deal with Kistler Aerospace Corp. for flight test
data from the company's planned K-1 reusable rocket after being informed by
the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) that the award likely would not be
permitted to stand.
The $227.4 million contract was the subject of a bid protest filed by
upstart rocket company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of El
Segundo, Calif.
Kistler issued a statement June 23 saying NASA informed the company it was
withdrawing the award due to GAO concerns about Kistler's financial
reorganization. The company, based in Kirkland, Wash., filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection last July.
NASA agreed in February to pay for K-1 flight data by exercising a contract
Kistler won in 2001 under the now defunct Space Launch Initiative. NASA
officials said at the time that they needed the data to support future
decisions about delivering cargo to the international space station using
vehicles other than the space shuttle.
NASA's decision not to seek competing bids for the flight data drew a
protest from SpaceX, a Kistler rival developing a low-cost partly reusable
rocket. The GAO agreed to consider the protest and issue a ruling by July 9.
Daniel Gordon, the GAO's associate general counsel for procurement law and
head of its bid protest unit, told Space News that the GAO attorney handling
the protest informed NASA, Kistler and SpaceX attorneys in a June 17
conference call that NASA stood to lose the protest. NASA subsequently
withdrew the award, he said.
"When we say there is a very good chance an agency is going to lose, the
agencies frequently - in fact almost always - take action to end the
protest, which is what NASA did here," Gordon said.
Gordon said NASA contracting officials informed his office in writing June
22 that the agency had withdrawn the Kistler award. He the GAO would now
close the case without issuing a formal ruling on the protest.
Washington sources said it is not yet clear what NASA will do now that it
has withdrawn the Kistler award. These sources said NASA could seek flight
data through an open competition or simply move ahead with a bid
solicitation for space station resupply services.
SpaceX President Elon Musk said June 23 he was pleased with the turn of
events but is waiting to see what NASA does now.
Glenn Mahone, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's spokesman, was not
immediately available for comment.
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