Space Station:

Resolving Conflict Over Integration Contractor's Role

NSIAD-92-291BR: Published: Sep 10, 1992. Publicly Released: Oct 14, 1992.

Additional Materials:

Contact:

Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
youngc1@gao.gov

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) contract to provide program support, engineering, and integration services for the Space Station Freedom program, focusing on: (1) the working relationship relative to the contractor's integration role; and (2) NASA evaluations of the contractor's performance.

GAO found that: (1) although the contractor was first designated a program support contractor and then an engineering and integration contractor, the contract has always included numerous systems engineering and integration tasks; (2) NASA and the contractor appeared to have similar formal expectations about the contractor's verification role prior to the start of the contract; (3) the later differences in expectations were more about the kind of verification role the contractor was to play; (4) NASA viewed the contractor as being inflexible in accommodating its changing needs, and lowered the contractor's award fees; (5) the contractor believed NASA arbitrarily and abruptly changed the definition of the contractor's integration role, and that it was being evaluated by a new set of criteria prematurely; (6) the contractor took until mid-1992 to fulfill its promise to become a fully operations engineering and integration contractor; and (7) NASA and the contractor agree that no significant barriers to fulfillment of the contract remain.

Jul 11, 2018

Jun 14, 2018

May 1, 2018

Apr 9, 2018

Feb 28, 2018

Jan 17, 2018

Dec 12, 2017

Dec 6, 2017

Oct 19, 2017

Oct 4, 2017

Looking for more? Browse all our products here