WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a protest from a company over a contract that is part of the Office of Space Commerce’s space traffic coordination system.
In a decision publicly released March 26, the GAO rejected a protest by Kayhan Space regarding a contract that the office awarded to Slingshot Aerospace in November 2024 for the “presentation layer,” or web interface, for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS).
Kayhan protested the contract on several grounds. They included claims that the office “unreasonably and unequally evaluated proposals” regarding prior experience and technical capabilities, ambiguity about the requirement for past performance in the proposals and unbalanced pricing in Slingshot’s proposal.
The GAO rejected all those claims. “While we do not address every argument, we have considered them all and find that none provide us with a basis to sustain the protest,” it concluded in its 11-page decision.
The decision also noted that Slingshot’s proposal has higher scores in demonstrating prior experience and in technical capabilities, with the office rating both as “high confidence” versus the “some confidence” score for Kayhan’s proposal. The total evaluated price of Slingshot’s proposal was nearly $14.7 million, significantly less than Kayhan’s price of nearly $18.1 million.
Araz Feyzi, co-founder and chief technology officer of Kayhan Space, told SpaceNews that his company would not pursue the protest. “While the future of TraCSS remains to be seen, we’re proud to already offer a fully deployed solution that’s actively supporting satellite operators today,” he said, noting the company would be rolling out an “important new feature” for its own Satcat product next week.
Office concerns
The protest halted work on the presentation layer contract while the GAO evaluated it. Janice Starzyk, acting director of the Office of Space Commerce, said in January that she was confident that the office could still complete work on this initial phase of TraCSS, including its web interface, by the end of the fiscal year.
However, the office has since been hit by staff reductions as “probationary” employees were laid off in late February. While some have been brought back, including Dmitry Poisik, program manager of TraCSS, there are still questions in industry about the ability of the office to keep development of that system on schedule.
Three Democratic leaders of the House Science Committee released March 26 a letter sent a week earlier to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the layoffs at the Office of Space Commerce. “These irrational and senseless firings, if not reversed, will degrade OSC’s ability to execute its mission, which is essential for the continued growth of America’s burgeoning commercial space sector,” they wrote, citing the office’s work on both TraCSS and commercial remote sensing regulation.
“Delays to the TraCSS project could risk our nation’s ability to lead in space situational awareness and shape the global standards and best practices for spaceflight operations,” the letter stated. “Slowing or thwarting TraCSS progress also stands to hurt an emerging U.S. commercial space situational awareness industry, one that TraCSS itself is leveraging.”
The members asked Lutnick several questions about the firings of the office’s probationary employees and their effect on the schedule for implementing TraCSS. They also asked about any role SpaceX might have played in the decision, citing potential conflicts of interest by SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is also a senior advisor to the president and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
The letter was signed by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), ranking member of the full committee; Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), ranking member of the space subcommittee; and Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio), ranking member of the oversight subcommittee.
