SpaceX Files Protest Against Lucy Mission Launch Contract Award to ULA

File photo of ULA Atlas V rocket poised for launch from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Jan. 19, 2018. NASA has selected Atlas V to launch the Lucy probe on the 1st mission to Jupiter's unexplored Trojan asteroids.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 17 February 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – SpaceX has filed a formal protest against NASA’s selection late last month of the United Launch Alliance(ULA) workhorse Atlas V rocket to launch the Lucy planetary science spacecraft on the agency’s first ever mission to Jupiter’s swarm of unexplored Trojan asteroids.

The SpaceX protest was filed with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO on Feb. 11. The GAO has until May 22 to announce a verdict on the protest. 

SpaceX filed its first ever protest with NASA because they claim they can carry out the launch at a significantly cheaper cost compared to the $148 million award to launch competitor ULA, SpaceX told Space UpClose.

“Since SpaceX has started launching missions for NASA, this is the first time the company has challenged one of the Agency’s award decisions,” a SpaceX spokesperson told Space UpClose. 

As currently planned the Lucy mission is targeted to launch in October 2021 on a ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA announced in the contract award on Jan. 31. 

But ULA and SpaceX are in fierce competition for launch contracts of all types and SpaceX clearly felt a prompt protest was in order. 

“SpaceX offered a solution with extraordinarily high confidence of mission success at a price dramatically lower than the award amount, so we believe the decision to pay vastly more to Boeing and Lockheed for the same mission was therefore not in the best interest of the Agency or the American taxpayers,” a SpaceX spokesperson elaborated to Space UpClose.

File photo of SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Credit: Ken Kremer 

The NASA Launch Services Contract award to ULA had specified a total cost of approximately $148.3 million for the Lucy mission launch on Atlas V, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs.

SpaceX proposed to launch Lucy on their Falcon 9 rocket which NASA certified last year as a Category 3 launch vehicle. Category 3 is reserved for NASA’s highest cost and most complex scientific missions. The process of designating launch vehicles as Category 3 is designed by NASA to assure the highest practicable probability of success while providing cost-effective and reliable launch services.

As a result of the protest NASA issued a stop work order on the launch services contract. 

It must be noted that the Lucy mission is on a very tight timeline and must launch in 2021 during a window of opportunity that opens Oct. 16, 2021. Otherwise the science will be degraded.

“With boosts from Earth’s gravity, the spacecraft will embark on a 12-year journey to study primitive asteroids orbiting the Sun in tandem with Jupiter,” said NASA.

During the 4156 day mission Lucy will investigate six Trojan asteroids, which lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit by roughly 60 degrees and one main belt asteroid that “hold vital clues to the history of the Solar System.”

“No other space mission is history has been launched to as many different destinations in independent orbits around the Sun!”

And there is no margin for delay with either the rocket or the spacecraft because the mission must blastoff on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity opening Oct. 16, 2021. 

This artist’s concept depicts the Lucy spacecraft flying past the Trojan asteroid (617) Patroclus and its binary companion Menoetius. Lucy will be the first mission to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids – ancient remnants of the outer solar system trapped in the giant planet’s orbit.  Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab/Adriana Gutierrez 

To date the ULA rockets have been 100% reliable and will soon launch NASA astronauts aboard the Boeing Starliner crew capsule later this year to the International Space Station (ISS).

“We could not be more pleased that NASA has selected ULA to launch this amazing planetary science mission,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and chief executive officer, in a statement. 

“This mission has a once-in-a-lifetime planetary launch window, and Atlas V’s world-leading schedule certainty, coupled with our reliability and performance provided the optimal vehicle for this mission. Our Atlas V rocket has launched 79 times achieving 100 percent mission success, and we look forward to working again with our mission partners to explore our universe.” 

This diagram illustrates Lucy's orbital path. The spacecraft’s path (green) is shown in a frame of reference where Jupiter remains stationary, giving the trajectory its pretzel-like shape. After launch in October 2021, Lucy has two close Earth flybys before encountering its Trojan targets. In the L4 cloud Lucy will fly by (3548) Eurybates (white), (15094) Polymele (pink), (11351) Leucus (red), and (21900) Orus (red) from 2027-2028. After diving past Earth again Lucy will visit the L5 cloud and encounter the (617) Patroclus-Menoetius binary (pink) in 2033. As a bonus, in 2025 on the way to the L4, Lucy flies by a small Main Belt asteroid, (52246) Donaldjohanson (white), named for the discoverer of the Lucy fossil. After flying by the Patroclus-Menoetius binary in 2033, Lucy will continue cycling between the two Trojan clouds every six years.  Credits: Southwest Research Institute

The mission will launch aboard an Atlas V 401 configuration rocket with a 4 meter (13-foot) diameter payload fairing and a single engine Centaur upper stage with no thrust augmentation from first stage solid rocket boosters.

SpaceX counters that noting Falcon 9 has completed 66 missions to date, including the NASA LSP missions Jason-3 and TESS as well as 16 Cargo Dragon missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

In 2019 both SpaceX  and Boeing/ULA are planning unmanned and manned test flights of crew capsules – Crew Dragon and Starliner- that help return human spaceflight capabilities to the United States for the first time since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.

Lucy is a Discovery class mission led by principal investigator Harold "Hal" Levison from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

“Lucy provides us with a unique opportunity,” said Levison, in a Jan. 20 blog post.

“Because the Trojans are remnants of the stuff that formed the outer planets, they are literally the fossils of planet formation. Lucy, like the human fossil for which it is named, will revolutionize the understanding of our origins.”

Lockheed Martin is building the spacecraft as prime contractor. 

“Jupiter's swarms of Trojan asteroids may be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets, and serve as time capsules from the birth of our solar system more than 4 billion years ago. Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans.

The mission takes its name from the fossilized human ancestor (named “Lucy” by her discoverers) whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity's evolution. Lucy will complete a 12-year journey to seven different asteroids.” 

After launching on the Atlas V in Oct 2021, Lucy will carry out two Earth flyby maneuvers  in Oct 2022 and Dec 2024 to set up the asteroid flyby tour.

Here is a detailed outline of the Lucy asteroid flyby tour:

Lucy Mission trojan asteroid tour. Credit: NASA

Southwest Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado is the principal investigator institution for the Lucy Mission and will lead the science investigation. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland will provide overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado will build the spacecraft.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

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Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX Falcon 9 Nusantara Satu launch, USAF GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-16 launch to ISS,  NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, evenings: 

Feb 20/22: “SpaceX Falcon 9 Nusantara Satu launch, Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale