New Ombudsman Named for CCDev 2 Competition

A new ombudsman has been named for NASA’s recently completed Commercial Crew Development 2 (CCDev 2) competition.

NASA posted a May 19 notice in the Federal Register that NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Richard Keegan will serve as the CCDev 2 ombudsman, making him — among other duties — the primary point of contact for any companies that might wish to protest the Space Act Agreements the agency awarded April 18 to Boeing, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Space Systems and Space Exploration Technologies.

“NASA assigned a new ombudsman for the CCDev2 activity because the prior ombudsman listed in the CCDev2 competition announcement, Mr. Chris Jedrey, retired,” NASA spokesman Michael Braukus told Space News in a May 26 email. “The CCDev2 Space Act Agreement competition is not a procurement, therefore it was determined that the replacement Ombudsman should be outside the procurement chain. Mr. Keegan was determined to be an excellent choice, not because he is the Associate Deputy Administrator, but because he has the breadth of experience needed to perform the role of Ombudsman for Space Act Agreement concerns.”