Coffman raises concern over Air Force bidding process

Just one company is set to bid on a new Air Force-operated GPS satellite that is set to launch in 2016, which is raising issues for one member of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), who is on the House Armed Services Committee, believes that having only one company bid for the project is problematic. He has requested the Air Force look into its request for proposal process, which was just recently implemented, to find out why there weren’t competing bids submitted.

“I fully support fair and open competition, but holding the bidders to different standards and not considering past performance has essentially stacked the deck,” Coffman said.“It concerns me greatly to learn that the Air Force has reconfigured its new [request for proposal] process in a way that blocks the competition, innovation and reliability that taxpayers deserve and demand.”

Recently there were reports that the Air Force restricted its bidding process, which made it unfair.

“Our space launch program has critical national security implications and we need to ensure the very best technology is being utilized to complete the mission,” Coffman said. “I’m calling on the Air Force to immediately review this process. It’s not in the taxpayers’ interest to tilt the field towards a single launch provider on such an important national security mission."