Contractor teams vying for the latest round of a long-term National Science Foundation contract—worth at least $2 billion to manage site logistics and science support for its huge polar research program in Antarctica—would like to hear from the agency soon about who the winner will be. But many of the contenders would just like to hear from the agency, period.
Sources say NSF has provided bidders with virtually no procurement status update or direction since February, when proposals for the contract were turned in to the agency. NSF wants to have the contract in place by early next year. The contract is to support a research program estimated at $300 million per year over a potential 12.5-year life. Since 1999 the contract has been held by a team led by Raytheon Co., El Segundo, Calif.