It seems that plans to build the new age of space taxis just hit a huge setback. According to reports from Canada Journal, NASA has put a hold on their plans to build space ferries, which would allow a way to transport astronauts directly to the International Space Station. Originally, it seemed that everything was going smooth, with Boeing and SpaceX being in charge of manufacturing the new age space taxis. However, plans have been stopped due to a problem that has come from another company: Sierra Nevada.

Sierra Nevada was another company in the running to get a piece of the $6.8 billion CCP contacts that would come with manufacturing the taxis. These contracts would cover a minimum of two separate flights and a maximum of four while also covering testing, development and operational flights. With that much money being spent it is easy to see why Sierra Nevada sought the contract. However, they were left out of the final dealings, and the contract went to Boeing and SpaceX. Shortly after, NASA was forced to have those companies halt production under Sierra Nevada’s protest.

According to reports, Sierra Nevada is protesting NASA’s decision on the grounds that there were too many inconsistencies in the company choosing process. As such, they want another evaluation and a “further detailed review of the submitted proposals”. NASA has not responded to the protest, nor have they released why Sierra Nevada was left out of the final dealings.

The GAO’s (Government Accountability Office) decision, which could come in as little as a couple weeks, has to be resolved by January 5th. If they rule in favor of NASA production will continue as planned. However, if they rule in favor of Sierra Nevada, NASA will have to either change it’s final decision or re-compete the contracts. The longer the protests go, the longer production is stalled, which means NASA will try to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.