Thornton, Colo.-based Space Imaging is protesting the $500 million contract for commercial remote sensing imagery recently awarded to Dulles, Va.-based Orbimage by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

The Sept. 30 award turned Space Imaging into a two-time loser. The company previously had been the runner-up in another bidding contest for an earlier NextView award that was won by rival DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo. The protest, filed by New SI, the Space Imaging unit that bid on NextView, was submitted to the General Accounting Office Oct. 20.

New SI asked the GAO to evaluate the bidding process and to determine the NGA decision was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.” In addition, New SI asked that the GAO recommend the NGA terminate the award to Orbimage and reopen the procurement. For further details about this protest, please see the next issue of Satellite News’ Government Procurement Report. For more information on subscribing to Access Intelligence’s satellite industry publications, please visit us on the Web at https://www.satellitetoday.com. To sign up for a free trial subscription to Satellite News, go to http://www.telecomweb.com/cgi/catalog/trial?SN.