NASA’s Orion Program Plagued by Excessively Generous Contractor Bonuses; Ernst Calls for Reform

A model of the Orion capsule, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 9, 2019. Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images

NASA officials give such generous and unearned performance bonuses on the Orion space capsule development program that contractor ratings are all but meaningless, according to the agency’s inspector general (IG).

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) believes the IG report points to the continuing need for a reform proposal she introduced in the Senate, the “Bogus Bonus Ban Act of 2019.”