§2271a Space Contractor Responsibility Watch List

Summary

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration must keep a watch list of contractors who have shown poor performance on space work. A contractor can be added if there is proof of bad contract performance or award fee scores under 50 percent, weak management or financial controls, weak security (including problems tied to foreign ownership, control, or influence), or other serious failures that meaningfully hurt the contractor’s ability to do the work. The Assistant Secretary must have written rules for putting someone on the list. Those rules must give the contractor notice and a chance to reply, record the reasons in writing, and allow removal if the contractor fixes the problems and asks to be taken off the list. If a contractor is on the watch list, the Assistant Secretary generally may not seek offers from them, award them space contracts, approve subcontracts, or start grants or other transactions with them unless there is a written finding of a compelling reason. When that rare written finding is made, the Assistant Secretary must notify the congressional defense committees and the Interagency Committee on Debarment and Suspension within 10 days. The Assistant Secretary can only delegate the placement or exemption decisions to the Air Force suspension and debarment official on a case-by-case basis and must tell the congressional defense committees within 7 days. Being on the watch list is not a punishment and does not replace suspension or debarment. Definitions: contract — includes grants, cooperative agreements, or other transactions; contractor — any person or company that enters into a contract; watch list — the list the Assistant Secretary keeps.