NASA quietly considers alternatives to Orion spacecraft

Ars Technica : A recent NASA document hints that the agency is frustrated with the progress of Orion, the crew-carrying spacecraft under development with primary contractor Lockheed Martin. In September NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI) to extend the contract for Orion capsules beyond Exploration Mission-2, the first crewed flight, which is scheduled for the early 2020s. The RFI also appears to open the door for a competitor to step in, either to replace Orion with another capsule or to take over construction of future capsules. NASA may have chosen that approach because of dissatisfaction over the delays and cost increases for Orion. Only one uncrewed launch has taken place—in 2014, the original target year for the first crewed launch. At the very least, the RFI appears designed to force Lockheed Martin to lower its bid for building future Orion capsules. The timing of the RFI also suggests that NASA wants more options going forward because the new presidential administration might have different priorities.