NOAA’s Environmental Data Contractor is Unqualified, Suit Says

March 27, 2026, 2:04 PM UTC

A cybersecurity business says the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made irrational contract awards to its former partner under scientific and environmental data collection procurements worth up to $16 billion.

Contract awards to @Orchard LLC were improper, International Business Sales and Services Corp. said, because the agency didn’t consider whether Orchard had sufficient capacity or capability to perform, IBSS told the US Court of Federal Claims in a complaint made public Thursday.

IBSS wants the court to permanently enjoin Orchard’s contracts; Orchard is IBSS’s former partner in the now-dissolved joint venture, 1stMission LLC, the complaint says.

The protest involves ...

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