Big Easy Studios, LLC v. United States
17-879 · cofc · 2026-04-17
Summary
In this Court of Federal Claims contract dispute, Big Easy Studios leased NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility to film movies under a series of short-term Space Act Agreements and claimed NASA had also bound itself to a long-term (ten-year) lease. Granting the government partial summary judgment, the court held that NASA contracting officer Mark York lacked both express and implied actual authority to bind NASA to a long-term lease (leasing authority was vested by statute and regulation in other NASA officials), and that the parties' express short-term Space Act Agreements precluded any implied-in-fact long-term lease covering the same subject matter. The decision underscores that parties contracting with the government, including under Space Act Agreements, bear the risk that the government agent exceeded his actual authority.