The crux of Blue Origin's argument is that SpaceX's plan does not require it to conduct flight-readiness reviews for uncrewed Starship launches before its moon landing. In it, the company argues that SpaceX's proposal didn't meet NASA's requirements, and that "NASA inexplicably disregarded key flight safety requirements for only SpaceX," a decision the company alleges was "arbitrary, capricious, and irrational." The US Federal Court released a redacted version of Blue Origin's lawsuit on Wednesday. SpaceX's $2.9 billion bid was much lower than the prices its competitors offered, according to NASA's selection statement. NASA was expected to pick two winners, but it chose only SpaceX for the time being. Two of the astronauts would move to the SpaceX vehicle, which would then descend to the lunar surface to give the astronaut pair a week of exploring.īut NASA's administrator, Bill Nelson, admitted in a press conference on Tuesday that he can no longer say when that will all happen.īlue Origin and another aerospace company, Dynetics, were finalists for the moon-lander contract. The mission plan calls for NASA to launch astronauts aboard its own Orion spaceship, which would then rendezvous with Starship in lunar orbit. NASA's Artemis program aims to use SpaceX's lander, a version of its Starship megarocket, to put boots on the moon in 2024. The suit alleges that SpaceX's proposal did not meet NASA's requirements, and that the decision therefore violates "fundamental tenets" of government-contract procurement law. The rocket company, founded by Jeff Bezos, sued NASA last month after the agency decided to award a contract to SpaceX, not Blue Origin, to build the next moon lander for astronauts. NASA is trying to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time since 1972, but its leader says Blue Origin might be getting in the way. NASA’s work with SpaceX on the HLS contract was halted during the lawsuit but is scheduled to resume on Monday.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. The court’s opinion is currently sealed, as the case contains information proprietary to the companies, but the parties were ordered by Hertling to deliver proposed redactions by Nov. Hertling’s ruling dismissed Blue Origin’s claims. Government Accountability Office, but the GAO in late July denied the company’s appeal - leading Bezos’ space company to escalate its legal action.Ī redacted version of Blue Origin’s lawsuit revealed the company’s complaint focused on proving that NASA wrongly awarded the contract to only SpaceX and “disregarded key flight safety requirements” in the process. ![]() SpaceX was competing with Blue Origin and Dynetics for what was expected to be two contracts, before NASA only awarded a single contract due to a lower-than-expected allocation for the program from Congress.īlue Origin quickly protested the decision with the U.S. Worth $2.9 billion, the SpaceX contract will see the company use its Starship rocket to deliver astronauts to the moon’s surface for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. NASA in April awarded SpaceX with the sole contract for the agency’s Human Landing System program under a competitive process. ![]() Musk, in a tweet responding to CNBC’s report on the ruling, posted a photo from the 1995 movie “Judge Dredd.” NASA and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling. Blue Origin remains deeply committed to the success of the Artemis program,” the company said. “Returning astronauts safely to the Moon through NASA’s public-private partnership model requires an unprejudiced procurement process alongside sound policy that incorporates redundant systems and promotes competition.
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