Blue Origin Protests NASA’s Awarding of Moon Lander Contract to SpaceX
Blue Origin, the house rocket firm backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is formally difficult the $2.9-billion (roughly Rs. 21,650 crore) Moon lander contract awarded by NASA to rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Blue Origin stated on Monday it had filed a protest with the federal Government Accountability Office, accusing NASA of transferring the goalposts for contract bidders on the final minute.
NASA early this month awarded SpaceX the contract to build a spaceship to ship astronauts to the moon as early as 2024, selecting Musk’s firm over Blue Origin and protection contractor Dynetics.
The sought-after mission goals to place people again on the moon for the primary time since 1972.
“NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Landing System programme and moved the goalposts at the last minute”, Blue Origin stated in an emailed assertion.
“Their decision eliminates opportunities for competition, significantly narrows the supply base, and not only delays, but also endangers America’s return to the moon. Because of that, we’ve filed a protest with the GAO.”
Musk’s SpaceX bid alone whereas Amazon founder Bezos’s Blue Origin partnered with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper.
The submitting of the 50-page protest by Blue Origin was reported earlier by the New York Times.
© Thomson Reuters 2021
