industry for recurring crewed lunar landing services.” “There will be forthcoming opportunities for companies to partner with NASA in establishing a long-term human presence at the Moon,” the statement said, “including a call in 2022 to U.S. But in its statement Thursday, the space agency indicated that it’s sticking with its plans to work solely with SpaceX for now, though Blue Origin may have a chance to compete for future contracts to build an astronaut-worthy lunar lander.
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that matter. More recently, the United States Senate has indicated it wants NASA to expand the HLS program to include two contractors. SpaceX did not return a request for comment, however Musk posted a meme on Twitter featuring Sylvester Stallone’s “Judge Dredd”character from the 1995 action film Judge Dredd, declaring “you have been judged.” Musk personally shot back on Twitter, posting that if “lobbying & lawyers could get u to orbit, Bezos would be on Pluto ” “Immensely complex and high risk,” the infographic’s headline blared.
#JUDGE RELEASES REDACTED LUNAR LANDER LAWSUIT FULL#
Blue Origin put out an infographic on social media that attempted to paint SpaceX’s plans - which involve using multiple launches to get Starship vehicles and tankers full of fuel into orbit - as outlandish, straying too far from technology that has already been proven. “Without competition, NASA’s short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won’t serve the national interest.”īut Nelson was apparently unswayed, and then Blue Origin escalated the standoff again by filing the lawsuit in federal claims court about two months ago. “Without competition, a short time into the contract, NASA will find itself with limited options as it attempts to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes, and cost overruns,” Bezos’ lettter reads. That happened despite an attempt by Bezos to personally intervene by sending an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in which he pledged to waive $2 billion of development costs if doing so would get Blue Origin’s hat back in the ring. NASA has repeatedly said cost was a large motivating factor in its decision to choose SpaceX as the sole awardee for the HLS program.īlue Origin first attempted to fight the decision with the Government Accountability Office but was shot down in July. Blue Origin’s offer came in at $6 billion. SpaceX’s bid was by far the cheapest at $3 billion. In April the space agency chose to go with only one contractor, SpaceX, for HLS.
Though Blue Origin did initially receive some development money from NASA, the current drama was kicked off whenCongress allotted NASA about two billion dollars less for HLS than the $3.4 billion it had requested.
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