The subsidiary of Blue Origin is suing the federal government over NASA’s decision to give SpaceX a sole lunar lander contract
Jeff Bezos’ space company has escalated its battle to build a lunar lander for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, suing the federal government over the agency’s decision to outsource Elon Musk’s sole contract to SpaceX.
A subsidiary of Blue Origin LLC sued the government in federal court on Friday over the country, court records show. In a related filing, the company said the lawsuit is in protest of NASA’s decision regarding the lander, which it deemed inappropriate. Blue Origin said it filed the lawsuit under lock and key to protect sensitive information.
Last April, NASA Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the formal name of SpaceX, placed a $ 2.9 billion contract to develop a vehicle that would land astronauts on the moon as part of its Artemis program. Blue Origin and Dynetics, a unit of Leidos Holdings Inc., had also applied to develop a moon lander for the agency, but could not win part of the contract.
On Monday, a spokesman for Blue Origin said the company filed the lawsuit to address alleged flaws in NASA’s order for the lunar lander. The Verge previously reported on the lawsuit.
The agency has stated in the past that it opted for SpaceX partly for budget reasons and was only allowed to select a single provider for the vehicle. The agency has also stated that their decision to award the contract to SpaceX was a first, rather than the last, step in their plans to commission companies to provide lunar landing services.
Mr. Bezos tried to convince NASA to allow Blue Origin to participate in the lunar lander program. Late last month, in a letter to agency administrator Bill Nelson, he offered to waive up to $ 2 billion in fees and other benefits.
The company had also protested NASA’s decision to the U.S. government accountability office, but GAO said the agency did not violate any procurement law or regulation by choosing to only contract the contract with SpaceX.
Blue Origin has also taken its case outside of court on behalf of the country. The company posted a graphic on its website that criticizes the SpaceX lunar lander and suggests that its exit hatch is too high above the lunar surface.
That criticism drew a response from Mr Musk, who said in a tweet that if « lobbying & lawyers » could get you into orbit, Mr Bezos would have reached Pluto. A Blue Origin spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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