Jeff Bezos is dismissed with lawsuit over NASA contract
The Starship prototypes SN10 and SN9. (Photo: SpaceX)
SpaceX remains in possession of the NASA contract to build the first commercial lunar module. A complaint from Jeff Bezos on behalf of his company Blue Origin was denied.
It’s about a lot of money and a lot of prestige. Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX prevailed against rival Blue Origin from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in a NASA tender for the construction of the first commercial lunar module. Bezos had then filed an objection to the decision with the US audit office GOA (Government Accountability Office). The GOA has now rejected this complaint.
Contents
GOA: Nasa decision in favor of SpaceX was correct
In the decision, NASA did not violate any regulations, found the GOA. Rather, SpaceX has prevailed with by far the cheapest and at the same time the most extensive range. Because the offers of the competition from Blue Origin and the company Dynetics would have cost Nasa significantly more, the US space agency, unlike previously announced, decided against bringing another company on board. According to the GOA, it was only the lack of funds that was responsible for this – and that means that the decision is okay.
Blue Origin boss Bezos had recently even tried to change NASA’s mind with a lucrative deal. His company will assume costs of up to two billion dollars for the development and manufacture of the moon landing device in the next two years. In return, Blue Origin should be given the opportunity to compete against SpaceX again, like Golem writes. Bezos had offered Nasa boss Bill Nelson this in an open letter, but at least received no answer in public.
SpaceX to build lunar module for 3 billion
Nasa’s job is lucrative. SpaceX will receive $ 2.94 billion for the construction of the lunar module as part of NASA’s Artemis mission, according to GOA. The proposal submitted by Blue Origin is said to have had twice the volume. With the moon landing planned for 2024 at the earliest, four astronauts are to be brought into orbit of the moon by Orion spaceship. Two of them will then transfer to SpaceX’s lunar module for landing on Earth’s satellite. SpaceX is likely to rely on a Starship rocket with a landing function – one of the main reasons why its offer was significantly cheaper than that of the competition.
