Lawsuit before NASA over SpaceX problem

At the end of July 2021, the GAO (Government Accountability Office) defined NASA’s Choice to Assign SpaceX the lunar lander project “Reasonable and consistent with applicable procurement law, regulation and advertising terms“. Therefore, the “tirade” between Blue Origin and SpaceX seemed to be over, but it is not quite..

In fact, as reported by The edge ed Engadget, Jeff Bezos and company have decided to sue NASA. We recall that in the past “the opposition” of Blue Origin had played a fundamental role in suspension of SpaceX contract, a deal worth a whopping 2.89 billion dollars. Jeff Bezos’ company believes that assigning Elon Musk and associates the task of building the lunar lander linked to the Artemis program, which should bring man back to the moon in 2024, it could delay or even “jeopardize” the result.

The context is a bit intricate: the return to the Moon in 2024 for some is already starting to be unlikely and this decision of Blue Origin could lengthen the time even more (or at least that’s the fear). In any event, in the lawsuit, filed in the US Court of Federal Claims, Jeff Bezos’s company describes NASA’s choice as “Illegal and improper evaluation of the proposals submitted in the Moon competition.“. A spokesperson for Blue Origin reiterated:”We strongly believe that the issues identified in this acquisition and its results must be discussed to restore equity, create competition, and ensure a safe return to the Moon for America.“.

Recall that NASA initially considered signing two different contracts, but then the lack of funds led to the choice of a single agreement with SpaceX. Among the accusations made by Blue Origin, is the one related to the alleged possibility granted by NASA to SpaceX of change your proposal. This would not have been allowed on Blue Origin.

In any case, the election of Jeff Bezos and associates comes a few days after the statements of Elon Musk, who also as reported by Business Insider I affirm that SpaceX’s lunar lander will be ready by 2024. At this point, we just have to stop and watch.