![]() ![]() NASA had sought proposals for a spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the lunar surface under its Artemis program to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. government, SpaceX, headed by Tesla Inc's CEO Musk, joined the proceedings as an intervener defendant shortly after the suit was filed. The fixed-price contract is a major vote of confidence. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in July sided with the NASA over its decision to pick a single lunar lander provider, rejecting Blue Origin's protest.Īlthough the Blue Origin complaint was directed at the U.S. SpaceX secured a 2.89 billion NASA contract to build spacecraft that will land astronauts on the moon for the first time in five decades. NASA said the pause was part of an agreement among the parties to expedite the litigation schedule, which culminated in Thursday's ruling. "We are fully engaged with NASA to mature sustainable lander designs, conduct a wide variety of technology risk reductions, and provide Commercial Lunar Payload Services," the spokesman said in a statement.īlue Origin did not immediately respond to a question on whether it would appeal the ruling.Ī few days after the suit was filed, NASA halted work on the lunar lander contract through Nov. "With our partners, we will go to the moon and stay to enable science investigations, develop new technology, and create high-paying jobs for the greater good and in preparation to send astronauts to Mars."Įmail Meghan Bartels at or follow her on Twitter Follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.Responding to the judge's decision, a Blue Origin spokesperson said the issues the company raised in the lawsuit still must be addressed, and cited its other ongoing work with the U.S. Blue Origin is suing NASA over a lunar lander contract awarded to. "NASA is committed to Artemis and to maintaining the nation’s global leadership in space exploration," agency officials wrote in the statement. Jeff Bezos discusses his brief space flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket at a July 20 news conference in Van Horn, Texas. But throughout the presidential transition and the confirmation of Biden's selection for NASA administrator, former Florida senator Bill Nelson, the agency has continued to say that it would attempt to meet the ambitious date, provided Congress funded the program sufficiently. President Donald Trump's administration established the 2024 deadline, and when President Joe Biden took office, many wondered whether the new administration would delay the program. Meanwhile, NASA's Office of Inspector General released a report arguing that NASA's lunar spacesuits could not be ready before April 2025. ![]() Other vital pieces of the program have also faced delays: NASA's SLS rocket's crucial green-run test series ran slow and the final installment required two attempts. The agency's Artemis schedule was always ambitious less than a year after its announcement, COVID-19 swept the globe, forcing the government and companies alike to halt on-site work. The suit marks another delay in a process that NASA presumably hoped would unfold smoothly. A lunar lander or Moon lander is a spacecraft designed to land on the surface of the Moon. Two weeks later, Blue Origin brought the issue to the Court of Federal Claims. Apollo Apollo Lunar Module-5 Eagle as seen from CSM-107 Columbia. Blue Origin and Dynetics promptly asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review NASA's decision, forcing a pause on the project that office on July 30 announced that it would let the selection stand. So NASA only awarded one contract, and only to SpaceX, which had made the smallest bid and planned to adapt its already-in-the-works Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster for the job. Many expected NASA would select two, as it did for the space station contracts meanwhile, Congress allotted significantly less money for the program than NASA had requested, $850 million compared to more than $3 billion. The U.S Federal Court of Claims released the redacted version of the lawsuit filed in August by Jeff Bezos Blue Origin against NASA and Elon Musks SpaceX. Three groups submitted proposals to fill that role: SpaceX, Dynetics and a so-called National Team led by Blue Origin. While astronauts will launch on the agency's own Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket and Orion spacecraft, NASA wanted to use a commercial partner to ferry them to the lunar surface. NASA's Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon is built on partnerships with American businesses as the agency continues the model it established with its commercial cargo and crew programs affiliated with the International Space Station. ![]()
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