Blue Origin, led by Jeff Bezos, has sued the US government over NASA’s decision to grant Elon Musk’s SpaceX a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract. Blue Origin’s action, which was filed in the United States Court of Federal Claims on Friday, is a “effort to correct the deficiencies in the procurement process revealed in NASA’s Human Landing System,” according to the company.
“The shortcomings uncovered in this procurement and its outcomes must be rectified to restore justice, establish competition, and secure a safe return to the Moon for America,” the statement continued. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) rejected Blue Origin’s objection last month, siding with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in its choice to choose a single lunar lander supplier. The lawsuit filed by Blue Origin is still under seal. NASA has until Oct. 12 to respond to the challenge.
NASA was forced to issue numerous grants, according to Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics. Blue Origin, the rocket business owned by Amazon.com Inc’s founder, billionaire Jeff Bezos, had stated that it remained confident that NASA’s decision had “fundamental flaws” that the GAO was unable to rectify “due to their restricted jurisdiction.”Blue Origin stated that it will continue to push for two instant suppliers because it believes this is the best answer. Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Under NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972, the agency requested designs for a spacecraft that would transport astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA awarded SpaceX a contract in April to build such a spacecraft by 2024.
NASA, according to Blue Origin, gave SpaceX an unfair edge by allowing it to alter its pricing.
