Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Sues NASA Over A Lunar Lander Contract Given To Rival SpaceX
Jeff Bezos' ongoing rivalry with SpaceX is heating up. His aerospace company, Blue Origin, has filed a lawsuit against NASA after the agency awarded a highly coveted contract for a lunar lander to Elon Musk's SpaceX instead.
Blue Origin's federal suit accuses NASA of having been "unlawful and improper" in its evaluation of proposals concerning its human landing system program, SpaceNews reported.
In April, NASA awarded a nearly $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX to collaborate with the agency to design and develop a lunar lander to carry astronauts to the moon — ensuring that SpaceX will likely play a big role in the first lunar landing with humans since 1972.
In July, Blue Origin argued in an open letter that NASA gave SpaceX an unfair advantage during the proposal process. Bezos' company also said by choosing only one company to receive a contract, the space agency made it possible for one firm possibly to "[have] insurmountable leverage over NASA."
Without competition, Blue Origin said, "short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won't serve the national interest."
