Blue Origin files a case against NASA after it gave the contract only to SpaceX of Elon Musk to create a new moon lander. Firms wanting a foothold in space travel will have to win such contracts to be the first corporations to commercialize space.
These complaints attempt to make the space agency scale back on its program to develop a lander that SpaceX seems to have roped in.
Blue Origin does not want to concede anything to the Musk fronted space enterprise, as the one to lead the US to drive into a new age of space travel.
NASA only choose SpaceX for Artemis program
The space company of Jeff Bezos made a lot of noise about awarding the final contract to another company other than it. Its rival has the Human Landing System (HLS) contract for the Artemis program, which was expected to have two firms chosen, not one, reported Space.
Musk's competitor has sent its protest to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), which was snubbed. Blue Origin is now getting serious by filing suit against the National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA) for choosing only one.
SpaceNews says that the suit against the US space agency has charged an unlawful and improper evaluation of proposals given to subcontractors of the HLS program.
Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2021
The firm had the suit filed last Friday, on August 13, via the Court of Federal Claims, which decides protests that have been covered and reviewed by GAO. So far, the details of the Blue Origin case are not public and were given a protective order on August 13.
A spokesperson of the Bezos space firm said to TechCrunch that its suit is in the US Court of Federal Claims to correct the mistakes of the acquisition process in choosing the provider of the off-world lander system. Blue Origin files a case against NASA to keep their chances alive to get the contract if it is possible.
In a statement, one of the reasons stated is how the agency will choose the awardee of the contract based on fairness, equal competition, and a thriving space vehicle to bring astronauts back.
Contract supposed to be awarded to both Blue Origin and SpaceX
Last April, the HLS contract was given by NASA to SpaceX agency that would entail a bid for $2.9 billion, and a variant of the Starship space vehicle will be the vehicle used to transport NASA astronauts.
Under the auspices of Artemis 3, the lunar mission is set to launch in 2024. But it was unexpected when Blue Origin did not win because only one firm was getting the award and not two.
Three companies were competing in the contract, and a third was Dynetics include to the three as choices for providing the spacecraft. Having three is an option to have a third provider for the moon lander, in case.
Sources say the bid was accepted in 2020, with approval of the US senate based on the lesser expense that NASA would have spent for its lunar landing in 2024.
On July 30, the GAO said it has turned down the protests of Blue Origin and Dynetics, with the US space agency preferring the option of SpaceX only. This response was unacceptable to the two other firms involved, but the GAO will publish more on why Blue Origin and Dynetics were turned down on August 10.
Blue Origin files a case against NASA, which said all evaluations were correctly done, with a right to choose only one contractor. But, the Bezos firm will do everything to change the decision to have SpaceX only.
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