Battle of the billionaires: Jeff Bezos' rocket company protests SpaceX's latest NASA contract

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Blue Origin is pushing back on NASA's decision to hand a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX to build the vehicle that will land the next astronauts on the moon.

The dispute centers on NASA's Human Landing System, or HLS, program, which originally aimed to have at least two private-sector companies compete to build the spacecraft that will ferry astronauts to the lunar surface for the space agency's Artemis moon landing missions. But earlier this month, NASA made the surprise announcement that it would move forward with SpaceX as the sole contractor for the project, citing costs as a primary reason for the decision.

Both Blue Origin and Dynetics argued in their complaints, filed with the Government Accountability Office this week, that NASA hadn't properly evaluated their bids, pressing the space agency to reconsider. The government has 100 days — or until August 4, 2021 — to rule on whether the protests have merit.

Blue Origin had proposed working as a"National Team" for the HLS program alongside frequent government contractors such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to design a lunar lander specifically to service the space station, called Gateway, that NASA plans to put in orbit around the moon. Dynetics came in with a similar proposal.

 

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