Update: Jeff Bezos' space company has lost a federal lawsuit against NASA over the decision earlier this year to award a lunar lander contract to SpaceX. The US Court of Federal Claims ruled against Blue Origin, which argued in the August lawsuit that NASA disregarded "key flight safety requirements" when it awarded the $2.9 billion contact to Elon Musk's company, CNBC reports. NASA says it now plans to resume work with SpaceX on the "Human Landing System" as soon as possible. Bezos tweeted that the company is disappointed but will "respect the court's judgment," while Musk again poked fun at Bezos. His tweet featured a photo from the movie Dredd and the words: "You have been judged." Our original story from April 27 follows:
Elon Musk mocked fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos when the Amazon CEO unveiled a moon lander in 2019—and he poked fun again Monday when Bezos' space company, Blue Origin, protested NASA's decision to award a contract to its main rival, Musk's SpaceX. "Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol," Musk tweeted after Bezos filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office. Blue Origin accused NASA of "moving the goalposts" before choosing SpaceX's Starship system over its lunar lander system and another one developed by defense contractor Dynetics, the Verge reports.
NASA, which had originally planned to pick two out of the three prototypes for further development as part of a plan to bring America's astronauts back to the moon as soon as 2024, said it had selected just one due to funding issues. It cited the cost and cargo capacity as its reason for choosing SpaceX. Blue Origin said NASA's decision was "flawed" and "high risk." The company complained that it wasn't given a chance to revise its proposal after finding out about the funding shortfall. The decision "eliminates opportunities for competition" and "not only delays, but also endangers America's return to the moon," Blue Origin said in a statement, per Reuters. (More Blue Origin stories.)
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