After Jeff Bezos’s company Blue Origin lodged a lawsuit against NASA over its granting SpaceX a 2024 moon outpost contract, the company has officially been defeated in a Federal court, a new report shows.
Blue Origin lost a court battle with NASA over the awarding of SpaceX with the 2024 moon contract, according to CNBC. Judge Richard Hertling ruled against Blue Origin in a U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which will allow SpaceX to continue working on the contract with NASA.
A spokesperson from Blue Origin told CNBC that the lawsuit “highlighted the important safety issues with the Human Landing System procurement process that must still be addressed.”
The Blue Origin spokesperson also said, “Returning astronauts safely to the Moon through NASA’s public-private partnership model requires an unprejudiced procurement process alongside sound policy that incorporates redundant systems and promotes competition. Blue Origin remains deeply committed to the success of the Artemis program.”
Blue Origin is ‘Kind of Lazy’ vs SpaceX, Admits Exec in 2018 Memo https://t.co/OurZ2AmrrT
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) October 5, 2021
While NASA had planned to award two separate contracts for the lunar mission, budgetary constraints due to lowered funding from Congress forced the agency to combine them into one contract – the one that was awarded to SpaceX.
Jeff Bezos replied on Twitter today, “not the decision we wanted, but we respect the court’s judgment, and wish full success for NASA and SpaceX on the contract.”
Not the decision we wanted, but we respect the court’s judgment, and wish full success for NASA and SpaceX on the contract. pic.twitter.com/BeXc4A8YaW
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 4, 2021
In July, Blue Origin was also denied for its filing against NASA’s decision to award just one contract.
