{"id":10851,"date":"2021-11-04T17:15:31","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T09:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-loses-lawsuit-allowing-nasa-to-move-ahead-with-spacex-moon-lander\/"},"modified":"2021-11-04T17:15:31","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T09:15:31","slug":"blue-origin-loses-lawsuit-allowing-nasa-to-move-ahead-with-spacex-moon-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-loses-lawsuit-allowing-nasa-to-move-ahead-with-spacex-moon-lander\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin loses lawsuit, allowing NASA to move ahead with SpaceX moon lander"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A Starship prototype descends toward SpaceX\u2019s test site in South Texas for a landing attempt in March 2021. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Blue Origin over NASA\u2019s award of a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX, clearing the way for the agency to move forward in a partnership with Elon Musk\u2019s space company on a craft to transport astronauts to the surface of the moon.<\/p>\n

The decision apparently ends a six-month delay in the start of NASA\u2019s contract with SpaceX for a human-rated moon landing vehicle based on the company\u2019s Starship mega-rocket. The Human Landing System is the final core element to be developed for NASA\u2019s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.<\/p>\n

Judge Richard Hertling from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected a lawsuit filed by Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, that challenged NASA\u2019s award of the Human Landing System contract to SpaceX.<\/p>\n

The judge threw out Blue Origin\u2019s lawsuit in a ruling Thursday, and Bezos signaled that Blue Origin will not appeal the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot the decision we wanted, but we respect the court\u2019s judgment, and wish full success for NASA and SpaceX on the contract,\u201d Bezos tweeted.<\/p>\n

NASA said it will resume work with SpaceX on the HLS contract, known as \u201cOption A\u201d in NASA\u2019s procurement language, as soon as possible. The space agency announced it awarded SpaceX the $2.9 billion HLS contract April 16, choosing the Starship concept over competing bids led by Blue Origin and Dynetics.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin assembled a team of industry juggernauts, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, in a \u201cNational Team\u201d of contractors to design a human-rated lunar lander. But the Blue Origin-led team\u2019s bid totaled $5.9 billion, more than double the value of the contract NASA ultimately awarded to SpaceX.<\/p>\n

NASA said in April that SpaceX will self-fund and assume financial risk for more than half of the Starship moon lander\u2019s development and testing. SpaceX is already privately developing the reusable Starship heavy-lift launch system, which will send the lunar lander into space, then refuel the ship\u2019s methane and liquid oxygen tanks over a series of launches, supplying propellant to power engines for the descent and takeoff at the moon.<\/p>\n

After losing a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office, Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against NASA in August with the Court of Federal Claims over what it said were flaws in the agency\u2019s procurement approach. Blue Origin, which has not yet flown a rocket into orbit or developed a deep space vehicle, released an infographic the same month that said SpaceX\u2019s HLS proposal is \u201cimmensely complex and high risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA said it hoped to pick at least two HLS teams to proceed in development of a crewed moon lander, but Congress did not appropriate enough funding in fiscal year 2021 to support two contracts.<\/p>\n

In a statement released after the court ruling Thursday, Blue Origin said its lawsuit highlighted \u201cimportant safety issues\u201d in the HLS procurement, which the company said NASA has not yet addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturning astronauts safely to the moon through NASA\u2019s public-private partnership model requires an unprejudiced procurement process alongside sound policy that incorporates redundant systems and promotes competition,\u201d Blue Origin said in a statement. \u201cBlue Origin remains deeply committed to the success of the Artemis program, and we have a broad base of activity on multiple contracts with NASA to achieve the United States\u2019 goal to return to the moon to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s HLS contract with SpaceX covers two missions to the moon \u2014 first a demonstration flight without astronauts, then a moon landing with crew near the lunar south pole. NASA\u2019s goal of landing humans on the moon by the end of 2024, set by the Trump administration, was already in doubt before the HLS procurement delay.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s plan for the Artemis missions is to use the government-owned Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to transport astronauts to the vicinity of the moon, where they will board commercial lunar landers to carry them to the moon\u2019s surface and back into space. The astronauts will return to Earth on the Orion capsule.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to this contract, NASA continues working with multiple American companies to bolster competition and commercial readiness for crewed transportation to the lunar surface,\u201d the agency said. \u201cThere will be forthcoming opportunities for companies to partner with NASA in establishing a long-term human presence at the moon under the agency\u2019s Artemis program, including a call in 2022 to U.S. industry for recurring crewed lunar landing services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough Artemis missions, NASA will lead the world in landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, conduct extensive operations on and around the moon, and get ready for human missions to Mars,\u201d NASA said Thursday.<\/p>\n

NASA awarded five companies funding in September to work on studies for future lunar lander concepts, beyond the Artemis program\u2019s first human landing on SpaceX\u2019s Starship vehicle.<\/p>\n

Dynetics, which lost to SpaceX in the HLS Option A competition, received an award of $40.8 million. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, both members of Blue Origin\u2019s National Team, received $35.2 million and $34.8 million, respectively.<\/p>\n

NASA awarded Blue Origin $25.6 million, and gave SpaceX $9.4 million. NASA said in a statement the awards will \u201chelp the agency enable a steady of pace of crewed trips to the lunar surface under the \u2026 Artemis program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese companies will make advancements toward sustainable human landing system concepts, conduct risk-reduction activities, and provide feedback on NASA\u2019s requirements to cultivate industry capabilities for crewed lunar landing missions,\u201d NASA said in September.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Starship prototype descends toward SpaceX\u2019s test site in South Texas for a landing attempt in March 2021. Credit: SpaceX A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Blue Origin over NASA\u2019s award of a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX, clearing the way for the agency to move forward in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10851"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}