Blue Origin’s case against NASA over a lucrative human lunar lander contract given to Elon Musk’s SpaceX earlier this year was dismissed by the United States Court of Federal Claims.
After Blue Origin sued NASA in August, federal judge Richard Hertling sided with the defence in his verdict, bringing an end to a months-long dispute.
The company’s complaint, according to a Blue Origin representative, “highlighted the major safety flaws with the Human Landing System procurement process that must yet be resolved.”
“Using NASA’s public-private partnership model to safely return astronauts to the Moon necessitates an unbiased procurement process as well as sound policy that integrates redundant systems and encourages competition. “Blue Origin remains fully dedicated to the Artemis program’s success,” the corporation stated.
Requests for comment on the verdict were not immediately returned by NASA or SpaceX.
Musk responded to CNBC’s news on the verdict with a photo from the 1995 film “Judge Dredd” in a tweet.
After a competitive process, NASA awarded SpaceX the sole contract for the agency’s Human Landing System programme in April. SpaceX will use its Starship rocket to send astronauts to the moon’s surface for NASA’s planned Artemis missions, which will cost $2.9 billion.
After a competitive process, NASA awarded SpaceX the sole contract for the agency’s Human Landing System programme in April. SpaceX will use its Starship rocket to send astronauts to the moon’s surface for NASA’s planned Artemis missions, which will cost $2.9 billion.
SpaceX was up against Blue Origin and Dynetics for what was supposed to be two contracts, but NASA only granted one due to Congress’s lower-than-expected funding for the programme.
Blue Origin filed a protest with the US Government Accountability Office shortly after the judgement was made, but the GAO refused the company’s appeal in late July, prompting Bezos’ space company to accelerate its legal fight.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2021
The company’s argument, according to a redacted version of the lawsuit, focuses on establishing that NASA wrongfully awarded the contract to only SpaceX and “disregarded key flight safety criteria” in the process.
Blue Origin’s allegations were denied by Hertling. The court’s ruling is now sealed since the case involves confidential information belonging to the firms, but Hertling has asked the parties to submit proposed redactions by Nov. 18 in order for the opinion to be publicly released.
During the litigation, NASA’s work with SpaceX on the HLS contract was paused, but it is set to resume on Monday.
