It received the biggest award within the preliminary spherical and was seen by many because the staff to beat for what NASA calls the Human Touchdown System. The collection of SpaceX as the one contract recipient was an enormous blow to Blue Origin and a humiliation for Bezos, who was personally concerned within the mission and has talked brazenly about his lifelong fascination with the moon. (Bezos owns The Washington Submit.)

In a press release, the corporate stated that “NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Touchdown System program and moved the goalposts on the final minute. In NASA’s personal phrases, it has made a ‘excessive danger’ choice. Their determination eliminates alternatives for competitors, considerably narrows the provision base, and never solely delays, but additionally endangers America’s return to the Moon.”

NASA stated it had hoped to award two contracts to guarantee competitors and redundancy in case one of many suppliers faltered. However it stated it didn’t have the funding from Congress to pay for 2 contracts and is pushing to return astronauts to the moon rapidly, for the primary time because the final Apollo mission in 1972.

It stated SpaceX’s contract was for the primary lunar touchdown solely and that there can be further competitions for future missions. At his affirmation listening to final week, former senator Invoice Nelson (D-Fla.), President Biden’s choose for NASA administrator, stated he endorsed that strategy.

“Competitors is at all times good,” he stated.

Blue Origin’s bid, the protest stated, was $6 billion, or greater than double SpaceX’s. Bob Smith, Blue Origin’s chief govt, informed the New York Instances that he objected to the truth that NASA allowed SpaceX to replace its fee schedule in order that it match “inside NASA’s present funds.”

“We didn’t get an opportunity to revise, and that’s basically unfair,” Smith informed the Instances.

Within the protest, filed with the Authorities Accountability Workplace, the corporate stated that NASA failed to enable the rivals “to meaningfully compete for an award when the Company’s necessities modified due to its undisclosed, perceived shortfall of funding for the multi-year program lifecycle.” It additionally alleged that NASA “modified the burden accorded to analysis components to make worth (price to the Authorities) crucial issue due to perceived funding limitations.”

NASA declined to remark “due to the pending litigation.”

In a press release to The Submit, Musk, utilizing Blue Origin’s initials, stated: “The BO bid was simply approach too excessive. Double that of SpaceX and SpaceX has far more {hardware} progress.” He added that Bezos, who is ready to step down as chief govt of Amazon, ought to be extra concerned in Blue Origin. “I feel he wants to run BO full-time for it to achieve success. Frankly, I hope he does.”

In making the award earlier this month, NASA officers hailed it as a watershed second that might enable the house company to put the primary girl and first particular person of colour on the moon. “As the primary human lunar lander in 50 years, this progressive human touchdown system might be an indicator in house exploration historical past,” stated Lisa Watson-Morgan, NASA’s lunar-lander program supervisor.

Bezos and Musk have battled over authorities assets earlier than. In 2013, Blue Origin protested NASA’s determination to enable SpaceX to use Launchpad 39A on the Kennedy Area Heart. Given the truth that Blue Origin didn’t have a rocket able to getting to orbit or flying folks, Musk stated the protest was ridiculous, and Blue Origin misplaced the problem.

And he didn’t assume Blue Origin had a lot of an opportunity of making a human-rated rocket anytime quickly. “I feel we’re extra seemingly to uncover unicorns dancing within the flame duct,” he informed SpaceNews on the time.

SpaceX just lately launched its third human spaceflight mission from 39A. Blue Origin just lately stated New Glenn, the massive orbital rocket it has been engaged on for years, can be delayed one other yr.

Bezos has lengthy been enthralled by the moon and has stated that watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stroll on the moon when he was 5 years previous was “a seminal second” for him.

Blue Origin has been pitching its touchdown system, often called Blue Moon, since 2017, and Bezos, typically described because the world’s richest man, has stated he would put money into it closely himself. In 2019, Bezos stated that this system is “so formidable that it wants to be executed with companions. That is the one approach to get again to the moon quick. We’re not going again to the moon to go to. We’re going again to the moon to keep.”