{"id":19588,"date":"2021-08-16T15:29:12","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T19:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=19588"},"modified":"2021-08-16T15:29:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T19:29:12","slug":"jeff-bezoss-space-firm-sues-nasa-over-spacex-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/08\/16\/jeff-bezoss-space-firm-sues-nasa-over-spacex-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos&#8217;s space firm sues Nasa over SpaceX deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><b class=\"ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Jeff Bezos&#8217;s space firm Blue Origin is suing Nasa over a decision to award a $2.9bn (\u00a32.1bn) lunar lander contract to Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The former Amazon boss&#8217;s firm said there were &#8220;fundamental issues&#8221; with the deal, calling it unfair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">The row stems from a decision in April to hand the deal to one company, not two as expected, because of a funding shortfall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Nasa is yet to comment, but it has the backing of a federal watchdog.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">In a court filing on Friday, Blue Origin said it continued to believe that two providers were needed to build the landing system, which will carry astronauts down to the Moon&#8217;s surface as early as 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">It also accused Nasa of &#8220;unlawful and improper evaluation&#8221; of its proposals during the tender process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1pzprxn-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi0\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><a class=\"ssrcss-9nsdc6-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-57978465\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bezos&#8217; $2bn offer to get back in race to the Moon<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">&#8220;We firmly believe that the issues identified in this procurement and its outcomes must be addressed to restore fairness, create competition and ensure a safe return to the Moon for America,&#8221; Blue Origin said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">At the time of the award, Nasa&#8217;s human exploration chief, Kathy Lueders, admitted that the space agency&#8217;s current budget precluded it from selecting two companies. That was after Congress granted it only $850m of the $3.3bn it requested for the project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Nasa also cited the proven record of orbital missions by Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX firm as a factor in the award. Cost is also thought to have played a role: SpaceX&#8217;s bid was the lowest-priced by some distance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Last month, Mr Bezos offered to cover up to $2bn of Nasa&#8217;s costs in order to be reconsidered for the contract, but he was rebuffed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">US watchdog the Government Accountability Office (GAO), meanwhile, rejected a complaint from Blue Origin and defence contractor Dynetic, saying that Nasa had not &#8220;acted improperly&#8221; in handing the project to just one firm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Nasa must file a response to the legal action by 12 October. SpaceX is yet to comment on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">Under its Artemis programme, Nasa hopes to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972 using SpaceX&#8217;s system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\">In April, Ms Lueders said: &#8220;This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-58235479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Jeff Bezos&#8217;s space firm Blue Origin is suing Nasa over a decision to award a $2.9bn (\u00a32.1bn) lunar lander contract to Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX. The former Amazon boss&#8217;s firm said there were &#8220;fundamental issues&#8221; with <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2021\/08\/16\/jeff-bezoss-space-firm-sues-nasa-over-spacex-deal\/\" title=\"Jeff Bezos&#8217;s space firm sues Nasa over SpaceX deal\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,3],"tags":[7914,5579,7274,4793,7212],"class_list":{"0":"post-19588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-usa","10":"tag-blue-origin","11":"tag-elon-musk","12":"tag-jeff-bezos","13":"tag-nasa","14":"tag-spacex","15":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19588"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19591,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19588\/revisions\/19591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}