NASA was notified Thursday that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied Blue Origin's bid protest, upholding NASA's selection of SpaceX to develop and demonstrate a modern human lunar lander. NASA will resume work with SpaceX under the Option A contract as soon as possible.

In addition to this contract, NASA continues working with multiple American companies to bolster competition and commercial readiness for crewed transportation to the lunar surface.

There will be forthcoming opportunities for companies to partner with NASA in establishing a long-term human presence at the Moon under the agency's Artemis program, including a call in 2022 to U.S. industry for recurring crewed lunar landing services.

Through 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.

Related Links
Artemis
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Tweet

Judge tosses Blue Origin's lawsuit over SpaceX lunar contract
Washington DC (UPI) Nov 4, 2021
A federal judge on Thursday threw out Blue Origin's latest legal attempt to block SpaceX's $2.9 billion lunar lander contract from NASA. "The defendant's motion to dismiss ... is granted," Federal Claims Court judge Richard Hertling wrote in an order, citing a sealed opinion that he also signed. Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' rocket company, had sued Elon Musk's SpaceX and the U.S. government in August, halting work on the contract and delaying the return of U.S. astronauts to the moon. ... read more