No Contract for Lunar Lander, But Plenty of Chances in Future

Blue Origin has lost an appeal of its lawsuit with NASA over their contract to build a human lunar lander for the Artemis program.

The project to once again land humans on the moon had included the commercial space operation among top competitors in the field, each trying to vie for the largest slice of contract work. Those familiar with the “cat rodeo” of government contracting and procurement know the frequency of lawsuits when large companies get squeezed out, and the as-yet unpublished final ruling to Blue Origin’s suit will end any disputes over the matter once and for all. 

Blue Origin filed suit against NASA when they were not named as tenders for the manned lunar lander project, despite being one of 3 major competitors with competitors SpaceX and Dynetics. The agency had intimated that 2 of the finalists would see a contract to design, develop, and field the lander system, but issued only a single contract to SpaceX for $2.9 billion. NASA blamed the loss on a budgeting shortfall, after receiving a fraction of the requested funding to get the Artemis program into being. The decision to go with SpaceX, an agency darling, and parent of the successful flight systems used in recent commercial crewed launches, would seem perfectly reasonable given their track record. 

Like any rational company when faced with such a loss, Blue Origin did the needful (in its own best interest) and fought through every avenue available. An initial protest through the Government Accountability Office was denied, just like competitor Dynetics’ request, with the GAO arguing that it was NASA’s prerogative to select whomever it wanted. Blue Origin followed the rejection with a missive offering a discount of $2 billion over their initial bid price over the first two years of development, funded out of owner Jeff Bezos’ pocket until congress could approve more funding. NASA remained unmoved. Finally, left with only a legal battle, Blue Origin filed suit to have the decision reversed.

NASA responded to that suit, stating that Blue Origin had gambled with its bid and assumed more leeway that it had, believing that even if their price had been too high, they could engage in post-contract haggling down to a more affordable price. Now, with the final ruling issued by Judge Rich Hertling, Nasa hopes the issue can be put behind them. THey said in a statement to The Verge that there will be plentiful opportunities to work on Artemis in the coming years. In a statement to the Verge, NASA Said: 

“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.”

FMI: www.Blueorigin.com, www.nasa.gov