Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The federal government has rejected Jeff Bezos’ appeal to include his space fleet, Blue Origin, in plans to send NASA astronauts to the moon. NASA decided to stick with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
“NASA and SpaceX will make plans for the first deep moon landing in 50 years,” NASA said in an official statement quoted by the Associated Press on Friday (30/7).
Earlier in April, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft for a moon landing mission. Price offered by SpaceX cheaper than two rival space companies, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics.
The two companies ultimately appealed the contract to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), arguing there should have been more than one contract and that their proposals were not properly evaluated. But the GAO refused their request.
In Friday’s verdict (30/7), NASA was declared not to have enough money for multi-contracts, although NASA initially opened up the opportunity.
GAO attorney Kenneth Patton said NASA’s evaluation of the three bids was “reasonable, and consistent with applicable procurement law regulations and announcement requirements.”
GAO also announced that SpaceX’s bid received the highest rating.
Blue Origin still hopes NASA changes its mind.
“We stand firm in our belief that there is an underlying issue with NASA’s decision, but GAO cannot address it due to their limited jurisdiction. We continue to advocate for the two direct providers because we believe this is the right solution,” spokeswoman Linda Mills said.
As is known, the mission to the moon landing is the mission of the government of President Joe Biden. The mission, known as the Artemis Program, involves a new large rocket that will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule into lunar orbit.
The craft will take the two astronauts to the lunar surface, where they will explore for about a week, reconnect with Orion in lunar orbit and return to Earth.
The lander was on a SpaceX-made craft, called Starship. The craft includes a spacious and fully reusable cabin for trips to the moon, Mars and other places.
NASA further said that unmanned test flights are scheduled to take place this year. Meanwhile, trials of flying to the moon using astronauts without landing are planned to take place in 2023.
(nly/vws)
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