Federal judge releases redacted lunar lander lawsuit from Bezos’ Blue Origin against NASA, SpaceX

Business

The facade of Blue Origin’s new rocket engine factory in Huntsville, Alabama.
CNBC | Michael Sheetz

The U.S. Federal Court of Claims released the redacted version of the lawsuit filed in August by Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin against NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX over a lucrative lunar lander contract awarded earlier this year.

“Historically a staunch advocate for prioritizing safety, NASA inexplicably disregarded key flight safety requirements for only SpaceX, in order to select and make award to a SpaceX proposal that assessed as tremendously high risk and immensely complex, even before the waiver of safety requirements,” Blue Origin wrote in the lawsuit.

Blue Origin’s complaint in court comes after the U.S. Government Accountability Office denied the company’s protest, upholding NASA’s decision.

The congressional watchdog’s ruling backed the space agency’s surprise announcement in April that NASA awarded SpaceX with a lunar lander contract worth about $2.9 billion. SpaceX was competing with Blue Origin and Dynetics for what was expected to be two contracts, before NASA only awarded a single contract due to a lower-than-expected allocation for the program from Congress.

Read the full copy of Blue Origin’s redacted lawsuit below.

Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.
Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. 
Sign up to start a free trial today.

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Working Black Friday in the Rich Part of Town
11 Books by Bangladeshi Voices Beyond Its Borders
Lens breakthrough paves the way for ultrathin cameras – Physics World
Loves of My Life: Sophie Skelton
Prophecy’ Creates a Conversation With Denis Villeneuve’s Movies