Jeff Bezos sued NASA
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed a Blue Origin lawsuit over NASA’s decision to award a $2.89 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX. The Jeff Bezos-owned company felt wronged by NASA, claiming the space agency had promised multiple private contracts and that it “disregarded key flight safety requirements” having to do with SpaceX’s proposed offering.
But the damage was done, as the lawsuit prevented NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX from working on the Human Landing System (HLS)—an integral component of the upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. Work has resumed, but NASA blamed the seven months of litigation, among other things, for the delay of the Artemis III mission, which will now land on the Moon no earlier than 2025, not 2024 as planned.
