Blue Origin does not want to be satisfied with NASA's decision

The space company Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, does not want to be satisfied with NASA's decision to have its new lunar module built by its competitor SpaceX. Blue Origin lodged a complaint with the US audit office against the decision of the US space agency announced a week and a half ago. The so-called Government Accountability Office (GAO) examines services commissioned by the US Congress. The tender was "flawed" and NASA only formulated important specifications "at the last minute," said a statement from Blue Origin. The decision in favor of the space company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, would not only destroy "competitive opportunities" but "delay but also endanger America's return to the moon" until 2024, warned the company of Amazon founder Bezos. NASA placed a $ 2.9 billion contract this month with Tesla pioneer Elon Musk's space company SpaceX to build a spacecraft. The spacecraft is intended to bring astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. Blue Origin argues NASA ignored the risks of its contract with SpaceX. After all, the company had to develop a completely new space shuttle for the moon. The first tests of the prototype have repeatedly ended with spectacular explosions over the past few months. Blue Origin, on the other hand, had teamed up for the NASA tender with the three established aviation companies Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper. Bezos' company is also bothered by the fact that NASA only hired one company and thus moved away from previous plans. Because there is no fallback option in this way, there is a "high risk" for the failure of the lunar voyage plans, warned Blue Origin. In addition, the NASA decision creates "a potential monopoly for all future NASA exploration missions because there would be no other ongoing lunar program than SpaceX's solution". A NASA spokeswoman said her agency had taken note of Blue Origin's complaint. Because of the ongoing proceedings, NASA could not comment on it.