The founder of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, cannot forgive himself that NASA has signed a contract with his friend, but also great rival, Elon Musk.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaeX) Elon Muska has won a $ 2.9 billion contract to prepare the landing infrastructure for astronauts returning from the moon. Jeff Bezos fought for the same contract, and NASA announced earlier that it would choose two contractors to finally decide on the best solution. NASA announced Musk’s win in April 2021, and Blue Origin and third-party Dynetics immediately protested. This is why NASA and SpaceX could not start with the preparatory work.
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However, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the controlling body of the US Congress, said last Friday, July 30, that NASA had no obligation to award a contract to more than one company as Blue Origin had demanded, despite having done so previously. For its part, NASA admitted that it made the decision driven by severe budget constraints, so it only selected one company, SpaceX. This was due to the fact that Elon Musk’s company is already testing rockets that it intends to use in the future to transport astronauts, so it is the closest to the final solution.
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“The assessment NASA has made is reasonable and complies with applicable law on tendering and advertising,” said Kenneth Patton, one of GAO’s auditors following the announcement of the decision. Blue Origin believes NASA has trouble making the right decisions and does not have all the necessary permissions. At the same time, Jeff Bezos’ company does not hide that it does not intend to capitulate, it will continue to demand a NASA contract, because there should be two companies that will allow astronauts to safely return from the moon. Elon Musk does not comment on this, and he posted an emoticon on Twitter – tense muscles ..
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On July 26, Bezos, to increase his chances of winning, offered NASA a $ 2 billion worth of work if he was allowed to perform the contract. In a letter to NASA sent a few days before his journey into space, Jeff Bezos also declared that he would cover all the costs of preparation for this investment. It’s just that his offer was more expensive than what Musk was proposing and was valued at $ 5.99 billion. Dynetics was valued even more – at 8.5 billion. Ultimately, Musk’s and Bezos’ offers were comparable.
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