https://twitter.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1397604541001080836?s=20The manager’s amendment to the U.S. competitiveness bill senators are now debating on the Senate floor includes a $10 billion authorization for Blue Origin, the space flight company owned by Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest men.
The large authorization is raising the hackles of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a frequent critic of Bezos. Sanders took to the Senate floor Tuesday to speak out against what he fears is the coming privatization of nation’s space program.
The $10 billion authorization goes to NASA’s Artemis lunar landing program and directs the agency to award a second contract for building a lunar lander.
Blue Origin lost the original NASA contract to SpaceX, the company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, and later protested NASA’s decision as “a flawed acquisition.”...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/555426-senate-competitiveness-bill-includes-10b-authorization-for-bezos-space
