Spaceflight Now by Stephen Clark 11/4/2021
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Blue Origin over NASA’s award of a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX, clearing the way for the agency to move forward in a partnership with Elon Musk’s space company on a craft to transport astronauts to the surface of the moon.
The decision apparently ends a six-month delay in the start of NASA’s contract with SpaceX for a human-rated moon landing vehicle based on the company’s Starship mega-rocket. The Human Landing System is the final core element to developed for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
Judge Richard Hertling from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected a lawsuit filed by Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, that challenged NASA’s award of the Human Landing System contract to SpaceX.
The judge threw out Blue Origin’s lawsuit in a ruling Thursday, and Bezos signaled that Blue Origin will not appeal the decision.
“Not the decision we wanted, but we respect the court’s judgment, and wish full success for NASA and SpaceX on the contract,” Bezos tweeted.
NASA said it will resume work with SpaceX on the HLS contract, known as “Option A” in NASA’s procurement language, as soon as possible. The space agency announced it awarded SpaceX the $2.9 billion HLS contract April 16, choosing the Starship concept over competing bids led by Blue Origin and Dynetics.
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https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/11/04/blue-origin-loses-lawsuit-clearing-way-for-nasa-to-move-forward-with-spacex-moon-lander/