Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

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Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Seal of the United States Court of Federal Claims
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
Full case nameBlue Origin LLC v. United States of America & Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
Decided4 November 2021
Case opinions
Complaint from Blue Origin is dismissed, NASA is allowed to award SpaceX for developing Starship HLS

On 13 August 2021, Blue Origin filed a complaint to the United States Court of Federal Claims about NASA's award of $2.9 billion to SpaceX. The award was used by the company to further develop Starship HLS, a lunar lander that NASA selected for the Artemis program. On 4 November 2021, the Court of Federal Claims dismissed the complaint, and the accompanying memorandum opinion was titled Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Blue Origin's complaint and prior actions have received extensive attention from the news media and spaceflight industries.

Background

In December 2018, NASA announced it was seeking lunar lander proposals under the Artemis program, which is released under Appendix E of its NeXTSTEP-2 program.[1]

Government Accountability Office

On 26 April 2021, both Blue Origin and Dynetics filed formal protests with the US Government Accountability Office claiming that NASA had improperly evaluated aspects of the proposals.[2][3] On 30 April 2021, NASA suspended the Starship HLS contract and funding until such time as the GAO could issue a ruling on the protests.[4][5] In May 2021, Sen. Cantwell, from Blue Origin's state of Washington, introduced an amendment to the "Endless Frontier Act" that directed NASA to reopen the HLS competition and select a second lander proposal, authorized spending of an additional US$10 billion. This funding would require a separate appropriations act. Sen. Sanders criticized the amendment as a "multibillion dollar Bezos bailout", as the money would likely go to Blue Origin, which was founded by Jeff Bezos.[6][7][8][9] The act, including this amendment, was passed by the Senate on 8 June 2021.[10][11][needs update]

On 30 July 2021, the GAO rejected the protests and found that "NASA did not violate procurement law" in awarding the contract to SpaceX, who bid a much lower cost and more capable system.[12][13][14] Nevertheless, CNBC reported on 4 August that "Jeff Bezos' space company remains on the offensive in criticizing NASA's decision to award Elon Musk's SpaceX with the sole contract to build a vehicle to land astronauts on the moon" and the company had produced an infographic highlighting several Starship deficiencies compared to the Blue Origin proposal, but noted the infographic avoided showing the Blue Origin bid price as roughly double the SpaceX bid price.[15] Soon after the appeal was rejected, NASA made the contracted initial payment of US$300M to SpaceX.[16]

Filing

On 13 August 2021, Blue Origin filed a lawsuit in the US Court of Federal Claims challenging "NASA's unlawful and improper evaluation of proposals."[17][18] Blue Origin asked the court for an injunction to halt further spending by NASA on the existing contract with SpaceX.[19] Reaction to the lawsuit was mostly negative in the space community, at NASA, and among Blue Origin employees according to space journalist Eric Berger.[20] The judge dismissed the suit on 4 November 2021 and NASA was allowed to resume working with SpaceX.[21]

Outcome

According to a filing in the Court of Federal Claims dated November 4, 2021, the case was dismissed. The decision was made after the facts of the case were considered by the Court of Federal Claims. The presiding judge was Richard A. Hertling. The court's finding provided in the document clarified that Blue Origin failed to establish foul play by NASA. Therefore, Blue Origin failed on merits, and its complaint was dismissed.[22]

Prominence

According to Eric Berger from Ars Technica, most of the space industry and Blue Origin employees reacted negatively to the company's complaint and related actions.[23]

References

  1. ^ Shanessa Jackson (December 12, 2018). "NASA Seeks US Partners to Develop Reusable Systems to Land Astronauts on Moon". NASA. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "Blue Origin protests NASA Human Landing System award". SpaceNews. 26 April 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Dynetics protests NASA HLS award". SpaceNews. 27 April 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  4. ^ "NASA suspends SpaceX's $2.9 billion moon lander contract after rivals protest". The Verge. 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ "NASA tells SpaceX to halt lunar lander work pending contract challenges". CNBC. May 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-07-13. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  6. ^ Sirota, Sara; Grim, Ryan (25 May 2021). "Senate Preparing $10 Billion Bailout Fund for Jeff Bezos Space Firm". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  7. ^ Ferreira, Becky (26 May 2021). "Bernie Sanders Is Fighting a Massive 'Bailout' to Jeff Bezos' Space Company". Vice. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ Berger, Eric (24 May 2021). "Bernie vs. Blue – Bernie Sanders wants to stop NASA funding for Blue Origin". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ^ Hamilton, Isobel (25 May 2021). "Bernie Sanders is trying to block Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin from getting $10 billion NASA funding for a moon-landing mission". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  10. ^ "S.1260 - Endless Frontier Act". Congress.gov. 8 June 2021. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  11. ^ Berger, Eric (10 June 2021). "NASA doesn't need to test SLS anymore, but the Senate mandates it anyway". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  12. ^ "GAO finding denying the protest of the award". 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ^ Foust, Jeff (30 July 2021). "GAO denies Blue Origin and Dynetics protests of NASA lunar lander contract". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Statement on Blue Origin-Dynetics Decision". 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  15. ^ Sheetz, Michael (4 August 2021). "Bezos' Blue Origin calls Musk's Starship 'immensely complex & high risk' for NASA moon missions". CNBC. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  16. ^ "WORK REQUIRED FOR THE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, MANUFACTURE, TEST, LAUNCH, DEMONSTRATION, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT OF THE HUMAN LANDING SYSTEM (HLS) INTEGRATED LANDER". usaspending.gov. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sues NASA, escalating its fight for a Moon lander contract". The Verge. 16 August 2021. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021. protest prevented SpaceX from starting its contract for 95 days while the GAO adjudicated the case.
  18. ^ Sheetz, Michael (16 August 2021). "Bezos' Blue Origin takes NASA to federal court over award of lunar lander contract to SpaceX". CNBC. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin takes its lunar rivalry with Elon Musk's SpaceX to claims court - the Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  20. ^ Berger, Eric (16 August 2021). "Here's why Blue Origin thinks it is justified in continuing to protest NASA". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  21. ^ Sheetz, Michael (November 4, 2021). ""Bezos' Blue Origin loses NASA lawsuit over SpaceX $2.9 billion lunar lander contract"". CNBC. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  22. ^ Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp (Federal Court of Public Opinion November 4, 2021).
  23. ^ Berger, Eric (16 August 2021). "Here's why Blue Origin thinks it is justified in continuing to protest NASA". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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