Elon Musk’s SpaceX Defeats Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin in Law Suit Over NASA $2.9 Billion Moon Lander Contract

Blue Origin Federation's lawsuit against NASA, which chose SpaceX to develop technology to put people on the moon, was rejected by the US Court of Federal Claims.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Federal Claims Judge Richard A. Hertling rejected Blue Origin's lawsuit over a NASA moon lander contract. The court has yet to make Judge Hertling's decision public to allow the parties to request redactions.

Elon Musk Defeats Jeff Bezos in Latest Court Ruling

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Blue Origin, have been fighting for high-profile NASA contracts. They are also trying to establish a larger presence for private corporations in space by sending commercial people into orbit on their rockets.

Bezos and Musk, two of the world's wealthiest individuals, want their firms to be at the heart of NASA's ambitions to send astronauts back to the moon.

According to CNN, NASA's budget only allows for one of them, therefore the space agency finally chose to cooperate with SpaceX.

Blue Origin battled tooth and claw for the contract, claiming that NASA favored SpaceX unjustly. The space industry suggested that supporting both SpaceX and Blue Origin's aspirations to build rockets capable of landing on the moon would be better for NASA. Blue Origin's attempts to appeal NASA's decision, however, have all failed.

Even if the verdict is not one that Blue Origin sought, Jeff Bezos stated on Twitter on Thursday that his space business, Blue Origin, will "respect" a US court's dismissal of its case against competitor SpaceX's NASA contract.

Bezos' tone contrasts sharply with long-time competitor Elon Musk's reaction to the court's decision. Musk tweeted a parody of sci-fi comic character Judge Dredd in response to the news that Mr Bezos had lost his appeal.

Blue Origin vs. SpaceX: Moon Lander Issue

After a competitive procedure, NASA awarded SpaceX the only contract for the agency's Human Landing System program in April. Science Times previously wrote that SpaceX would use its Starship rocket to send humans to the moon's surface for NASA's planned Artemis missions, which will cost $2.9 billion.

SpaceX was up against Blue Origin and Dynetics for what was supposed to be two contracts. But NASA only granted one owing to Congress's lower-than-expected funding for the program.

Blue Origin filed a complaint to the US Government Accountability Office shortly after NASA made the judgment. Still, the GAO refused the firm's appeal in late July, prompting Bezos' space business to accelerate its legal fight. Bezos is also the founder of Amazon, the world's largest online retailer.

CNBC, citing a redacted version of the lawsuit, said the company's argument focuses on establishing that NASA wrongfully awarded the contract to only SpaceX and "disregarded crucial flight safety criteria" in the process.

The government paused NASA's work with SpaceX on the HLS contract during the litigation, but it is set to resume on Monday.

Check out more news and information on Blue Origin and SpaceX in Science Times.