According to a US court decision in Washington, SpaceX will design and construct the lunar lander used for the Artemis duty to send humans to the moon. According to Reuters, the judge sealed his opinion in a case along with the numerous other documents because it clarified his reasoning for terminating Blue Origin’s plea in August. The court is slated to consider proposed redactions this month to specify what should be redacted.
SpaceX will again start its endeavor under the Option A treaty with Nasa at the quickest date possible. Nasa had postponed working on the lunar lander contract With SpaceX since November 1 as part of a deal signed between the two parties to accelerate the legal process.
In a statement, NASA stated that it partners with many American companies to work concurrently and augment commercial readiness for crewed conveyance to the lunar surface. In July, Blue Origin’s revolt against Nasa’s decision to pick one lunar lander provider was withheld by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
As part of NASA‘s Artemis program, the company has been rewarded a contract by NASA to manufacture a spacecraft that would transport astronauts to the moon’s surface as soon as 2024. SpaceX won the April contract to build such a spacecraft.
After a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by Blue Origin against the US government over the decision made by NASA, Jeff Bezos tweeted, “It’s not the ruling we wanted, but we honor the court’s judgment, and we wish NASA and SpaceX success on the contract.”
What Provoked Blue Origin to File Lawsuit Against Nasa And SpaceX
Precisely, Blue Origin’s motion to seal filings stated that NASA is alleged to have legitimately assessed proposals submitted under the HLS Option A BAA. The company added that it was an action to correct deficiencies found in the Human Landing System procurement procedure.
The judgment to award the contract entirely to SpaceX was a step beyond the conventional rules, in which at least two firms are selected. While one is designing the module, another is assigned to design a backup for an emergency. The firms in battle were alongside SpaceX were the Blue Origin and Dynetics. The decision to outsource the contract to a single firm attracted vicious revolts from Blue Origin and Dynetics, who filed a legal complaint with Government Accountability Office.
Jeff Bezos had also offered that Blue Origin would relinquish government payments of up to $ 2 billion this year and beyond and pay for an orbital mission to test and apply its technology. In return, Blue Origin would accept a firm, fixed-price agreement covering the exceeded expense for system developments.
Nasa had roughly chosen five US-based companies to enable the agency to deliver a steady pace of crewed travel to the lunar surface under Artemis. The companies selected by NASA include Blue Origin, Dynetics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, developing lander design concepts and evaluating their performance, design, building standards, mission control requirements, interfaces, safety, crew health accommodation. The last successful mission carrying a human being to the lunar surface was undertaken in 1972. The Apollo 17 mission broke many records, including the longest spacewalk, extended lunar landing, and significant lunar samples brought back to Earth.
