Blue Origin Federation, LLC v. United States

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Blue Origin Federation, LLC v. United States
Seal of the United States Court of Federal Claims.svg
Court United 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 attention from the news media and spaceflight industries.

Contents

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] NASA made the contracted initial payment of US$300M to SpaceX the same day. [15]

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 that the company had produced an infographic promoting Blue Origin's design over SpaceX's design while leaving out the difference in contract bid prices. [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]

NASA Office of Inspector General stated that Blue Origin and Dynetics's bid protests had caused a 4-month delay in the program. [23] : 15  About two years later in May 2023 NASA awarded Blue Origin a $3.4 billion contract to develop a competing moon lander, compared to the $2.89 billion of the original bid that lead to the lawsuit. [21] [24] NASA noted that "adding another human landing system partner to NASA’s Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, support a regular cadence of lunar landings, further invest in the lunar economy, and help NASA achieve its goals on and around the Moon in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars." [24]

Prominence

According to Eric Berger from Ars Technica many in the space community, including some of Blue Origin's employees, reacted negatively to the company's complaint and related actions. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Origin</span> American aerospace company

Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P., commonly referred to as Blue Origin is an American aerospace manufacturer, defense contractor, launch service provider and space technologies company headquartered in Kent, Washington, United States. The company makes rocket engines for United Launch Alliance (ULA)'s Vulcan rocket and manufactures their own rockets, spacecraft, satellites, and heavy-lift launch vehicles. The company is the second provider of lunar lander services for NASA's Artemis program and was awarded a $3.4 billion contract. The company has four rocket engines in production including the BE-3U, BE-3PM, BE-4 and the BE-7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonbase</span> Long-term human settlement on the Moon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynetics</span> Aerospace and defense manufacturer in the United States

Dynetics is an American applied science and information technology company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Its primary customers are the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Intelligence Community, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemis 3</span> Third orbital flight of the Artemis program

Artemis 3 is planned to be the first crewed Moon landing mission of the Artemis program and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander. Artemis 3 is planned to be the second crewed Artemis mission and the first American crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in December 1972. In December 2023, the Government Accountability Office reported that the mission is not likely to occur before 2027; as of January 2024, NASA officially expects Artemis 3 to launch no earlier than September 2026.

New Glenn is a heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle in development by Blue Origin, named after NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. Design work on the vehicle began in 2012; illustrations of the vehicle, and the high-level specifications, were initially publicly unveiled in September 2016. The full vehicle was first unveiled on a launch pad on 21 February 2024. New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 7 m (23 ft). Its first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also being designed and manufactured by Blue Origin.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Moon (spacecraft)</span> Lunar lander family developed by Blue Origin for the Artemis program

Blue Moon is a family of lunar landers and their associated infrastructure, intended to carry humans and cargo to the Moon, currently under development by a consortium led by Blue Origin and including Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics. Two versions of Blue Moon are under development: a robotic lander planned to land on the Moon in 2024, and a larger human lander planned to land a crew of four astronauts on the lunar surface for the NASA Artemis V mission in 2029.

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Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to hire companies to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon. Most landing sites are near the lunar south pole where they will scout for lunar resources, test in situ resource utilization (ISRU) concepts, and perform lunar science to support the Artemis lunar program. CLPS is intended to buy end-to-end payload services between Earth and the lunar surface using fixed-price contracts. The program was extended to add support for large payloads starting after 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SpaceX Starship</span> Reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle

Starship is an American two-stage super heavy lift launch vehicle under development by aerospace company SpaceX. It is the largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. Starship is intended to be fully reusable, allowing both stages to be recovered after a mission and to be rapidly reused.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intuitive Machines Nova-C</span> Lunar lander developed by Intuitive Machines

The Intuitive Machines Nova-C, or simply Nova-C, is a class of lunar landers designed by Intuitive Machines (IM) to deliver small payloads to the surface of the Moon. Intuitive Machines was one of three service providers awarded task orders in 2019 for delivery of NASA science payloads to the Moon. The IM-1 lunar lander, named Odysseus, was launched on 15 February 2024, reached lunar orbit on 21 February, and landed on the lunar surface on 22 February. This marked the inaugural Nova-C landing on the Moon and the first American spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the Moon in over 50 years. It is the first spacecraft to use methalox propulsion to navigate between the Earth and the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemis program</span> NASA-led lunar exploration program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemis 5</span> Fifth orbital flight of the Artemis program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing Lunar Lander</span> Abandoned lunar lander proposal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starship HLS</span> Lunar lander variant of SpaceX Starship

Starship HLS is a lunar lander variant of the Starship spacecraft that is slated to transfer astronauts from a lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back. It is being designed and built by SpaceX under the Human Landing System contract to NASA as a critical element of NASA's Artemis program to land a crew on the Moon.

The Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV) was a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Artemis program. Blue Origin was the lead contractor for the multi-element lunar lander that was to include major components from several large US government space contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper Laboratory.

The Dynetics Autonomous Logistics Platform for All-Moon Cargo Access (ALPACA)—also known as Dynetics HLS—(ILV) is a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Artemis program. Dynetics was the lead contractor for the ALPACA lander—other contractors included Sierra Nevada Corporation—for NASA's Artemis Program.

The Human Landing System (HLS) is the spacecraft in NASA's Artemis program that is expected to land humans on the Moon. It is being designed to convey astronauts from the Lunar Gateway space station in lunar orbit to the lunar surface, sustain them there, and then return them to the Gateway station.

References

  1. ↑ Shanessa Jackson (December 12, 2018). "NASA Seeks US Partners to Develop Reusable Systems to Land Astronauts on Moon". NASA. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Blue Origin protests NASA Human Landing System award". SpaceNews . April 26, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Dynetics protests NASA HLS award". SpaceNews . April 27, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  4. ↑ "NASA suspends SpaceX's $2.9 billion moon lander contract after rivals protest". The Verge. April 30, 2021. Archived from the original on August 28, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  5. ↑ "NASA tells SpaceX to halt lunar lander work pending contract challenges". CNBC . May 2021. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  6. ↑ Sirota, Sara; Grim, Ryan (May 25, 2021). "Senate Preparing $10 Billion Bailout Fund for Jeff Bezos Space Firm". The Intercept. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  7. ↑ Ferreira, Becky (May 26, 2021). "Bernie Sanders Is Fighting a Massive "Bailout" to Jeff Bezos' Space Company". Vice. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  8. ↑ Berger, Eric (May 24, 2021). "Bernie vs. Blue – Bernie Sanders wants to stop NASA funding for Blue Origin". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  9. ↑ Hamilton, Isobel (May 25, 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 June 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  10. ↑ "S.1260 - Endless Frontier Act". Congress.gov. June 8, 2021. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ Berger, Eric (June 10, 2021). "NASA doesn't need to test SLS anymore, but the Senate mandates it anyway". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  12. ↑ "GAO finding denying the protest of the award". July 30, 2021. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  13. ↑ Foust, Jeff (July 30, 2021). "GAO denies Blue Origin and Dynetics protests of NASA lunar lander contract". SpaceNews . Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Statement on Blue Origin-Dynetics Decision". July 30, 2021. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  15. ↑ "SpaceX Gets Huge Check From NASA for Moon Mission". Futurism. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  16. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (August 4, 2021). "Bezos' Blue Origin calls Musk's Starship 'immensely complex & high risk' for NASA moon missions". CNBC . Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin sues NASA, escalating its fight for a Moon lander contract". The Verge. August 16, 2021. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021. protest prevented SpaceX from starting its contract for 95 days while the GAO adjudicated the case.
  18. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (August 16, 2021). "Bezos' Blue Origin takes NASA to federal court over award of lunar lander contract to SpaceX". CNBC . Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 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 August 17, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  20. ↑ Berger, Eric (August 16, 2021). "Here's why Blue Origin thinks it is justified in continuing to protest NASA". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  21. 1 2 Sheetz, Michael (November 4, 2021). ""Bezos' Blue Origin loses NASA lawsuit over SpaceX $2.9 billion lunar lander contract"". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  22. ↑ Blue Origin v. United States & Space Exploration Technologies Corp (Federal Court of Public Opinion November 4, 2021).
  23. ↑ NASA's management of the Artemis missions (PDF) (Report). NASA Office of Inspector General. November 15, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  24. 1 2 "NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander Provider". Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  25. ↑ Berger, Eric (August 16, 2021). "Here's why Blue Origin thinks it is justified in continuing to protest NASA". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
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