U.S. billionaire, Jeff Bezos, on Monday offered to cover up to $2bn in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) costs if the US space agency awards his company Blue Origin a contract to make a spacecraft designed to land astronauts back on the moon.
The space agency had in April awarded SpaceX, owned by rival billionaire Elon Musk, a $2.9bn contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2024.
Bids from Blue Origin, which partnered with Lockheed Martin, Northrop and Draper as well as that from and defense contractor, Dynetic, were rejected during the selection process.
NASA had then cited its own funding shortfalls, SpaceX’s track record of orbital missions and other factors to decide on the contract award with the agency’s senior official, Kathy Lueders, justified the decision based on what she called “what’s the best value to the government”.
A news report sourced by our correspondent from The Guardian indicated that Bezos, who just returned from his trip to space, in a letter to NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, Bezos, stated that his company secured a contract from the space agency, it would waive payments in the government’s current fiscal year and the next ones after that up to $2bn, and pay for an orbital mission to vet its technology.
In exchange, he said the company would accept a firm, fixed-priced contract, and cover any system development cost overruns.
Bezos stated: “NASA veered from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to perceived near-term budgetary issues, and this offer removes that obstacle.”
According to the news report, NASA’s spokesperson said the agency was aware of Bezos’s letter but declined to comment further, citing the protest Blue Origin filed with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), accusing the agency of giving SpaceX an unfair advantage by allowing it to revise its pricing.
The GAO’s decision is expected by early August, though industry sources said Blue Origin views the possibility of a reversal as unlikely.
Before choosing SpaceX, NASA had asked for proposals for a spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the lunar surface under its Artemis program to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. Blue Origin’s lunar lander is called “Blue Moon”.
Bezos and Musk are the world’s richest and third-richest people respectively, according to Forbes.
Bezos’ offer came six days after he flew alongside three crewmates to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin’s rocket-and-capsule New Shepard, a milestone for the company’s bid to become a major player in an emerging space tourism market.
