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As was also reported by CNBC, the Government Accountability Office conducted an investigation in to the initial Blue Origin complaint, after NASA suspended the process, but found no evidence that NASA awarded the contract incorrectly and denied the initial Blue Origin complaint.Read more of this story at Slashdot. NASA said on Friday it has awarded billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musks private space company SpaceX a 2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon as. Although NASA has a long history of awarding contracts to promote innovation and competition, the Blue Origin suit seemed a little unusual given the company's current lack of launch experience (they have completed numerous successful tests, including a high-altitude "edge of space" flight for Bezos, his brother and guests, but have yet to place any vehicle in orbit, let alone establish a credible, commercial space flight presence). Earlier this year, the agency had awarded a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX for the design and development of a lunar lander. The stakes are high: If the GAO supports Blue Origin’s arguments, it could reset the whole lunar lander competition and delay NASA’s goal to put humans on the Moon by 2024 the main. NASA is leaning heavily on private companies built around shared visions for space exploration.Ytene writes: As reported by CNBC, the US Court of Federal Claims has released a redacted version of the lawsuit, filed by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, in a complaint against NASA. It adds details to the brief statement from Judge Richard Hertling earlier this month that confirmed NASAs selection of SpaceX for the first HLS system. Unlike the Apollo lunar landings from 1969 to 1972, NASA now is gearing up for a long-term presence on the moon that it envisions as a steppingstone to an even more ambitious plan to send astronauts to reach Mars. NASA has suspended work on SpaceX’s new 2.9 billion. But in the near term, SpaceX's main business has been launching satellites for Musk's Starlink internet venture, and other satellites and space cargo. A digital illustration of SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander sitting on the Moon’s surface, as proposed to NASA under its Artemis program. Musk has outlined an ambitious agenda for SpaceX and its reusable rockets, including landing humans on Mars. As NASA makes strides to return humans to the lunar surface under Artemis, the agency announced plans Wednesday to create additional opportunities for commercial companies to develop an astronaut Moon lander. SpaceX announced on Wednesday it had raised about $1.16 billion in equity financing. The contract was seen by Bezos and other executives as vital to Blue Origin establishing itself as a desired partner for NASA, and also putting the venture on the road to turning a profit, Reuters had reported in February. SpaceX was competing with Blue Origin and Dynetics for what was expected to be two contracts, before NASA awarded only a single contract due to a lower-than-expected. NASA's decision was a setback for Bezos, a lifelong space enthusiast and one of the world's richest people, who is now more focused on his space venture after having announced in February he would step down as Amazon CEO. The decision is a setback for Blue Origin, which had claimed NASA improperly awarded the contract to SpaceX by allegedly ignoring certain safely-related. The congressional watchdog’s ruling backed the space agency’s surprise announcement in April that NASA awarded SpaceX with a lunar lander contract worth about 2.9 billion. NASA said in a news release that SpaceX's HLS Starship, designed to land on the moon, "leans on the company's tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles." It said Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moon walks and that its architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in space.
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