Elon Musk reacted to the news using a meme on Twitter (File)
Washington:
A US federal judge on Thursday ruled against Blue Origin brought in by Jeff Bezos’ company in a bid to reverse a NASA contract awarded to rival SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, to build the next craft for moon landings.
The ruling ended a months-long legal battle that had barred the US space agency from working with SpaceX on a lunar lander called Starship, which would allow Americans to return to the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
“NASA will resume work with SpaceX under the Option A contract as soon as possible,” the agency said in a statement after the decision.
In April, NASA announced that it had awarded the contract to Musk’s company — a $2.9 billion deal.
But Blue Origin filed a complaint about the Government Accountability Office (GAO) ruling that the bidding process was unfair and should have offered NASA more than one contract.
The GAO rejected the company’s claims, and Blue Origin took the case to federal claims court.
Judge Richard Hartling ruled in NASA’s favor on Thursday. The rationale for the ruling was not immediately made public, and remains under seal.
Blue Origin said in a statement that its complaint had “highlighted significant safety issues with the human landing system procurement process that still need to be addressed.”
“Blue Origin is deeply committed to the success of the Artemis program, and we have a broad base of activity on multiple contracts with NASA to achieve the goal of returning the United States to live on the Moon,” the company said. he said.
Musk reacted in his signature style – with a bit of flair.
“You have been judged!” He posted on Twitter using a meme of the comic book and film character Judge Dredd.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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