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Space entrepreneur Bezos:
Photo: BLUE ORIGIN HANDOUT / EPA
After Jeff Bezos was unable to prevail in the tendering process for the first commercial lunar landing device, his space company Blue Origin is now suing the US government. The company accuses the US space agency Nasa of "deficiencies in the tendering process" and demands that competition be restored. Specifically, there is a $ 2.9 billion contract to build the first commercial lunar module. SpaceX, the company of Tesla founder Elon Musk, had also applied for the contract - and was awarded the contract in April.
Amazon founder Bezos had already announced his displeasure about the lost order several times.
Most recently, the entrepreneur offered NASA cash in an open letter.
Blue Origin would, among other things, assume costs of up to two billion dollars for the development and manufacture of the lunar landing device if the company were allowed to compete against SpaceX again, it said.
With a price set in advance, they want to develop the device on their own account - and assume any additional costs.
Authorities support the decision
The state was evidently not very enthusiastic about the company's protests and requests.
Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) backed NASA's decision to hire just one manufacturer of the lunar module.
Blue Origin and the defense company Dynetics had argued that NASA was obliged to award multiple contracts.
A statement that the Court of Auditors rejected as unfounded.
In the mission planned for 2024 at the earliest, four astronauts are to be brought into orbit of the moon in the spacecraft "Orion".
For the approach to the moon, two of them will then transfer to the SpaceX lunar module.
The aim of the mission is a reusable take-off and landing system that could also be used for flights to Mars, for example.
rai / Reuters