VINDICATED

NASA Picks Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to Build Moon Lander

The company sued NASA in 2021 for awarding rival SpaceX the first lunar lander contract.

It’s official: NASA has chosen Jeff Bezos’ private space company Blue Origin to build its second human landing system to ferry astronauts to the surface of the moon. “Today we are excited to announce Blue Origin will build a human landing system as NASA’s second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a statement. The company will receive $3.4 billion for the project, and will be in charge of designing, building, testing, and delivering the HLS to NASA for the Artemis V mission scheduled for 2029. The announcement on Friday closes a sordid chapter with the Blue Origin, which sued NASA in 2021 after NASA awarded rival SpaceX the first lunar HLS contract. The company ultimately lost the legal battle, and gained a reputational black eye over the controversy. Hopefully, this new contract tides them over until the next kerfuffle over SpaceX.