--- title: "In Newly-Released Documents, NASA Scoffed at Jeff Bezos’ Moon Lawsuit" description: "The Verge has obtained legal filings that show NASA's frustration with Blue Origin's request to negotiate its $5.9 billion lunar lander contract." date: "2021-09-29" modified: "2021-09-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/documents-nasa-jeff-bezos-moon-lawsuit" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Future Society" - "Jeff Bezos" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "blue origin" - "elon musk" - "jeff bezos" - "NASA" - "SpaceX" --- # In Newly-Released Documents, NASA Scoffed at Jeff Bezos’ Moon Lawsuit ![The Verge has obtained legal filings that show NASA's frustration with Blue Origin's request to negotiate its $5.9 billion lunar lander contract.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Instead of making progress on its massively ambitious plans to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon, NASA is embroiled in legal battles over its decision to hand SpaceX its lunar lander contract. Now, [*The Verge* has obtained legal filings]() that show NASA's frustration with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin's request to negotiate its $5.9 billion lunar lander contract. The backstory is that back in 2019, NASA [put out a call]() to the private space industry for a new spacecraft design capable of returning the first astronauts to the lunar surface since 1972. After several rounds, SpaceX was awarded a $2.9 billion contract in April — [prompting protests]() and a [lawsuit]() against NASA by Blue Origin. NASA's hands were tied with [extremely limited funding]() from Congress and ended up choosing the lowest bidder. Blue Origin however chose a different negotiation tactic, pitching its Blue Moon lander for almost twice as much: $5.9 billion. In the documents obtained by *The Verge*, NASA argued in May that Blue Origin was acting in bad faith and chose to come in at a much higher bid with the expectation of NASA negotiating them down. Blue Origin was convinced that NASA would have enough money from Congress to cover its steep asking price — but that couldn't have been further from the truth, with lawmakers putting NASA's project to return to the Moon under restrictive financial constraints. The Bezos-led company argued that it should've changed the terms of the contract once it was clear Congress was only going to give it a fraction of what it requested, according to *The Verge*. NASA wasn't convinced at all by that argument, calling the space company out for making a bet that "it lost" in the documents. "Realizing now that it gambled and lost, Blue Origin seeks to use GAO’s procurement oversight function to improperly compel NASA to suffer the consequences of Blue Origin’s ill-conceived choices," the space agency's attorney wrote in a May report, as quoted by *The Verge*. Even Bezos [sweetening the deal with a $2 billion discount]() in July didn't sway NASA's leadership. Blue Origin also tried to argue that SpaceX wasn't implementing proper safety reviews ahead of each rocket launch during Starship prototype testing. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed the argument arguing in [a tweet]() last week that "we always do flight readiness reviews! This argument makes no sense." So where does all of this leave NASA's Artemis program? Blue Origin's lawsuit has [already been a huge setback]() for the agency's ambitious plans. Now, either the court finds that NASA gave SpaceX unfair treatment or that Blue Origin's protests are null — two possibilities with drastically different outcomes. And the stakes are higher than ever. SpaceX and NASA could soon resume meaningful progress on the Starship launch vehicle — or the entire contract could have to be redone in its entirety, which could represent a huge blow for the agency's efforts to return astronauts to the Moon. **READ MORE:** [Blue Origin ‘gambled’ with its Moon lander pricing, NASA says in legal documents]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on the contract:** *[Head of NASA: Jeff Bezos’ Lawsuit Likely to Delay Human Moon Landing]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()