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‘Moving the goalposts’: Tensions between the world’s richest men racing to the moon
Tensions between the world’s richest men racing to space is fuelling up.
NASA is accused of “moving the goalposts” in its favour towards Elon Musk’s SpaceX, after a protest from Blue Origin owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’
SpaceX was selected by NASA for its program to send people to the moon and handed $2.9 billion to develop its starship.
Originally in 2020, NASA selected three companies to compete for the contract – SpaceX, Alabama defense contractor Dynetics, and Blue Origin.
Blue Origin says NASA should have chosen more than one contract and is endangering America’s return to the moon.
“NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Landing System program and moved the goalposts at the last minute,”
Blue origin said in a statement
“Their decision eliminates opportunities for competition, significantly narrows the supply base, and not only delays, but also endangers America’s return to the Moon.”
NASA has said that future contracts to the Moon beyond this initial mission could be competed by other companies.