Because of this, the award should have fallen to Blue Origin “We always do flight readiness reviews! This argument makes no sense.” Elon Musk/Twitter 2. “Blue Origin and Dynetics did not get such a chance to compete with waived requirements the Agency afforded to SpaceX,” the filing states. The GAO pointed out, according to the filing, that Blue Origin had met these requirements. The suit points out that while the Government Accountability Office (GAO) ultimately ruled in NASA/SpaceX’s favor, the office mentions that SpaceX did not meet that requirement, stating: “NASA ignored its contemporaneous documents and argued to GAO that a FRR was not required prior to each launch element.” In other words, SpaceX’s initial proposal was unawardable.” It’s part of the core of the argument that SpaceX was allowed to bypass certain regulations: “The waiver of thirteen (13) Flight Readiness Reviews permitted SpaceX to propose a technical solution that included sixteen or more launches in a launch cadence the Contracting Officer admitted was logically inconsistent with the Solicitation’s requirement for one Flight Readiness Review prior to each launch. The term Flight Readiness Review comes up repeatedly in the filings. “Historically a staunch advocate for prioritizing safety, NASA inexplicably disregarded key flight safety requirements for only SpaceX, in order to select and make award to a SpaceX proposal that NASA’s evaluation team assessed as tremendously high risk and immensely complex, even before the waiver of safety requirements,” the filing says. But Blue Origin alleges what amounts to favoritism, claiming NASA allowed SpaceX to bypass some procedures. However, while the original plan called for two selections, congressional appropriations only gave enough funding for one - which ultimately went to SpaceX. That decision broke the mold of NASA’s successful commercial space programs by putting an end to meaningful competition for years to come.” In an open letter in July, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wrote: “Instead of investing in two competing lunar landers as originally intended, the Agency chose to confer a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar head start to SpaceX. Blue Origin believes NASA shut out competition Here are four essential facts gathered from Blue Origin’s complaint: 4. SpaceX was the lowest bidder, with Alan Boyle at GeekWire listing the respected proposal prices at $2.9 billion for SpaceX - $3 billion less than Blue Origin’s concept. Congressional appropriations cut the funding from two possible proposals to one. The suit stems from a bid for lunar lander concepts as part of NASA’s Artemis program, which will see humans return to the Moon. Oral arguments on the suit begin in October, and a ruling could come as soon as early October.
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