According to the sources, on Monday, Jeff Bezos-owner of Blue Origin penned down an open letter to NASA in which it offered a discount of $2 billion for allowing his company to construct a Moon lander
In April, the HLS (human landing system) contract was given to SpaceX, which is worth $2.9 billion, and upon that Blue Origin & a third company, Dynetics filed a petition that is now pending judgment by the US Government Accountability Office.
As per the sources, by 2024, the US wants to return to the Moon under the Artemis program, through the instructions learned to prepare for a crewed Mars mission in the 2030s.
Bezos stated in his letter to Bill Nelson-NASA Administrator, the offer would “bridge the funding shortfall” that results in the space agency selecting just one contractor, in place of two which would then compete with one another.
“This offer is not a deferral, but is an outright permanent waiver,” he added in the letter.
Blue Origin, after losing the award, has been anxiously pushing to have the decision reversed, wanting the Senate to pass a bill approving to add $10 billion to the human lander system. But the legislation is still being argued in the House, & has been named a “Bezos Bailout” by critics.
Bezos further said that a benefit of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander was its usage of liquid hydrogen for fuel, which can be extracted from lunar ice aligned with NASA’s plans of using the Moon to refill fuels rockets for processes deeper into the solar system.
“We stand ready to help NASA moderate its technical risks & solve its budgetary constraints & put the Artemis Program back on a more competitive, credible, & sustainable path,” Bezos said.
