Bulletins

Bezos just lost his (legal) space battle with Musk

Blue Origin first appealed the NASA decision through the U.S. Government Accountability Office. When that didn't pan out, the Bezos-backed space outfit took to the courts.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

Blue Origin lost its lawsuit against NASA.

Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images

The Bezos-backed Blue Origin lost its lawsuit against NASA in which it contested its failure to win a $2.9 billion contract for the lunar lander. The entire contract was instead awarded to Elon Musk's SpaceX in April.

Blue Origin first appealed the NASA decision through the U.S. Government Accountability Office. When that didn't pan out, the Washington-based company took to the courts.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims kept the lawsuit documents sealed due to potentially sensitive information. More information could be released by the end of the month, after the involved parties get a chance to redact it.

For consolation, Bezos can instead focus on his plans for a private space station (the International Space Station was looking a bit drab anyway). And while that's in the works, he can always find a few more celebrities to take into orbit. Just make sure they keep the post-flight speeches short and sweet.

Hirsh Chitkara

Hirsh Chitkara ( @HirshChitkara) is a reporter at Protocol focused on the intersection of politics, technology and society. Before joining Protocol, he helped write a daily newsletter at Insider that covered all things Big Tech. He's based in New York and can be reached at hchitkara@protocol.com.

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Bulletins