AIRLINK 63.30 Increased By ▲ 1.10 (1.77%)
BOP 6.13 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.61%)
CNERGY 4.88 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.2%)
DFML 14.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.67%)
DGKC 67.34 Decreased By ▼ -1.65 (-2.39%)
FCCL 17.46 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-1.52%)
FFBL 25.00 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (1.63%)
FFL 9.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.33%)
GGL 10.25 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (3.54%)
HBL 108.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-0.35%)
HUBC 116.89 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (0.33%)
HUMNL 6.63 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.04%)
KEL 4.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.9%)
KOSM 4.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.48%)
MLCF 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.95 (-2.57%)
OGDC 123.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.30 (-0.24%)
PAEL 22.76 Increased By ▲ 0.32 (1.43%)
PIAA 23.89 Increased By ▲ 1.67 (7.52%)
PIBTL 5.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.17%)
PPL 111.30 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (0.36%)
PRL 27.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
PTC 15.25 Increased By ▲ 1.06 (7.47%)
SEARL 52.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.30 (-0.56%)
SNGP 63.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.35 (-0.55%)
SSGC 10.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-1.36%)
TELE 9.22 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (3.02%)
TPLP 10.90 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.58%)
TRG 71.30 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (1.42%)
UNITY 24.80 Increased By ▲ 0.60 (2.48%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (1.47%)
BR100 6,751 Increased By 52.9 (0.79%)
BR30 22,646 Increased By 28.2 (0.12%)
KSE100 65,503 Increased By 612.1 (0.94%)
KSE30 21,721 Increased By 185.1 (0.86%)
Technology

Bezos offers NASA a $2 billion discount for Blue Origin Moon lander

  • The United States is seeking to return to the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis program, using the lessons learned to prepare for a crewed Mars mission in the 2030s
Published July 27, 2021

WASHINGTON: Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos wrote an open letter to NASA on Monday offering a $2 billion discount to allow his company to build a Moon lander.

The human landing system (HLS) contract, worth $2.9 billion, was awarded to rival SpaceX in April, but Blue Origin and a third company Dynetics filed protests that are currently awaiting adjudication by the US Government Accountability Office.

The United States is seeking to return to the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis program, using the lessons learned to prepare for a crewed Mars mission in the 2030s.

In his letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said the offer would "bridge the funding shortfall" that led to the space agency picking just one contractor, instead of two which would then compete with each other.

He added "this offer is not a deferral, but is an outright permanent waiver."

Since losing the award, Blue Origin has been frantically lobbying to have the decision reversed, leading the Senate to pass a bill agreeing to add $10 billion to the human lander system.

But the legislation is still being debated in the House, and has been branded a "Bezos Bailout" by critics.

Bezos wrote that an advantage of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander was its use of liquid hydrogen for fuel, which can be mined from lunar ice in line with NASA's plans to use the Moon to refuel rockets for operations deeper into the solar system.

Bezos to step down as CEO of Amazon this year

He added that the company would test its lander in orbit around the Earth at its own cost.

"We stand ready to help NASA moderate its technical risks and solve its budgetary constraints and put the Artemis Program back on a more competitive, credible, and sustainable path," Bezos concluded.

It is unclear whether Bezos' last-minute intervention will sway the outcome of the award.

Comments

Comments are closed.