Court Upholds NASA’s Human Lunar Lander Contract Award to SpaceX

NASA will resume contract work with SpaceX on the development of a human landing system that would bring two astronauts to the surface of the moon after the U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed a bid protest by Blue Origin.

The court’s decision upholds the space agency’s move to award a potential $2.89 billion contract to SpaceX to further develop its Starship human lunar lander as part of the Artemis program, NASA said Friday.

In August, the Government Accountability Office denied protests against NASA’s selection of SpaceX for the Artemis human lander contract.

NASA noted that there will be upcoming opportunities for vendors to help establish long-term presence on the lunar surface, including plans to issue a solicitation in 2022 for regular manned missions to the moon.

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