Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos says his company will cover more than $2 billion in costs if NASA will award it a second Human Landing System (HLS) contract. In a July 26 letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said the company would waive up to $2 billion in payments in the first years of a new award, as well as pay for a demonstration mission, should NASA give the company an HLS award like the one SpaceX received in April to develop and demonstrate a crewed lunar lander.
Of course, the contract losers are protesting. Because that's the American Way.
There seems to be a fine line between patriotism and the egotism of billionaires.
There are some real qualms about both companies. Blue Origin has worked mightily hard to basically build a large sounding rocket. SpaceX has a history of just blowing shit up repeatedly until they stop exploding.
But "pick me and I'll bring my bats, my balls, my bases and gloves for the entire team" sounds a bit unsavory.
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