Chinanews, July 27th, according to the US Chinese website, on the 26th local time, the billionaire Bezos, who had just completed a short trip to the edge of space, proposed a new agreement to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). If NASA awards his Blue Origin company a contract to manufacture astronauts on the moon spacecraft, the company will waive NASA’s $2 billion in fees.

Data map: Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin.

　　In April, NASA awarded Blue Origin’s rival and another rich man, Musk’s SpaceX, a contract worth nearly $2.9 billion to build a spacecraft to send astronauts to the surface of the moon as early as 2024.

　　NASA rejected the bids from Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics.

　　Senior NASA official Casey Ludes said that NASA's own funding shortage, SpaceX's reliable orbital mission record, and other factors made them make this "best value for the government" decision.

　　On July 26, Bezos stated in a letter to NASA Administrator Nielsen that Blue Origin is willing to waive the government’s current and future fiscal year up to $2 billion in fees and pay for an orbital mission to review the company’s technology. , In exchange for a fixed price contract and bear any system development cost overruns.

　　"Due to short-term budgetary obstacles, NASA changed its original dual-channel procurement strategy, and the latest proposal removes this obstacle," Bezos wrote. "If there is a lack of competition, NASA's short-term and long-term moon landing plans will be affected. Delays will eventually cost more, and it is not in the national interest."

　　NASA and SpaceX did not immediately comment on this.

　　Before choosing SpaceX, NASA had publicly solicited spacecraft proposals for its Artemis project, which aims to allow astronauts to land on the moon again after 1972.

　　After losing to SpaceX, Blue Origin once protested to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, accusing NASA of allowing SpaceX to modify its pricing, giving the latter an unfair advantage.

GAO is expected to make a decision in early August, but industry sources believe that the contract reversal is unlikely.