Jeff Bezos

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July 31, 2021

Elon Musk checks Jeff Bezos in the conquest of the Moon, at least for the moment. The Government Accountability Office rejects Blu Origin's challenge for assigning NASA's rival SpaceX to help bring American astronauts back to the moon within the decade, perhaps as early as 2024. "NASA has not violated" any law or rule "In deciding to award the contract" to a single entity, the Gao, the government's independent control body, said dryly, slapping Bezos' space ambitions.

NASA in April awarded Musk's SpaceX the $ 2.9 billion return to the moon contract, in a decision that left many perplexed as it was expected that at least two if not three companies would be chosen for it. ambitious mission. The American space agency had then explained that its decision was based on the limited availability of funds and that the SpaceX offer allowed it to respect the tight budget. An unsatisfactory explanation for Blue Origin who had appealed, noting how NASA should have opted to award the contract to more companies as it had initially stated it wanted to do.

"In reaching the decision, NASA concluded that it had sufficient funds only for the order" to a single company, Gao added. The freeze of the Government Accountability Office, while representing a slap in the face of Bezos, who had personally committed himself to the project, does not end the game definitively. In fact, Blue Origin is committed to continuing "to push forward its thesis of the two companies because it is the right solution. The Human Landing System program must be competitive now not further", said the company, stressing that the recent offer from Bezos, for a $ 2 billion discount to NASA if Blue Origin is included in the contract remains standing.

Musk follows the evolution of the confrontation from afar, probably enjoying the victory against the richest man in the world who recently crowned his dream of going into space. Tesla's patron confines himself to a tweet to comment on the decision of the Government Accountability Office: "Gao", chirps, attaching the bicep emoji to the single word, a sign of strength.