Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin loses appeal over Nasa SpaceX moon lander contract

The US government last week rejected an appeal by billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to get in on Nasa’s plans to send astronauts back to the moon by using his rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

In April, Nasa awarded the $2.9 billion contract for a lunar lander to the more established SpaceX, which also offered a cheaper price than either of the bids from Blue Origin and Dynetics Inc., a subsidiary of Leidos.

Jeff Bezos hasn’t given up on pursuing the contract however, with his company issuing a statement saying they would continue to “advocate for two immediate providers”.