London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 30, 2025

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin loses legal fight to take part in NASA moon landings

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin loses legal fight to take part in NASA moon landings

The judge's ruling poses a potential end to Jeff Bezos's bid to take part in NASA's Artemis programme, which aimed to take the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024.

A judge has dismissed Jeff Bezos's private spaceflight company Blue Origin's lawsuit against NASA over the awarding of a moon-landing contract to SpaceX.

In a single-page ruling, which Blue Origin has until 18 November to redact before it is released in full, the US Court of Federal Claims granted the government's wish to have the lawsuit dismissed.

It poses a potential end to Jeff Bezos's bid to take part in NASA's Artemis programme, which aimed to take the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024 - although that date is in question.

NASA's moon landings are still scheduled for 2024


Blue Origin filed a lawsuit against the US government and SpaceX after Elon Musk's company - which has completed numerous orbital missions, while Blue Origin has completed none - was awarded $2.9bn to land humans on the moon.

It is the second appeal Mr Bezos has seen thrown out, although he has continued to pursue other avenues for involvement - initially offering to waive billions of dollars in payments from NASA in the case the contract to SpaceX was withdrawn and given to Blue Origin.

Waiving the costs of the mission was a calculated move, as a potential funding shortfall is already threatening to derail the Human Landing System part of the Artemis programme.

NASA's inspector general has also warned that the agency also "faces significant challenges" in producing two flight-ready spacesuits by November 2024.

The research and development for these suits, known as xEMUs (Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Units), will have racked up more than a billion dollars in costs by the time NASA actually returns to the moon.

"Given these anticipated delays in spacesuit development, a lunar landing in late 2024 as NASA currently plans is not feasible. The suits would not be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest," the inspector general warned.

Elon Musk's company SpaceX won the NASA contract


Responding to the ruling on Twitter, Mr Bezos said: "Not the decision we wanted, but we respect the court's judgment, and wish full success for NASA and SpaceX on the contract."

Earlier this year, Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, confirmed that the goal remained 2024, but complained that Blue Origin's protest against the initial awarding of the contract had held up mission progress for 100 days while it was considered and ultimately thrown out.

"There are a lot of blockades that have been put in front of us," said Mr Nelson, explaining that even if Blue Origin's new appeal to the Federal Court of Claims was also thrown out - as it now has been - Mr Bezos's company could then escalate things to the United States Court of Appeals.

A spokesperson for Blue Origin told Sky News: "Blue Origin remains deeply committed to the success of the Artemis programme, and we have a broad base of activity on multiple contracts with NASA to achieve the United States' goal to return to the Moon to stay.

"We are fully engaged with NASA to mature sustainable lander designs, conduct a wide variety of technology risk reductions, and provide Commercial Lunar Payload Services.

"We are also under contract with NASA to develop in-situ resource utilisation technology, lunar space robotics, and lunar landing sensor collaboration including testing on New Shepard.

"We look forward to hearing from NASA on next steps in the HLS procurement process," they added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
×