Jeff Bezos Offers $2 Billion To NASA For Moon Mission Contract; Will NASA Accept?

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Jeff Bezos has been sweeping the headlines with his recent space travel. His space company, Blue Origin, has set a new benchmark for future commercial spaceflights. Now, Bezos has written an open letter to NASA, offering USD 2 billion budgetary assistance if Blue Origin is awarded the contract to build the Moon lander.

 
Jeff Bezos Offers USD 2 Billion Discount For NASA Human Lander

Presently, NASA is gearing up for the Artemis mission that would put humans to the Moon again. The Artemis program is scheduled to liftoff in 2024 and would in turn be a landing ground for NASA's future Mars missions. The Artemis program to the Moon would involve equipment, including the human landing system or HLS.

 

Jeff Bezos Offers Discount For NASA

The original human landing system contract for the Artemis program was awarded to SpaceX for USD 2.9 billion. However, Blue Origin and Dynetics have protested against this and are awaiting adjudication by the US Government Accountability Office. Soon after the successful space trip, Jeff Bezos has written a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson regarding HLS.

In his letter to NASA, Bezos is offering USD 2 billion as a discount as it would 'bright the funding shortfall' that led to NASA picking just one contractor instead of two. That's not all. The letter further states that "this offer is not a deferral, but is an outright permanent waiver".

Going further into the details, Jeff Bezos stresses the advantage of using Blue Origin lander. Here, his company would use liquid hydrogen for fuel, which would be extracted from lunar ice. It syncs well with NASA's plan to use Moon resources to refuel rockers for exploring deep space.

Moreover, Bezos states that Blue Origin would even test the lander in orbit around the Earth at its own cost. "We stand ready to help NASA moderate its technical risks and solve its budgetary constraints and put the Artemis Program back on a more competitive, credible, and sustainable path," the letter concludes.

Jeff Bezos Continues To Face Criticism

This isn't the first time that Blue Origin or Jeff Bezos has tried to have the award decision reversed from SpaceX by lobbying. The company has also been trying to woo the US Senate to pass a bill that adds USD 10 billion to the human lander system for the Artemis program. However, the debate has continued and the criticism has been mounting against Bezos. It remains to be seen how the new offer stands with NASA and the US Senate.

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