In a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos stated his company is prepared to forgo more than $2 billion in funding if awarded a contract for a human lunar landing system.
NASA aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon through its Artemis program, which includes contracts for developing human landing systems. Three companies bid: SpaceX ($2.9 billion), Blue Origin ($5.99 billion), and Dynetics ($9 billion).
In April, NASA selected SpaceX to adapt its Starship as the Artemis lander, citing insufficient congressional funding for multiple systems.
Blue Origin and Dynetics protested to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), arguing NASA should award at least two contracts to foster competition, as originally planned. The GAO has until August 4 to decide.
Recent developments favor Blue Origin: The U.S. Senate approved $10 billion for additional private lunar landers. Administrator Nelson lobbied Congress for this funding to support a second vendor, regardless of GAO's ruling.
To capitalize on this, Bezos sent a July 26 letter to Nelson, offering to waive $2 billion in early Artemis program payments if awarded a SpaceX-equivalent contract. Blue Origin would also fund its first demonstration mission.
"We stand ready to help NASA moderate its technical risks and resolve its budget constraints and put the Artemis program back on a more competitive, credible, and sustainable path," Bezos wrote, per SpaceNews. "This offer is not a deferral, but an outright waiver of these payments." He added, "NASA deviated from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to perceived short-term budget concerns, and this offer removes that barrier."
This addresses NASA's prior funding shortfall. Bezos proposed a fixed-price contract, where NASA provides funds and Blue Origin manages costs to meet requirements—a shift from past cost-plus arrangements that led to overruns.
