Jeff Bezos Offers NASA, $2 Billion, for Lunar Lander Contract.<br />Jeff Bezos Offers NASA, $2 Billion, for Lunar Lander Contract.<br />Jeff Bezos Offers NASA, $2 Billion, for Lunar Lander Contract.<br />On Monday, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos wrote<br />an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. .<br />In the letter, Bezos offered an “outright and permanent<br />waiver” of payments up to $2 billion from NASA. .<br />According to Bezos, the offer would be applicable in<br />the current and next two government fiscal years. .<br />In exchange, the Amazon founder wants NASA<br />to provide Blue Origin with a contract to build<br />a lander to be used for lunar missions.<br />Bezos also said that Blue Origin would, at its<br />own cost, develop and launch a pathfinder mission. .<br />Blue Origin will, at its own cost, contribute<br />the development and launch of a pathfinder<br />mission to low-Earth orbit of the lunar<br />descent element to further retire<br />development and schedule risks, Jeff Bezos, via Open Letter.<br />This pathfinder mission is offered in addition to the baseline plan of performing a precursor uncrewed landing mission prior to risking any astronauts to the Moon, Jeff Bezos, via Open Letter.<br />In April 2021, NASA awarded Elon Musk’s SpaceX a<br />multimillion dollar contract to build a crewed lunar lander. .<br />Bezos denounced their decision in his letter,<br />saying it created “limited options.”.<br />Only one HLS bidder, SpaceX, was offered the opportunity to revise their price and funding profile, leading to their selection. Blue Origin was not offered the same opportunity. That was a mistake, it was unusual, and it was a missed opportunity, Jeff Bezos, via Open Letter.<br />But it is not too late to remedy.<br />We stand ready to help NASA<br />moderate its technical risks and solve<br />its budgetary constraints …, Jeff Bezos, via Open Letter
