Blue Origin should be in for a bit of fun after its owner, Jeff Bezos, recently shot into space with 3 other people. However, there are actually some major tempest that befell the spacecraft company.
One of them attracted a lot of news, namely Jeff Bezos did not accept losing the tender from SpaceX to make an astronaut landing system on the Moon for NASA. Bezos initially tried peacefully to stay involved, luring NASA with money.
Bezos offered NASA $2 billion and in return, so that Blue Origin could be reconsidered making a lunar landing system.
"Blue Origin will bridge the budget shortfall for the HLS (Human Landing System) by paying all current and two fiscal years to the government of up to $2 billion to get this program back on track," Jeff Bezos wrote in a letter to NASA administrators, Bill Nelson.
He also conveyed the advantages of the Blue Origin system, which is the development of the system that used to land the Apollo 11 astronauts. Compared to SpaceX, it is clear that he thinks Blue Origin is superior and better even though on the other hand, the cost is more expensive.
"We created a 21st century lunar landing system inspired by the Apollo 11 architecture that has many benefits. One of the most important is to prioritize safety," said Bezos, who a few days ago shot into space.
However, NASA rejected the offer. The climax, Blue Origin clearly at the bezos Jeff Bezos finally sued NASA for the defeat of SpaceX. Blue Origin argued that NASA's proposal evaluation process was unlawful and inappropriate.
"Blue Origin filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in an attempt to correct deficiencies in the acquisition process in NASA's Human Landing System," a Blue Origin spokesperson said.
The Human Landing System (HLS) itself is an important part of NASA's Artemis mission which plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2024. HLS itself is a lander system that will land astronauts on the Moon's surface.
In April, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion HLS contract. NASA initially wanted to give contracts to two companies, but their budgets were cut by the US Congress so that in the end only one company was chosen, namely SpaceX.
The failure seemed to have a long tail. Recently, there has been an exodus of senior Blue Origin executives and engineers, which may have something to do with the failure to secure the tender. Because some of them are working on the project.
At least 17 senior executives and engineers have left Blue Origin. Some of them resigned precisely after Bezos managed to take off on a New Shepard rocket.
Some of those who left include New Shepard senior vice president Steve Bennett, chief of mission assurance Jeff Ashby, national security sales director Scott Jacobs, New Glenn senior director Bob Ess, New Glenn first stage senior director Tod Byquist, and New Glenn senior finance manager Bill. Scammel.
In fact, Jeff Bezos seems very happy that Blue Origin managed to take him into space and pave the way for space tourism. After darting into Earth orbit, reportedly he gave a bonus of USD 10 thousand to each Blue Origin employee. But the exodus continued.
It is not explained specifically what the reason is. However, based on a review on the employment site Glasdoor, some employees complained that there was frustration with management and a slow bureaucratic structure.
Blue Origin's party considered the incident not to have a big impact. "Blue Origin's employees grew to 850 people in 2020 and 650 people in 2021. In fact, our human resources have grown tremendously in the last three years," said a Blue Origin spokesperson. In total, Blue Origin employs about 4,000 employees.
The turmoil that befell Blue Origin and its lawsuit reached the ears of the owner of SpaceX, Elon Musk. Elon insinuated Bezos' behavior, which often does lobbying. "If lobbying and lawyers can get you into orbit, Bezos is already on Pluto," Elon wrote on Twitter.
Some time ago, Elon Musk also said that the Blue Origin rocket shuttle technology was not something special because his party did it first.
