Bezos offers NASA $2 billion to return to the moon – KIRO 7 News Seattle

In an open letter to NASA on Monday, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos offered up to $ 2 billion to cover a budget deficit to produce a lunar lander that will bring Americans back to the moon.

Bezos and his privately funded aerospace company Blue Origin launched their first manned mission on July 20 and have plans for a lunar lander called “Blue Moon,” which should be ready by 2024.

The letter recognizes NASA’s partnership with SpaceX by Elon Musk in 2006 to use private funds to develop various space programs, and suggests that another partnership with Blue Origin could accelerate competition.

Bezos said, “Without competition, NASA’s short- and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, ultimately cost more, and not serve the national interest.”

The letter offers $ 2 billion to get NASA’s lunar program back on track immediately and offers to develop a plan for an unmanned landing mission to the moon at your own expense before the lives of astronauts are jeopardized.

Bezos said Blue Origin will accept a fixed price contract for the work, cover any cost overruns and protect NASA from its partners’ cost escalation concerns.

The full letter is below:

The Honorable Bill Nelson Administrator National Aeronautics & Space Administration 300 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20546

Dear Administrator Nelson:

Blue Origin is committed to building a future where millions of people in space live and work to help Earth. We believe that NASA must now return to the moon quickly and safely to advance America’s future in space. NASA has the opportunity to inspire a whole new generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.

For this reason, Blue Origin has responded to NASA’s urgent call to develop a human landing system. We built the national team – with four large partners and more than 200 small and medium-sized suppliers in 47 states – to focus on developing, building, and operating a flight system that the nation can rely on. NASA invested over half a billion dollars in the national team in 2020-21, and we have done well. The team developed and reduced risk a safe, mass efficient design that could achieve a human landing in 2024.

Our approach is designed to be sustainable for repeated lunar missions and most importantly to keep our astronauts safe. We have created a 21st century lunar landing system inspired by the well-characterized Apollo architecture – an architecture with many advantages. One of the most important advantages is that security is a priority. As NASA recognized, the national team’s design offers a “comprehensive approach to demolitions and contingencies”. [that] prioritizes the safety of the crew in all phases of the mission. “

Unlike Apollo, our approach is designed to be sustainable and grow into permanent, affordable lunar operations. Our lander uses liquid hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen is not only the most powerful rocket fuel, it can also be mined on the moon. This function will prove essential to sustained future operations on the moon and beyond.

Right from the start, we designed our system to fly on multiple launch vehicles, including the Falcon Heavy, SLS, Vulcan and New Glenn. The value of being able to fly many different launch vehicles cannot be overestimated. The launcher’s flexibility is a massive reduction in overall risk for both initial and ongoing operations. It decouples all risks associated with launch vehicle downtime and ensures competitive prices for long-term launches. Again, NASA recognized this valuable feature when it determined that our design “allows for a starting approach that offers flexibility and minimizes risk. Blue Origin’s first HLS mission only requires three commercial launches. This very low number … reduces the risk of a mission failure due to launch anomalies. This risk is further reduced by the fact that Blue’s HLS elements can be connected to multiple commercial launch vehicles (CLVs), giving Blue Origin short-term options when choosing which launch vehicle to use. “

Despite these advantages, however, the source selection official deviated from the agency’s often-cited procurement strategy at the last minute. Rather than investing in two competing lunar landers as originally intended, the agency decided to give SpaceX a multi-billion dollar head start. This decision broke the shape of NASA’s successful commercial space programs by putting an end to significant competition for years to come. It also eliminates the benefits of leveraging the national team’s broad and powerful supply base (as opposed to funding the vertically integrated SpaceX approach) and blocks any trip to the moon in more than 10 Super Heavy / Starship launches just to get a single lander to the surface. According to the agency, our return to the moon is based on a single solution of “immense complexity and increased risk associated with the very high number of events required to execute the front-end”. [with] Risk of delays in the operating plan. “

Instead of this single-source approach, NASA should pursue its original competitive strategy. Competition will prevent a single source from having an insurmountable influence on NASA. Without competition, after a short contract period, NASA will have limited options to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes and cost overruns. Without competition, NASA’s short- and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, ultimately cost more, and not serve the national interest.

In the past few weeks, the shortcomings of this single-source selection have been recognized and NASA has begun soliciting new proposals for lunar landers. But unfortunately this new approach will not create real competition because it is hasty, has no funding and gives the provider a multi-year lead from a single source. The tenders in Appendix N and LETS are only a visual substitute for the real competition that a second, simultaneous development of landing vessels will offer. The Agency must act now to create the real competition it needs, and not repeat work and investments already made.

In April (prior to your confirmation as a NASA administrator) only one HLS bidder, SpaceX, was given the opportunity to revise its pricing and funding profile, which led to its selection. Blue Origin was not offered the same opportunity. It was a mistake, it was unusual, and it was a missed opportunity. But it’s not too late to remedy this. We are ready to help NASA moderate its technical risks and resolve its budget constraints and get the Artemis program back on a more competitive, credible and sustainable path. Our Annex H HLS contract is still open and can be changed.

With this in mind, and on behalf of the national team, we officially offer you the following:

• Blue Origin will bridge the HLS budget funding gap by foregoing all payments up to $ 2 billion in the current and next two years of government to get the program back on track immediately. This offer is not a postponement, but a complete and permanent waiver of these payments. This offer offers time for government measures to catch up.
• Blue Origin will, at its own expense, contribute to the development and launch of a Pathfinder mission into the near-earth orbit of the lunar descent element to further withdraw development and allow for risk. This Boy Scout mission is offered in addition to the basic plan of carrying out a precursor mission without a crew before astronauts are brought to the moon. This contribution to the program goes beyond the company contribution of over $ 1 billion identified in our Option A proposal, which funds items such as our privately developed BE-7 lunar lander engine and unlimited storage of liquid hydrogen in space. All of these contributions are on top of the $ 2 billion waiver mentioned above.
• Finally, Blue Origin accepts a fixed, fixed price contract for this work, covers any cost overruns in system development, and protects NASA from concerns about partner cost escalation.

I think this mission is important. I am honored to be able to offer these contributions and I am grateful that I am financially able to do so. NASA has deviated from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to short-term budget issues, and this offering removes that obstacle.

If NASA has different ideas about what would best facilitate a return to real competition now, we are ready and prepared to discuss them.

We have seen that there is strong, bipartisan support from Congress for a second country and for the Artemis program in general. Coupled with this support, we believe this offering provides a solid foundation, both technically and tax-wise, for Americans to return to the moon – this time to stay.

The national team is ready. All NASA has to do is take this offer and change the Appendix H treaty we have today.

Sincerely and with great respect

Jeff Bezos

founder

Blue origin

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