Rocket Lab is seeing red about NASA's decision on a Mars spacecraft
"NASA’s award decision appears to be inconsistent with the eligibility criteria."
TL;DR
- NASA awarded a $700 million contract to Blue Origin for a Mars Telecommunications Network spacecraft.
- Rocket Lab has filed a protest, alleging NASA's decision violates congressional eligibility criteria and involved an inconsistent review process.
- The legislation mandating the selection included specific language regarding companies that received funding for Mars Sample Return design studies and had proposed an independently launched Mars telecommunication orbiter.
- Sources suggest the "end-to-end" mission language in the bill was intended to favor Rocket Lab.
- NASA has not yet released a "source selection statement" to explain the technical rationale for its decision.
- This contract is NASA's first fixed-price contract for building, launching, and operating a spacecraft network around another planet.