G.A.O. The G.A.O. also stated that NASA had properly evaluated the three proposals and that, although it acknowledged that NASA had incorrectly waived one requirement to SpaceX, this error was not severe enough to warrant redoing the competition.This finding is despite the fact that protesters couldn't establish any reasonable probability of competitive prejudice from the limited discrepancy in evaluation. In a statementSpaceX was awarded the contract for the first moon landing in 2024. However, few people expect it to happen that soon. NASA stated in a statement that the G.A.O.s will allow NASA to set a timeline for the first crewed landing of astronauts on the Moon in over 50 years.NASA officials stated that they would open another competition for moon landers to Blue Origin, Dynetics, and any other company.In a letter to Mr. Bezos, he stated that NASA should make a decision now to maintain competition. He wrote that competition will stop any one source from having an insurmountable advantage over NASA.Blue Origin released a statement after the decision: "We stand firm in our belief in the fundamental issues with NASAs decisions, but the G.A.O. They were not able to address these issues due to their limited jurisdiction. We will continue to advocate for the two immediate providers because we believe it's the best solution.To persuade NASA to reopen the competition, Senator Maria Cantwell (chairwoman of the Commerce Committee), a Democrat from Washington, added a bipartisan clause requiring the agency pick a second contractor to a sprawling research-and-technology bill that was passed unanimously by the Senate in June. Independent from Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders resentful at the bill, saying that it was a bailout for Mr. Bezos' company. However, the Commerce Committee was able to support it with powerful senators who argued that NASA had always intended two awards.
