Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, one of the world's richest men and recent space explorer, has stated that he will offer $2 billion to NASA in exchange for his space company Blue Origin being given the rights to design a spacecraft that will take people to the moon.
In a letter to NASA administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said that the company would waive payments of up to $2 billion in order to secure the contract and cover any project cost overspill.
Bezos said:
"NASA veered from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to perceived near-term budgetary issues, and this offer removes that obstacle. Without competition, NASA's short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won't serve the national interest. Without competition, a short time into the contract, Nasa will find itself with limited options as it attempts to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes and cost overruns."
In April, NASA awarded Elon Musk and his company SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to construct lunar spacecraft designed to take humans to the moon by 2024. Blue Origin missed out on this contract despite bidding for it.
NASA claimed that SpaceX provided the best value for money and had the greatest experience in the field.
The biding war comes just weeks after Bezos was rocketed into the edge of space using his own rockets. Musk intends to take a similar trip near in the future.
Mankind has not been to the moon since 1972, after first reaching the lunar surface in 1969. Over the past few decades, NASA and the US Government have suggested that the cost of going to the moon is too high and that such funds could be used on more useful space endeavours. The agency has also said that there was limited scientific knowledge to be gained from another foray to the moon.
The new contracts on the space mission are likely to be announced in August of this year.
[h/t: Reuters]
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