All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
SpaceX filed a protest with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on 2019-05-17 over the Air Force’s 2019-10-10 decision to provide funding to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and ULA but not to SpaceX.
Blue Origin filed a pre-award protest with the Government Accountability Office on 2019-08-12 arguing that the Air Force’s rules do not allow a fair and open competition.
United Launch Alliance selected Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine in September 2018 rather than Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR1 to power the first stage of its Vulcan rocket.
The Air Force awarded $2,200,000,000 in Launch Service Agreement funding to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and United Launch Alliance in 2018.
NASA awarded Purdue University funding in 2018 to fly the FEMTA miniature water-fueled thruster on Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket in 2021.
Vulcan Centaur’s first stage will be powered by two domestically built BE-4 engines from Blue Origin.
Blue Origin is testing the BE-4 extensively at its facility in West Texas and will build two qualification engines for further testing before delivering two flight engines to ULA for integration at the Decatur factory.
Blue Origin’s BE-4 main engine, which runs on liquid oxygen and liquid methane, has been in development since 2011 and will be tested on the ground prior to Vulcan’s first launch.
Blue Origin contends that awarding exclusive five-year contracts to only two providers will perpetuate a market duopoly in national security space launch and raise launch prices.
The Air Force awarded a Launch Service Agreement in 2018 to Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, and Northrop Grumman to help pay for rocket development and infrastructure.
Blue Origin’s complaint to the GAO seeks clarification on points the company raised with the Air Force in written comments and meetings.
Blue Origin argues that the Phase 2 RFP discriminates against new competitors by requiring bidders to offer a backup launch vehicle.
United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Blue Origin are developing new rockets and upgrading existing vehicles for the Phase 2 competition.
Bob Smith, chief executive of Blue Origin, submitted a 2019-07-14 letter concluding that the NPRM does not achieve goals for U.S. commercial space leadership, public safety, or national security and that some proposed regulations would stifle innovation.
Blue Origin completed a six-minute full-duration test firing of the BE-7 engine that the company is developing for Blue Moon.
Blue Origin was one of the 11 companies selected under NextSTEP Appendix E.
United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman have aligned themselves with the Air Force position on Phase 2, SpaceX supports retaining the $500,000,000 fund, and Blue Origin supports the provision to allow more competitors in Phase 2 after 29 launches.
The U.S. Air Force will select two providers next year from a field that includes Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX, and ULA for NSSL Phase 2.
Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman have begun building launch pads on the East Coast but do not yet have capability to launch from Vandenberg.
Blue Origin received one of 11 NASA contracts on 2019-05-16 for studies and initial prototype development of lunar lander descent stages and transfer vehicles.