SpaceX handed loss in challenge over Air Force contract

Joey Roulette

(Reuters) - A federal judge plans to deny SpaceX's challenge to U.S. Air Force contracts awarded to its rivals, writing in a Thursday court filing that the Pentagon properly assessed the development of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Starship rocket system as “too risky and expensive.”

Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp in its year-long lawsuit had accused the Air Force of unfairly awarding development contracts to Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and other competitors for new rocket systems in 2018.

But in a ruling that was briefly posted online by the court before being sealed, the judge found no wrongdoing by the Air Force in denying the company funds to help develop Starship, a reusable rocket system that Musk envisions will send satellites to orbit and one day ferry humans to the moon and Mars.

Judge Otis D. Wright II gave the parties a week-long window to change his mind before entering judgment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN26G2MA