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Billionaire Elon Musk SpaceX accused the US Air Force of violating the rules of the contract by giving money to three rocket manufacturers, but passing on Musk's competing offer. She said the market should be reopened, an unsealed dossier said on Wednesday.
In the complaint, Space Exploration Technologies Corp states that contracts have been awarded for three "non-overflown" rocket systems that would not be ready to fly within the time frame set by the government, "defying the very objectives" defined by the Air Force program.
SpaceX has asked the court to force the Air Force to reopen the US $ 2.3 billion launch services contract and re-examine the company's bid in Hawthorne, California.
The agreement is part of an initiative by the Ministry of Defense to ensure permanent military access to space and reduce the use of Russian-made RD-180 engines.
Read more: SPACE WARS: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Mock Visions of Conquest of Mars and the Moon
In the race to conquer the dominance of the space industry, new entrants, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos, are competing for lucrative contracts for military launch services. The arena has long been dominated by incumbent operators such as Boeing Co-Lockheed Martin Corp.'s United Launch Alliance (ULA).
As part of the Vulcan rocket development program, ULA received $ 967 million. Blue Origin won $ 500 million for the new Glenn rocket and Northrop Grumman Corp received $ 791.6 million for the development of its Omega rocket.
In documents filed separately this week, the three companies argued that they should be parties to the lawsuit because of their direct financial interest in the outcome of the proceedings.
A spokesman for SpaceX said the company had filed a lawsuit to "ensure a level playing field for everyone." The Air Force and ULA representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Blue Origin declined to comment.
SpaceX's complaint was filed in the US Federal Court of Federal Claims last Friday under seal, accompanied by an application asking the court to keep the proceedings secret under a protection order, citing confidential information. . A redacted complaint was filed Wednesday.
SpaceX alleged that the Air Force had breached the procurement rules for five different charges and asked the court to suspend the delivery of the award to the three companies and to force a new evaluation of the proposals. The Air Force rejected a formal SpaceX objection in April regarding the terms of the awards.
SpaceX had already sued the government for contracts, mainly in 2014, to protest a multi-billion dollar non-compete contract for 36 rocket launches on the United Launch Alliance. He dropped the lawsuit after the air force agreed to open the competition.
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