Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk space race feud back on as Blue Origin asks FAA to limit SpaceX launches
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Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is asking the federal government to limit the number of launches Elon Musk's SpaceX can carry out on Cape Canaveral with its Starship-SuperHeavy (Ss-SH), reigniting the feud between the billionaire rivals in their battle for aerospace dominance.
Blue Origin posted a comment last week to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requesting the agency put a cap on SpaceX's Ss-SH in the area, where Blue Origin has operations on several sites.
Jeff Bezos speaks about his flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard into space during a press conference in Van Horn, Texas, on July 20, 2021. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bezos' aerospace firm cited several concerns, particularly for the local environment, arguing that "Ss-SH operations are expected to have a greater environmental impact than any other launch system currently operating" nearby.
In response to the move, Tesla CEO Musk posted on his social media site X, "Sue Origin," and confirmed the assessment of his message by his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which stated that Musk was making "a tongue-in-cheek comment about Blue Origin's past lawsuits against SpaceX, such as the one over NASA's lunar lander contract."
Elon Musk attends "Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk" session during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, on June 19. (Marc Piasecki/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"The phrase ‘Sue Origin’ could be interpreted as a sarcastic way of saying that Blue Origin has a history of resorting to legal action rather than competing fairly in the marketplace," Grok added.
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Musk later wrote that it is "Not cool" of Blue Origin "to try (for the third time) to impede SpaceX’s progress by lawfare."
SpaceX's Starship launches its fourth flight test from the company's Boca Chica launchpad near Brownsville, Texas, on June 6. (SpaceX/Handout via Reuters / Reuters Photos)
After SpaceX was awarded a NASA contract for a lunar lander in 2021, Blue Origin filed a protest to the Government Accountability Office (GOA), arguing Musk's company received preferential treatment during the Human Landing System selection process and citing safety issues. The GOA dismissed the petition.
Blue Origin then sued NASA over the issue, and that lawsuit was dismissed.
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FOX Business has reached out to both Blue Origin and SpaceX seeking comment on Blue Origin's comment to the FAA.