The space race between the world’s two wealthiest men heated up after Elon Musk trolled Jeff Bezos’ attempt to challenge a major NASA contract. Both billionaires have been trying to launch long-range orbital rockets and were competing against each other for a government contract to build a spaceship. This spaceship is said to deliver astronauts to the moon by 2024. 

However, as things turned out; Musk won the contract and in return trolled Bezos’s Blue Origin. Bezos’ Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) accusing NASA of making changes for contract bidders at the last minute. 

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Musk responded with a Tweet saying “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol.” Musk did not elaborate further. However, he did post a screenshot from a 2019 report about Blue Origin’s moon lander in the same thread. 

Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol

It’s not a surprise to see Musk trolling Bezos’ Blue Origin as it has fallen behind SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) on orbital transportation, The company has lost billions of dollars worth of contracts that are set to begin in 2022. NASA awarded SpaceX and defence contractor Dynetics the lunar contract over Blue Origin. It was the most sought after contract as it will push humans back on the moon for the first time since 1972. 

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"NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Landing System program and moved the goalposts at the last minute," Blue Origin said in an emailed statement to Reuters. "Their decision eliminates opportunities for competition, significantly narrows the supply base, and not only delays but also endangers America's return to the moon. Because of that, we've filed a protest with the GAO.”

The GAP also confirmed that SpaceX’s contract that was awarded by NASA was also challenged by Dynetics. Blue Origin’s 50-[age protest of the decision argued that NASA misjudged Blue Origin’s proposal to build the new Moon lander. 

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