Jeff Bezos ready to cover $2 billion in costs if NASA agrees for Blue Origin's moon mission contract

Jeff Bezos

Billionaire Jeff Bezos is offering to cover billions of dollars in costs for a contract with NASA to take astronauts to the moon.

In a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said Blue Origin would waive payments in the government's current fiscal year and the next ones after that up to $2 billion, and pay for an orbital mission to vet its technology. In exchange, the US Space Agency awards Blue Origin a contract to make a spacecraft designed to land astronauts back on the moon.

Earlier this year in April, NASA rejecting Blue Origin's bid, had awarded Elon Musk's SpaceX , a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2024.  The reason given was the space agency own funding shortfalls and SpaceX's proven record of orbital missions.

Following this, Blue Origin took the matter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office accusing NASA of giving SpaceX an unfair advantage by allowing it to revise its pricing.

"NASA veered from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to perceived near-term budgetary issues, and this offer removes that obstacle," Bezos wrote in the letter, as reported by Reuters.

The Amazon founder also added that without competition, NASA's lunar ambitions will be delayed, ultimately costing more which won't do any good for the national interest.

According to Reuters, a NASA  spokesperson informed that they are aware of Bezos' letter but declined to comment further. A SpaceX spokesperson did not respond to Reuter's request for a comment.

Bezos' offer comes a few days after his trip to space, where he flew alongside three crewmates to the edge of space aboard Blue Origin's rocket-and-capsule New Shepard.

(With inputs from Reuters)