据外媒报道，亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯旗下太空探索技术公司“蓝色起源”近日将美国国家航空航天局（NASA）告上法庭，抗议NASA将一份利润丰厚的登月合同授予太空探索公司（SpaceX）。

 

Jeff Bezos's space firm Blue Origin is suing Nasa over a decision to award a $2.9bn lunar lander contract to Elon Musk's SpaceX.

杰夫·贝佐斯的航天公司蓝色起源正在起诉美国航空航天局，因其决定将一项价值29亿美元（约合人民币187.9亿元）的月球着陆器合同授予埃隆·马斯克的太空探索公司。

 

The former Amazon boss's firm said there were "fundamental issues" with the deal, calling it unfair.

蓝色起源表示，这笔交易存在“根本问题”，称其不公平。

 

The row stems from a decision in April to hand the deal to one company, not two as expected, because of a funding shortfall.

这场争吵源于4月份的一项决定。由于资金短缺，美国航空航天局决定让一家公司中标，而不是预期中的两家公司。

 

2019年7月20日，美国国家航空航天局公布了阿尔忒弥斯计划，提出在2024年前美国将重返月球，并最终在月球表面建立一个长期生存的基地。

 

今年4月，美国国家航空航天局宣布，已选择马斯克的太空探索作为唯一指定月球着陆器供应商。

 

In a court filing on Friday, Blue Origin said it continued to believe that two providers were needed to build the landing system, which will carry astronauts down to the Moon's surface as early as 2024.

在8月13日提交的一份法庭文件中，蓝色起源表示，他们仍然认为需要由两家供应商建造着陆系统，该系统最早将于2024年将宇航员运送到月球表面。

 

It also accused Nasa of "unlawful and improper¹ evaluation²" of its proposals during the tender process.

蓝色起源还指控美国国家航空航天局在招标过程中对其提案进行了“非法和不当的评估”。

 

"We firmly believe that the issues identified in this procurement³ and its outcomes must be addressed to restore fairness, create competition and ensure a safe return to the Moon for America," Blue Origin said.

蓝色起源表示：“我们坚信，必须解决此次采购及其结果中发现的问题，以彰显公平与竞争精神，同时确保美国安全登月。”

 

At the time of the award, Nasa's human exploration chief, Kathy Lueders, admitted that the space agency's current budget precluded⁴ it from selecting two companies. That was after Congress granted it only $850m of the $3.3bn it requested for the project.

美国国家航空航天局人类探索主管凯西·卢德斯承认，在做决定时，该机构目前的预算无法让它选择两家公司。此前，国会只批准了该项目所需33亿美元（约合人民币213.8亿元）中的8.5亿美元（约合人民币55亿元）。

 

Nasa also cited the proven record of orbital missions by Elon Musk's SpaceX firm as a factor in the award. Cost is also thought to have played a role: SpaceX's bid was the lowest-priced by some distance.

美国国家航空航天局还将太空探索公司可靠的轨道飞行任务记录作为中标因素之一。成本起了一定作用：太空探索的出价显然是最低的。

 

In July, Mr Bezos offered to cover up to $2bn of Nasa's costs in order to be reconsidered for the contract, but he was rebuffed.

7月，贝佐斯提出向美国国家航空航天局支付高达20亿美元（约合人民币129.6亿元）的费用，以便使其重新考虑这份合同，但遭到拒绝。

 

US watchdog the Government Accountability Office (GAO), meanwhile, rejected a complaint from Blue Origin and defence contractor⁵ Dynetic, saying that Nasa had not "acted improperly⁶" in handing the contract to just one firm.

与此同时，美国监管机构政府问责局（GAO）拒绝了蓝色起源和国防承包商Dynetic的投诉，称美国国家航空航天局仅让一家公司中标没有“不当行为”。

 

Nasa must file a response to the legal action by 12 October. SpaceX is yet to comment on the lawsuit⁷.

美国国家航空航天局必须在10月12日前对蓝色起源的起诉作出回应。太空探索尚未对这起诉讼发表评论。

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