Rocket Lab has filed a formal protest with the US Government Accountability Office over NASA’s award of a Mars Telecommunications Network contract to Blue Origin, raising a challenge to the agency’s decision on a programme worth up to $700 million. The dispute centres on NASA’s Mars communications orbiter procurement, which is intended to support future missions around the Red Planet.
Rocket Lab said NASA’s award decision appears inconsistent with eligibility criteria set by Congress and argued that the agency’s review of its technical proposal was inconsistent. NASA selected Blue Origin earlier in September for the contract to design, develop, integrate, launch and operate the relay spacecraft, with delivery expected by the end of 2028 and operational capability targeted for 2030.
The protest adds uncertainty to a key piece of deep-space infrastructure work and could slow the timeline for Mars communications capability. Blue Origin and Rocket Lab had both been linked to the competition, which has become the latest high-value procurement dispute in the US space sector.