Like many Americans, we are thankful for Mr. Bridenstine’s service leading NASA at one point. He deserves credit for spearheading the creation of the Artemis Program.
After departing NASA, he created a lobbying firm called the Artemis Group, representing a host of aerospace companies vying for NASA business → opensecrets.org/federal-lobbyi… **
Mr. Bridenstine’s current campaign against Starship is either misguided or intentionally misleading.
SpaceX was selected to design and develop a Human Landing System for Artemis along with Blue Origin and Dynetics during Mr. Bridenstine’s tenure as NASA Administrator → [nasa.gov/news-release/n…](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-names-companies-to-deve…
Like many Americans, we are thankful for Mr. Bridenstine’s service leading NASA at one point. He deserves credit for spearheading the creation of the Artemis Program.
After departing NASA, he created a lobbying firm called the Artemis Group, representing a host of aerospace companies vying for NASA business → opensecrets.org/federal-lobbyi… **
Mr. Bridenstine’s current campaign against Starship is either misguided or intentionally misleading.
SpaceX was selected to design and develop a Human Landing System for Artemis along with Blue Origin and Dynetics during Mr. Bridenstine’s tenure as NASA Administrator → nasa.gov/news-release/n… **
Starship was then selected by NASA for the Artemis III mission through fair and open competition after being identified as the best and lowest risk technical option – and the lowest price by a wide margin – by the civil servant team appointed to lead the agency’s exploration mission by Mr. Bridenstine himself:
The decision to select Starship was confirmed repeatedly following protest and litigation from the companies not selected which delayed the start of work on the contract for many months:
ecf.cofc.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p… **
Mr. Bridenstine’s recent musings promoting a new landing system – going so far as to invoke the Defense Production Act – are being misreported as though they were the unbiased thoughts of a former NASA Administrator. They are not.
To be clear, he is a paid lobbyist. He is representing his clients’ interests, and his comments should be seen for what they are – a paid lobbyist’s effort to secure billions more in government funding for his clients who are already years late and billions of dollars overbudget. **
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More from @SpaceX
Jan 3
Starship’s sixth flight test aimed to push the vehicle to its limits as we iterate towards a rapidly reusable rocket.
Up next: a new ship, new year, and new limits. Excitement still guaranteed → spacex.com/launches/missi…
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