Rocket Lab nonetheless holds out hope that it could possibly construct NASA’s subsequent Mars orbiter.
The company picked Blue Origin for that job earlier this month, awarding Jeff Bezos‘ spaceflight firm $700 million to develop, launch and function the Mars Telecommunications Community (MTN).
Immediately (Sept. 11), nonetheless, Rocket Lab announced that it has challenged that decision, filing a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Rocket Lab has filed a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office challenging NASA’s award decision for the Mars Telecommunications Network.NASA’s award decision appears to be inconsistent with the eligibility criteria mandated by Congress. In addition, the… pic.twitter.com/g48AWgiIoRSeptember 11, 2026
“NASA’s award choice seems to be inconsistent with the eligibility standards mandated by Congress. As well as, the company’s punitive assessment of Rocket Lab’s technical quantity was inconsistent, making incorrect assertions and conclusions,” Rocket Lab stated at the moment in an X post that laid out its argument.
“Procurement requirements exist to make sure honest competitors and defend public funding,” the California-based firm added. “We’re pursuing this assessment to make sure these requirements are upheld for vital infrastructure that can underpin American exploration at Mars for many years to come back.”
As its title suggests, the MTN orbiter will function a communications hyperlink between mission controllers right here on Earth and different NASA spacecraft learning the Crimson Planet. Simply two company orbiters fulfill that relay function lately, and each are fairly outdated: Mars Odyssey launched in 2001, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifted off in 2005.
NASA had been eyeing a brand new Mars telecom orbiter for years and at last bought Congressional funding for it in July 2025 — $700 million, to be exact. The company issued a request for proposals this past May, drawing appreciable curiosity from the personal sector.
Blue Origin and Rocket Lab had been extensively thought of the front-runners, and NASA ended up going with Blue. The award requires the corporate to ship MTN (which, regardless of the “community” in its title, is a single spacecraft) to NASA no later than Dec. 31, 2028. It is anticipated to be up and operating on the Crimson Planet by 2030.
Blue Origin has been in Rocket Lab’s footwear earlier than, and has behaved equally. Bezos’ firm filed a protest with the GAO in 2021 after NASA picked SpaceX to offer the primary crewed moon lander for the company’s Artemis program.
The GAO denied the protest in July of that 12 months. Blue Origin then sued NASA however misplaced in court docket in November 2021. The story has a contented ending for the corporate, nonetheless: NASA determined to pick a second Artemis lander as nicely, and Blue Origin received that contract in 2023. We’ll see how this story performs out for Rocket Lab…