Private space company SpaceX filed a lawsuit against the US Federal government, writes The Washington Post, citing court documents. Elon Musk’s company insists on the confidentiality of the claim information.
The claim came to the US Federal court, which, in particular, considers claims against the government for procurement and contracts. The statement of the company states that the text of the claim should not be disclosed, because it contains “confidential and proprietary information that should not be public.” The final decision on whether to keep the claim in secret will be decided by the court.
Because of the confidentiality of the claim, it remains unclear which public procurement program SpaceX is appealing. However, as noted by The Washington Post, information about the claim appeared exactly when the US air force began preparing large contracts for space launches, whose potential cost is estimated at several billion dollars. Contracts should be signed with two companies. The Pentagon will determine with the choice of contractors in 2020.
Last year, SpaceX lost a contract to the US air force to Finance the development of missiles to launch government satellites. The company dropped out of the competition. Its competitors — the United Launch Alliance (ULA), Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin (private space company Jeff Bezos) – shared more than $2 billion received from the Pentagon.
According to GeekWire, SpaceX has already had to sue the government. In 2014, the company filed a lawsuit after the air force ordered 36 rocket stages from ULA, which is a joint venture of industrial giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing. This company managed to win the contract due to the fact that only it had certification for launches in the interests of national security. After the claim of Elon Musk, the US air force developed a certification agreement SpaceX, and the company refused to claim.
In early May, the SpaceX Dragon space truck successfully delivered the cargo to the International space station. Less successful was the flight to the ISS of the newest spacecraft Dragon-2. Despite the fact that the ship successfully docked with the station, an alarm was triggered on the Russian segment of the ISS. The reason for the development of the sensor was an increase in the concentration of isopropyl alcohol in the atmosphere of the station. Russia in this regard sent a request to NASA, which confirmed the incident, but noted that the danger to the crew it did not represent.
