{"id":892269,"date":"2026-09-15T00:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/892269\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T00:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:30:09","slug":"rocket-lab-is-seeing-red-about-nasas-decision-on-a-mars-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/892269\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab is seeing red about NASA’s decision on a Mars spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"

In theory, developing a spacecraft that will fly to Mars, insert itself into orbit around the red planet, and relay transmissions back and forth to large satellite dishes on Earth is a relatively straightforward proposition.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s procurement of a \u201cMars Telecommunications Network\u201d spacecraft, however, has turned out to be one of the most engrossing dramas of the year for the US space agency.<\/p>\n

The agency finally reached a decision earlier this month, selecting Blue Origin to develop, launch, and operate a $700 million spacecraft at Mars. However, the main competitor for the award, Rocket Lab, was not happy\u2014at all. On Friday, the company filed a protest of NASA\u2019s decision with the US Government Accountability Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA\u2019s award decision appears to be inconsistent with the eligibility criteria mandated by Congress,\u201d the company said on X<\/a>. \u201cIn addition, the agency\u2019s punitive review of Rocket Lab\u2019s technical volume was inconsistent, making incorrect assertions and conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Blue Origin said the protest could potentially delay the mission\u2019s goal of launching in 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain confident in the strength of our proposal, in NASA\u2019s rigorous selection process, and in Congress\u2019s clear intent to support competition for the Mars Telecommunications Network program,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe look forward to advancing this urgent mission. With limited Mars launch windows, any delay will greatly risk the timely deployment of this critical communications capability.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Big Beautiful spacecraft<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s protest announcement references \u201celigibility criteria mandated by Congress,\u201d and this appears to be the heart of the issue at hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In theory, developing a spacecraft that will fly to Mars, insert itself into orbit around the red planet,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-892269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}