9. Contractors’ Competition Hampered Progress
Major aerospace companies fiercely vied for lucrative NASA contracts, leading to intense competition that sometimes devolved into lawsuits and bureaucratic delays. For instance, in 2021, Blue Origin filed a lawsuit challenging NASA’s award of a lunar lander contract to SpaceX, resulting in a four-month delay in the program. Such inter-company disputes and slow-moving bureaucracy often delayed spacecraft delivery and inflated costs, compelling NASA to switch suppliers mid-project. This environment of competition and contention significantly hampered the efficiency and progress of critical space missions (washingtonpost.com).
