NASA had originally planned to complete the bid award and have the pad transferred by October 1, 2013, but the protest delayed a decision until the GAO reached a decision on the protest. SpaceX said that they would be willing to support a multi-user arrangement for pad 39A. In December 2013, the GAO denied the Blue Origin protest and sided with NASA, which argued that the solicitation contained no preference on the use of the facility as either multi-use or single-use. "The [solicitation] document merely [asked] bidders to explain their reasons for selecting one approach instead of the other and how they would manage the facility". NASA selected the SpaceX proposal in late 2013 and signed a 20-year lease contract for Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX in April 2014. On April 30, 2020, Blue Origin's National Team, which includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, was awarded $579 million to develop an integrated human landing system as part of NASA's Artemis program to return humans to the Moon. On April 16, 2021, NASA awarded the Artemis moon lander work, in full, to the rival SpaceX bid. On April 26, 2021, Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, citing NASA's failure "... to allow offerors to meaningfully compete for an award when the Agency's requirements changed due to its undisclosed, perceived shortfall of funding ...", as well as the Agency's performance of a "... flawed competitive acquisition in contravention of BAA rules and requirements". On July 30, 2021, the GAO denied Blue Origin's protest. With ULA In September 2018, it was announced that Blue Origin's BE-4 engine had been selected by United Launch Alliance to provide first-stage rocket engines for ULA's next-generation booster design, the Vulcan rocket. The BE-4 engine is set to replace the Russian-built RD-180 currently powering ULA's Atlas V. With Military Agencies Blue Origin cooperated with Boeing in Phase 1 of the DARPA XS-1 spaceplane program. Blue Origin was reportedly in contracting talks with the United States Space Force as well according to Lt. General David Thompson. However, such talks ceased as of December 31, 2020. References External links 2000 establishments in Washington (state) Aerospace companies of the United States American companies established in 2000 Collier Trophy recipients Companies based in Kent, Washington Culberson County, Texas Privately held companies based in Washington (state) Private spaceflight companies Space Act Agreement companies Space tourism Technology companies established