Rocket Lab has filed a formal protest after NASA awarded Blue Origin a $700 million contract to build a Mars satellite network. Rocket Lab argues the award violates eligibility criteria set by Congress, while separately closing in on a deal that would make it profitable on Earth.
Rocket Lab lost a bid for NASA's Mars Telecommunications Network and is now fighting the decision through formal channels. The company filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office on Sept. 11, arguing NASA's selection process broke the rules Congress set for the contract.
NASA hands Mars deal to Blue Origin
NASA issued a Request for Proposals in May 2026 inviting companies to build a Mars Telecommunications Network, or MTN, made up of multiple satellites orbiting the planet. Rocket Lab bid for the work, but NASA awarded the $700 million contract to Blue Origin instead. Blue Origin must deliver a single Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, based on its Blue Ring spacecraft, no later than Dec. 31, 2028, though NASA says the full network won't be operational until 2030.
Rocket Lab challenges the award
Rocket Lab called NASA's decision "punitive," "inconsistent," and "incorrect." According to Rocket Lab: "NASA's award decision appears to be inconsistent with the eligibility criteria mandated by Congress". Blue Origin countered that its selection process was "rigorous" and its bid "strong."
The dispute now follows a set timeline. NASA has 30 days from the Sept. 11 filing to report to the GAO on how it picked the winner, both companies get 10 days to comment, and the GAO then has 60 days to rule — roughly 100 days total. If the GAO sides with Rocket Lab, NASA would have to reevaluate the bids. If it rules against Rocket Lab, the company could still escalate the fight to federal court, as Blue Origin itself did in 2021 after losing a NASA lunar lander contract to Space Exploration Technologies.
A prolonged fight carries its own risk: Mars launch windows open roughly every 26 months, so a long delay could push any MTN launch past the 2028 window.
A better picture back on Earth
The Mars protest follows another setback — Congress already cut funding earlier this year for a separate $4 billion Mars sample-return mission the company had hoped to win. Its core business looks steadier: on Sept. 24, Iridium Communications shareholders approved Rocket Lab's offer to buy the company for $8 billion. Once that merger closes, Rocket Lab would add Iridium's $884 million in annual revenue to its own $769 million in sales, a combination the company expects would make it profitable and free-cash-flow-positive.
Source: The Motley Fool
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