NASA's competition for the development of private space stations that will take flight in the 2030s is already nearing crunch time. But a recently unsealed lawsuit may spice things up even further.
The lawsuit involves two of the most prominent companies in this competition, Houston-based Axiom Space and Long Beach, California-based Vast Space. And it is surfacing as final proposals for private space stations are due from companies to the US space agency a little more than one month from today, on December 14.
According to the court filings unsealed by a November 4 order from US District Judge Charles Eskridge, Axiom is pursuing a False Claims Act case against Vast in which Axiom accuses Vast of presenting NASA with a fraudulent mission-planning document that incorporates Axiom's proprietary information.
