Re: Boom!
The defendant is NASA. The plaintiffs are Dynetics and Blue Origin (head of the National) team.
Dynetics are not in the launch (from Earth) or land (on Earth) business but have done a variety of impressive space related projects.
Blue have successfully launched payloads to space (not orbit) and landed them on Earth again. They might have a really big orbital rocket ready eventually and stage one of that rocket is designed to land on Earth and be re-used. Perhaps that will explode a few times before they get it working but you will have to wait until at least Q4 2022 to find out.
Other members of the national team (like ULA and Boeing) have done impressive things in space and operate old expensive expendable rockets reliably (rockets that used to explode when they were new designs). ULA will launch a new rocket design (Vulcan) perhaps as early as the end of this year. It may or may not explode a few times before they get it working. Boeing might one day launch the SLS rocket (do not hold your breath). If it explodes it will be at least a year before they can have another one ready to launch/explode.
Dynetics and Blue are complaining because NASA awarded the Artemis HLS contract only to SpaceX. SpaceX operate the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets that have the highest flight cadence and lowest insurance rates in the world. Falcon rocket first stages have landed on Earth over 80 times. Even though falcon heavy is the biggest rocket currently in operation it is too small for a return trip to the moon in one launch.
The rocket you see exploding every month is a SpaceX Starship. That is the one that NASA is going to hire for their ride from near the Moon to the Moon and back to near the Moon. Although Starship is much bigger than a Falcon Heavy it is still cheaper to build and blow up. So far each Starship that has blown up has done so for a different reason (some have flown a short distance and landed before being scrapped or retired). It has been months since one blew up on the launch pad. In the current plan for Artemis there will be no astronauts in a Starship when it lands/explodes back on Earth. You can probably look forward to several more entertaining Starship explosions until SpaceX discover and fix every possible reason why a Starship can explode. Do not expect such a spectacular test program from any of the others as their factories cannot produce new rockets fast or cheap enough.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
