Image: Bigelow Aerospace/NASA
We just learned that Bigelow Aerospace has filed a lawsuit against NASA for unpaid fees in the amount of one million fifty thousand dollars. Robert Bigelow - a famous Nevada billionaire entrepreneur and former owner of the infamous Skinwalker Ranch - was under contract with NASA to develop, design, and manufacture expandable space station modules. In the court documents, Bigelow's attorneys claim that Mr. Bigelow's company fulfilled and exceeded its obligations with the space agency and demand to be remunerated for their part of the contract.
In a statement to Mystery Wire, Bigelow complained about NASA withholding payment due to unjustified demands for more test data about the BA 330 inflatable space modules - a requirement that was fully satisfied by his company, according to him:
I built the BA 330 with my own money. We signed a contract with NASA and were to be paid $1.65 million total. We did what we agreed to do. We not only monitored the spacecraft for six months as specified in the agreement, we did it for 8 months.
It remains to be seen if both parties will come to a settlement, but Mr. Bigelow vows that his company "will not be treated like a doormat" by the big space boys in Washington.