Blue Origin and its “National Team” partners Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper have delivered their full scale lunar lander mock-up to NASA. The space agency will use the engineering prototype to simulate how it could get “crew, equipment, supplies and samples off and on the vehicle” in future moon missions, according to the press release.

While not a full prototype, the 40-foot-high mock-up does include the descent element based on Blue Origin’s Blue Moon cargo lander and BE-7 LOX/hydrogen engine. It also carries the ascent element developed by Lockheed Martin, including avionics, software, life support hardware and crew interfaces. Some of that tech is from Lockheed Martin’s human-rated, deep-space Orion vehicle that’s supposed to fly on NASA’s Artemis I and II moon test missions.

NASA already awarded space technology company Maxar a $375 million contract to develop the PPE last year. The agency says launching both components at the same time reduces costs and technical risks, since it will eliminate the need to dock two separate elements in the orbit where the Gateway will operate.

The $187 million contract NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman is enough to finalize the design of all systems and subsystems for a preliminary review expected to happen by the end of the year. If everything goes well, the company will sign a second contract to fabricate and assemble the actual HALO module that’s scheduled to blast off to space in 2023.

A second spacecraft, MEV-2, will help another Intelsat satellite in 2020 and should have the same amount of leftover fuel. Both MEVs are flexible, too. They can dock with 80 percent of current geostationary satellites, even if they weren’t designed for servicing.

If the MEV program ramps up, NASA could buy its services going forward. The agency is working on its own in-orbit service tech, such as refueling for satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Refueling vehicles like this could be vital going forward. They’d reduce the need for replacement satellites, of course, but they could also enable missions that wouldn’t be practical with existing satellite lifespans. Scientists could conduct longer-term studies, for instance. While satellites ideally wouldn’t need fuel in the first place, this is one step closer to making them more sustainable.

The firm also pointed to other criteria that it thought should have put it out front, including its ability to lower costs and offer vehicles that are “commercially viable.” Rivals, SpaceX argued, would have to “rely exclusively” on government contracts and thus drain taxpayer money. ULA was even going to rely on Russian rocket motors, defeating the government’s goal of reducing dependence on Russian hardware. SpaceX further noted that Blue Origin and Northrop delayed their development schedules soon after winning their contracts, negating promises they made when they were vying for the Air Force’s money.

On top of this, SpaceX said that it tried to dispute the awards through a neutral resolution process, but that the Air Force refused and provided only a vague, summarized rejection of the company’s arguments. On top of this, the lawsuit accused officials of switching the criteria for the contract without giving SpaceX or others to respond.

If successful, the lawsuit would require the Air Force to halt investment, reevaluate the offers and potentially “make a new award decision” based on new terms.

In a statement, a SpaceX spokesperson told Engadget the company was fine with the Air Force continuing with the second phase of its rocket procurement process “as currently planned,” but “respecfully disagrees” with the initial choice. The private spaceflight outfit was filing the lawsuit to “ensure a level playing field for competition,” according to the spokesperson.

It’s difficult to say if SpaceX’s suit will succeed. While the lawsuit shows some reasons to believe SpaceX was the victim of an unfair process, critics might characterize the lawsuit as sour grapes — it’s mad that it lost out and wants to prevent its competitors from gaining the upper hand. The Air Force isn’t likely to be receptive given that it already tossed out SpaceX’s earlier pleas. Whoever’s telling the truth, you can be sure that SpaceX will fight hard. Government contracts are a large part of its business, and losing even some of them could significantly hurt its bottom line.