What is Blue Origin? Its towering rocket in Cape Canaveral, connection to Jeff Bezos
Amazon is a company most Americans, scratch that, most people in the world are familiar with.
But what about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ space company? Back in 2000, billionaire Bezos founded Blue Origin.
The company created buzz this week when it moved its gigantic rocket, we’re talking as tall as a 30-story building, to a launch pad in Cape Canaveral. This is the first time the public can view the advanced, heavy-lift New Glenn rocket.
It's all exciting stuff, but what exactly does Bezos's company Blue Origin do?
What is the mission of Blue Origin?
Blue Origin’s mission is “building a road to space so our children can build the future.”
To do this, the company is developing reusable launch vehicles and in-space systems for civil, commercial and defense customers. Its customers include United Launch Alliance and NASA.
What are the Blue Origin launch vehicles and rockets?
Blue Moon is a single-launch, lunar cargo lander. It will remain on the moon’s surface and provide access to the lunar environment.
NASA contracted Blue Origin for the Blue Moon to be part of the Artemis program.
New Shepard, designed for space tourism, is a fully reusable suborbital launch vehicle. It is named after Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space.
Bezos, his brother and two other passengers took the first flight on the vehicle July 20, 2021. There have since been six other missions with passengers that have included actor William Shatner and Hall of Fame football player Michael Strahan.
Each flight lasts about 10 minutes.
If buying a seat on one of these missions isn’t in the cards for you, head to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new virtual reality experience allows guests to sit in a similar capsule and take a ride on the next closest thing.
New Glenn, named after astronaut John Glenn, was moved this week to Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The more than 320-foot rocket will remain upright for one week of testing.
Among the largest space vehicles ever built, New Glenn has a reusable first stage, expendable upper stage and jumbo-sized 7-meter-diameter nose cone fairing to enclose large payloads.
Blue Origin officials remain tight-lipped regarding the New Glenn target inaugural launch date. Company officials only said it will happen this year.
Blue Origin vs. SpaceX
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started Blue Origin in 2000, while Elon Musk created SpaceX in 2002. But the billionaires have taken markedly different paths in developing orbital rockets, said Laura Forczyk, founder and executive director of the Atlanta space consulting firm Astralytical. She does not view Blue Origin as a short-term competitor to SpaceX.
"They've had just as much time as SpaceX. They've had just as much time as SpaceX — but they've been taking their time. They've been very deliberate. And they have different areas of interest," Forczyk said.
SpaceX rockets accounted for 68 of the Space Coast's 72 orbital launches last year, along with nine of the 10 launches thus far in 2024. That represents 94% of that 82-launch total.
Conversely, Forczyk said Blue Origin's sights are focused on lunar development. Last May, Blue Origin secured a $3.4 billion contract to develop a human landing system for NASA's Artemis V mission to send astronauts to the moon.
"Right now, they're not even competing for the same customer base in the short term. In the long term is where things might change. Because in the long term, we do have (SpaceX's) Starship becoming operational and increasing its cadence, and we just don't know what that's going to look like yet," Forczyk said.
"But what's interesting will be how New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan and Starship all compete in the long run," she said.
Who is Jeff Bezos?
Bezos consistently ranks among the richest people in the world. He’s currently No. 3 on the list, behind Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk.
The billionaire has many ties to Florida as he went to high school in South Florida and reportedly owns two homes there. One of his mansions was purchased for a whopping $79 million while the other was a bargain at $68 million.
Bezos graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. Prior to Blue Origin, Bezos founded the shopping empire Amazon in the mid-90s.
He is a father to four children with his ex-wife MacKenzie. He is engaged to former media personality Lauren Sanchez.
Where is Blue Origin's headquarters?
The company is headquartered in Washington, but has a presence in other states. Van Horn, Texas is the launch and landing site for the New Shepard vehicles.
Where is Blue Origin located in Brevard County Florida?
Blue Origin operates out of a massive manufacturing complex at 8082 Space Commerce Way Merritt Island, not far from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Spitzer can be reached at Mspitzer@floridatoday.com