Blue Origin facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Space |
| Founded | September 8, 2000 |
| Founder | Jeff Bezos |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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11 (4 production facilities & 7 field offices) |
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Area served
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United States of America |
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Key people
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Dave Limp (CEO) |
| Products | New Shepard New Glenn Blue Moon Blue Ring Orbital Reef |
| Owner | Jeff Bezos |
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Number of employees
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11,000 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries | Honeybee Robotics |
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Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American company that builds amazing space technology. Its main office is in Kent, Washington. The company uses its own rockets, like the New Shepard for short trips to space and the New Glenn for bigger missions.
Blue Origin also makes engines for its own rockets and for other companies, like United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. They are also working on a special lander to help astronauts land on the Moon for NASA's Artemis program. Plus, they are building a space platform called Blue Ring and a space station called Orbital Reef with other groups.
The company was started in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, who also founded Amazon. For a while, Blue Origin kept its work a secret. In 2015, they had a big success: their New Shepard rocket flew without a crew and landed back on Earth. They also announced plans for the New Glenn rocket. In 2021, Jeff Bezos himself flew on the New Shepard rocket, crossing the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level and is considered the edge of space. In 2023, they sent their first BE-4 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance. In September 2023, Dave Limp became the new CEO to help the company move forward even faster. On January 16, 2025, the New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time.
Contents
History of Blue Origin
Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon. Rob Meyerson was the CEO until 2018, and Bob Smith took over until 2023. Now, Dave Limp is in charge.
In its early years, Blue Origin didn't share much about what it was doing. In 2006, the company bought land in Van Horn, Texas, for its New Shepard missions. This place is called Launch Site One (LS1). In November 2006, they launched their first test rocket, called Goddard, which flew up 285 feet (87 meters).
Before 2012, Blue Origin started working on a rocket that could reach orbit. In 2013, they shared that the first part of their rocket would land vertically and be used again. In September 2015, they officially announced their plans for an orbital rocket. In January 2016, they said this new rocket would be much bigger than New Shepard. In September 2016, they revealed its name: "New Glenn". The New Glenn rocket can have two or three parts that separate during flight. It was planned to launch in late 2024.
On July 20, 2021, the New Shepard rocket made its first flight with people to sub-orbital space. This flight, called Blue Origin NS-16, lasted about 10 minutes and crossed the Kármán line. The passengers were Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen. Other New Shepard flights with passengers and cargo followed, including Blue Origin NS-17, Blue Origin NS-18, Blue Origin NS-19, Blue Origin NS-20, Blue Origin NS-21 and Blue Origin NS-23.
Blue Origin likes to build its technology step-by-step. They started with rockets that go just to the edge of space (sub-orbital) and are now moving towards rockets that go into orbit. In 2014, they began making rocket engines for other companies. They agreed to build the BE-4 engine for United Launch Alliance (ULA). ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket, which uses two BE-4 engines, had its first flight in early 2024. On June 7, 2023, ULA tested the Vulcan Centaur rocket's engines at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, and the two BE-4 engines worked perfectly.
In 2024, Blue Origin won its first contract with the United States Space Force to use the New Glenn rocket for launches.
Blue Origin's Rockets
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New Shepard
The New Shepard is a rocket designed for space tourism. This means it takes people on short trips to the edge of space. It's named after Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space. The rocket can take off and land vertically, carrying people or cargo to the edge of space.
The New Shepard rocket has two main parts: a booster rocket and a crew capsule. The capsule can hold up to six people, cargo, or both. The booster rocket uses one BE-3PM engine. This engine sends the capsule up to about 100.5 kilometers (62.4 miles) high, which is above the Kármán line. Up there, passengers can float for a few minutes before the capsule comes back to Earth.
This rocket is designed to be fully reusable. The capsule returns to Earth using three parachutes and a small rocket motor. The booster lands vertically back on the same launchpad it took off from. Blue Origin has successfully launched and landed the New Shepard rocket 26 times. It had one partial failure (still considered successful) and one full failure. The rocket is 19.2 meters (63 feet) long and 3.8 meters (12 feet) wide. It weighs about 75 short tons (68,000 kg) at launch. The BE-3PM engine creates 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds-force) of thrust when it takes off. Being reusable helps Blue Origin make space tourism more affordable.
New Glenn
The New Glenn is a very powerful rocket that had its first successful launch in January 2025. Its first launch date was delayed many times. It's named after NASA astronaut John Glenn. Work on this rocket started in early 2012. Pictures and details about the rocket were first shown to the public in September 2016. The full rocket was first seen on a launch pad on February 21, 2024. The rocket is 7 meters (23 feet) wide. Its first stage uses seven BE-4 engines. Blue Origin says its nose cone, which holds the cargo, is the biggest in the world.
Like the New Shepard, the first part of the New Glenn rocket is also designed to be reusable. In 2021, the company started thinking about ways to make the second part of the rocket reusable too. This project was called "Project Jarvis".
On February 9, 2023, NASA announced that it chose the New Glenn rocket to launch two special spacecraft called ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers). The New Glenn rocket will launch ESCAPADE in mid-2025. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will reach Mars's orbit about a year after launch.
In 2024, Blue Origin received money from the United States Space Force to see if New Glenn could launch important national security payloads. In 2025, it successfully launched New Glenn for the first time.
Blue Moon Lander
In May 2019, Jeff Bezos showed off plans for a lunar lander called Blue Moon. This lander is designed to carry up to 3,600 kilograms (7,900 pounds) to the Moon's surface. A larger version can carry up to 6,500 kilograms (14,300 pounds). Both versions are built to land softly on the Moon.
In 2020, Blue Origin teamed up with other companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to propose the Blue Moon lander for NASA's Artemis program. NASA chose another company for the main human landing system contract in 2021. Blue Origin disagreed with this decision. This led to NASA giving Blue Origin a separate contract for Blue Moon in 2023.
The lander uses the BE-7 engine, which runs on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. On May 19, 2023, NASA hired Blue Origin to build and test the Blue Moon landing system for the Artemis V mission. This mission will help explore the Moon and get ready for future trips to Mars. The contract is worth $3.4 billion and includes an uncrewed test flight, followed by a crewed Moon landing planned for 2029.
In mid-2024, Blue Origin announced that they successfully finished testing the thrusters for the first version of the Blue Moon lander.
Rocket Engines
BE-1
Blue Origin's first engine is called the Blue Engine-1 (BE-1). It's a simple engine that uses peroxide fuel and creates 2,000 pounds-force (8.9 kilonewtons) of thrust.
BE-2
The Blue Engine-2 (BE-2) is a different type of engine. It uses two kinds of fuel, kerosene and peroxide. This engine produces 31,000 pounds-force (138 kilonewtons) of thrust.
BE-3 (BE-3U and BE-3PM)
The BE-3 is a family of rocket engines made by Blue Origin. There are two versions: BE-3U and BE-3PM. These engines use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. They can produce 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds-force) and 710 kilonewtons (160,000 pounds-force) of thrust, respectively. Testing for these engines started at NASA Stennis in 2013. By the end of 2013, the BE-3 had been successfully tested for a full sub-orbital flight. It showed it could change its power, run for a long time, and restart reliably. NASA even released a video of the test. By December 2013, the engine had been started more than 160 times and run for 9,100 seconds (2.5 hours) at the company's test site in Van Horn, Texas.
- The BE-3U is a version of the BE-3 that uses an "open expander cycle." Two of these engines will power the second stage of the New Glenn rocket. The BE-3U produces 710 kilonewtons (160,000 pounds-force) of thrust.
- The BE-3PM uses a "pump-fed" design. It takes a small amount of hot gas from its main engine to power the pumps that push the fuel. One of these engines powers the Propulsive Module (PM) of the New Shepard rocket. The BE-3PM produces 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds-force) of thrust. It can also be powered down to 110 kilonewtons (25,000 pounds-force) for controlled vertical landings.
BE-4
The BE-4 is a rocket engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas (LNG). It can produce 550,000 pounds-force (2,400 kilonewtons) of thrust.
In late 2014, Blue Origin agreed with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to develop the BE-4 engine. This engine would replace the Russian-made RD-180 engine on ULA's upgraded Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur rockets. The new Vulcan Centaur rocket uses two of these powerful BE-4 engines on its first stage. Development for the BE-4 engine began in 2011.
On October 31, 2022, Blue Origin announced that the first two BE-4 engines had been sent to ULA. ULA's CEO, Tory Bruno, later confirmed that one engine was already installed on the rocket. On June 7, 2023, the two BE-4 engines worked perfectly during a test of the Vulcan Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Vulcan Centaur launched for the first time on January 8, 2024. It successfully carried Astrobotic Technology's Peregrine lunar lander. This was the first mission in NASA's CLPS program to use the BE-4 engine.
BE-7
The BE-7 engine is being developed to power the Blue Moon lander. It uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen and produces 10,000 pounds-force (44 kilonewtons) of thrust. Its first tests happened in June 2019, and testing continued through 2023.
Pusher escape motor
Blue Origin worked with Aerojet Rocketdyne to create a special "pusher" escape system for the New Shepard crew capsule. This system helps the capsule quickly get away from the rocket if there's an emergency during launch. Aerojet Rocketdyne makes the solid rocket motor for the escape system, while Blue Origin designs and builds the system that steers the capsule during an emergency.
Blue Origin Facilities
Blue Origin has facilities all over the United States. These include five main locations and five smaller offices:
- Kent, Washington (main headquarters)
- Van Horn, Texas
- Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama
- Arlington, Virginia
- Denver, Colorado
- Los Angeles, California
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Washington, DC
The company's main office is in Kent, Washington, where they develop their rockets. Since 2016, Blue Origin has been expanding its offices and rocket-making facilities in the Seattle metropolitan area. In 2017, they planned to build a new large warehouse and more office space. On June 6, 2020, they opened their new headquarters and research facility, called the O'Neill Building.
Launch Site One (LSO)
Corn Ranch, also known as Launch Site One (LSO), is Blue Origin's launch site. It's about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Van Horn, Texas.
This site has the launchpad for the New Shepard rocket and a landing pad for the booster. LSO also has several places to test rocket engines. These test cells can handle full-power and long-duration burns for different types of engines, including the BE-3 and BE-4.
Blue Engine Facility
Engine production happens in Huntsville, Alabama, at a large facility called "Blue Engine." Blue Origin's website says this facility makes many BE-4 and BE-3U engines.
The company is planning to expand its Huntsville campus even more, buying additional land nearby.
Orbital Launch Site (OLS)
The Orbital Launch Site (OLS) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida is where Blue Origin develops and tests its orbital rockets. The company changed Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) to launch the New Glenn rocket into orbit. This facility was finished in 2020 and is used to build New Glenn rockets, test them, and work on their designs.
The facility covers 306 acres (124 hectares) of land, which used to be several old launch complexes. This land is used to build a test stand for the BE-4 engine, a launch mount called the Orbital Launch Site, and a facility to prepare the reusable New Glenn booster after it lands on a special ship and returns to Port Canaveral. Large parts of the New Glenn rocket, like its stages and nose cone, are made nearby in Exploration Park.
Blue Origin has also leased land at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. They plan to build a New Glenn launchpad there to launch satellites into polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit.
Other Projects
Blue Ring (Space Truck Vehicle)
Blue Origin announced the Blue Ring vehicle in October 2023. It will have its own engine and is designed to move things around in orbit and deliver them. In March 2024, Blue Origin and the United States Space Force announced that Blue Ring's abilities would be tested soon on a mission called DarkSky-1.
Orbital Reef (Commercial Space Station)
Blue Origin and its partners, including Sierra Space and Boeing, received $130 million to start designing their Orbital Reef commercial space station. This project is imagined as a space business park. Spacecraft like Boeing Starliner and Dream Chaser will take passengers to and from low Earth orbit for tourism, research, and making things in space.
Orbital Reef will be built with parts that can be added or changed easily. It will be designed to connect with almost any spacecraft, like SpaceX Dragon 2, Soyuz (spacecraft), Dream Chaser, and Boeing Starliner. The first parts will be called Life, Node, Core, and Research Modules.
In 2024, NASA gave Orbital Reef an extra $42 million, bringing the total award to $172 million.
Nuclear Rocket Program
NASA plans to test spacecraft and engines powered by nuclear fission by 2027. This is part of NASA's effort to find more efficient ways to travel through space. One benefit of using nuclear power for spacecraft is that nuclear systems can be lighter than solar cells. This means a spacecraft could be smaller while using the same amount of energy more efficiently. Nuclear fission could greatly reduce the cost and time needed for space exploration.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency gave contracts to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin to build nuclear spacecraft. This is part of DARPA's DRACO program. Blue Origin received $2.9 million to design parts for these spacecraft.
Blue Origin also partnered with other companies like Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation to win a $5 million contract from NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy. This contract is to develop a long-range nuclear propulsion system called PADME.
Space Technology
In 2023, NASA gave Blue Origin $35 million for its work on using lunar regolith (Moon dust and crushed rock) to create solar-powered systems on the Moon. The company's website says that "Blue Alchemist" is a plan to make solar cells from lunar regolith. This process would provide unlimited electricity and power cables anywhere on the Moon. It also creates oxygen as a useful side product for rocket fuel and life support.
Gary Lai, the chief architect of the New Shepard rocket, said that Blue Origin wants to be the first company to use natural resources from the Moon. He also mentioned that the company is finding new ways to use the vast resources in outer space.
Blue Origin Flight Data
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Timeline of SpaceShipOne, SpaceShipTwo, CSXT and New Shepard sub-orbital flights. Where booster and capsule achieved different altitudes, the higher is plotted. In the SVG file, hover over a point to show details.
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In the chart below, ♺ means "Flight Proven Booster" (the rocket part that has flown before).
| Flight No. | Date | Vehicle | Apogee | Outcome | Notes |
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| 1 | March 5, 2005 | Charon | 315 ft (0.05 mi) | Success | Test Flight |
| 2 | November 13, 2006 | Goddard | 279 ft (0.05 mi) | Success | First rocket-powered test flight |
| 3 | March 22, 2007 | Goddard ♺ | N/A | Success | Test Flight |
| 4 | April 19, 2007 | Goddard ♺ | N/A | Success | Test Flight |
| 5 | May 6, 2011 | PM2 (Propulsion Module) | N/A | Success | Test Flight |
| 6 | August 24, 2011 | PM2 (Propulsion Module) ♺ | N/A | Failure | Test Flight |
| 7 | October 19, 2012 | New Shepard capsule | N/A | Success | Pad escape test flight |
| 8 | April 29, 2015 | New Shepard 1 | 307,000 ft (58 mi) | Partial success | Flight to altitude 93.5 km, capsule recovered, booster crashed on landing |
| 9 | November 23, 2015 | New Shepard 2 | 329,839 ft (62 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing |
| 10 | January 22, 2016 | New Shepard 2 ♺ | 333,582 ft (63 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster |
| 11 | April 2, 2016 | New Shepard 2 ♺ | 339,178 ft (64 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster |
| 12 | June 19, 2016 | New Shepard 2 ♺ | 331,501 ft (63 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster: The fourth launch and landing of the same rocket. The company published a live webcast of the takeoff and landing. |
| 13 | October 5, 2016 | New Shepard 2 ♺ | Booster:307,458 ft (58 mi)
Capsule:23,269 ft (4 mi) |
Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster. Successful test of the in-flight abort system. The fifth and final launch and landing of the same rocket (NS2). |
| 14 | December 12, 2017 | New Shepard 3 | Booster:322,032 ft(61 mi)
Capsule:322,405 ft(61 mi) |
Success | Flight to just under 100 km and landing. The first launch of NS3 and a new Crew Capsule 2.0. |
| 15 | April 29, 2018 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 351,000 ft (66 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster. |
| 16 | July 18, 2018 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 389,846 ft (74 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital spaceflight and landing of a reused booster, with the Crew Capsule 2.0–1 RSS H.G.Wells, carrying a mannequin. Successful test of the in-flight abort system at high altitude. Flight duration was 11 minutes. |
| 17 | January 23, 2019 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 351,000 ft (66 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital flight, delayed from December 18, 2018. Eight NASA research and technology payloads were flown. |
| 18 | May 2, 2019 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 346,000 ft (65 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital flight. Max Ascent Velocity: 2,217 mph (3,568 km/h), duration: 10 minutes, 10 seconds. Payload: 38 microgravity research payloads (nine sponsored by NASA). |
| 19 | December 11, 2019 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 343,000 ft (64 mi) | Success | Sub-orbital flight, Payload: Multiple commercial, research (8 sponsored by NASA) and educational payloads, including postcards from Club for the Future. |
| 20 | October 13, 2020 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 346,000 ft (65 mi) | Success | 7th flight of the same capsule/booster. Onboard 12 payloads include Space Lab Technologies, Southwest Research Institute, postcards and seeds for Club for the Future, and multiple payloads for NASA including SPLICE to test future lunar landing technologies in support of the Artemis program |
| 21 | January 14, 2021 | New Shepard 4 | 350,858 ft (66 mi) | Success | Uncrewed qualification flight for NS4 rocket and "RSS First Step" capsule and maiden flight for NS4. |
| 22 | April 14, 2021 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 348,753 ft (66 mi) | Success | 2nd flight of NS4 with Astronaut Rehearsal. Gary Lai, Susan Knapp, Clay Mowry, and Audrey Powers, all Blue Origin personnel, are "stand-in astronauts". Lai and Powers briefly get in. |
| 23 | July 20, 2021 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,210 ft (66 mi) | Success | First crewed flight (NS-16). Crew: Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen. |
| 24 | August 26, 2021 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 347,434 ft (66 mi) | Success | Payload mission consisting of 18 commercial payloads inside the crew capsule, a NASA lunar landing technology demonstration installed on the exterior of the booster and an art installation installed on the exterior of the crew capsule. |
| 25 | October 13, 2021 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 341,434 ft (66 mi) | Success | Second crewed flight (NS-18). Crew: Audrey Powers, Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, and William Shatner. |
| 26 | December 11, 2021 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,050 ft (66 mi) | Success | Third crewed flight (NS-19). Crew: Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan, Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick, Lane Bess, and Cameron Bess. |
| 27 | March 31, 2022 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,050 ft (66 mi) | Success | Fourth crewed flight (NS-20). Crew: Marty Allen, Sharon Hagle, Marc Hagle, Jim Kitchen, George Nield, and Gary Lai. |
| 28 | June 4, 2022 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,050 ft (66 mi) | Success | Fifth crewed flight (NS-21). Crew: Evan Dick, Katya Echazarreta, Hamish Harding, Victor Correa Hespanha, Jaison Robinson, and Victor Vescovo. |
| 29 | August 4, 2022 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,050 ft (66 mi) | Success | Sixth crewed flight (NS-22). Crew: Coby Cotton, Mário Ferreira, Vanessa O'Brien, Clint Kelly III, Sara Sabry, and Steve Young. |
| 30 | September 12, 2022 | New Shepard 3 ♺ | 37,402 ft (7 mi) | Failure | Uncrewed flight with commercial payloads onboard (NS-23). A booster failure triggered the launch escape system during flight, and the capsule landed successfully. The Blue Origin incident investigation found that a thermal-structural failure occurred on the BE-3 nozzle leading to the launch failure. |
| 31 | December 19, 2023 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | 351,248 ft (107.060 km; 66.5242 mi) | Success | Successful Return to Flight mission (NS-24) following failure of NS-23 more than a year prior. 33 payloads and 38,000 Club for the Future postcards from students around the world. |
| 32 | 19 May 2024 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | c. 106 km | Success | Seventh crewed New Shepard flight (NS-25). Crew of six included: Kenneth Hess, Sylvain Chiron, Mason Angel, Ed Dwight, Carol Schaller, Gopi Thotakura |
| 33 | 29 August 2024 | New Shepard 4 ♺ | Capsule 105.3 km (65.4 mi) | Success | Eighth crewed New Shepard flight (NS-26). Crew of six included: Ephraim Rabin, Nicolina Elrick, Eugene Grin, Rob Ferl, Karsen Kitchen, Eiman Jahangir |
| 34 | 23 October 2024 | New Shepard 5 | Capsule 101 km (63 mi) | Success | Flight Blue Origin NS-27. First flight of Propulsion Module NS5 and capsule RSS Kármán Line. 12 payloads and tens of thousands of Club for the Future postcards. |
| 35 | 22 November 2024, 15:30 UTC | New Shepard 4 ♺ | Capsule 105.3 km (65.4 mi) | Success | Ninth crewed New Shepard flight (Blue Origin NS-28). Crew of six included: – Emily Calandrelli – Sharon Hagle – Marc Hagle – Austin Litteral – James (J.D.) Russell – Henry (Hank) Wolfond |
NASA Partnerships and Funding
Blue Origin has worked with NASA on several projects. In 2009, NASA gave Blue Origin $3.7 million to develop ideas and technology for future human spaceflight. This included testing a new "pusher" escape system, which is safer and cheaper because it can be reused. They also worked on a strong, lightweight cabin for astronauts.
In April 2011, NASA gave Blue Origin another $22 million. This money helped them review their orbital Space Vehicle design, further test the escape system, and speed up the development of their BE-3 engine.
In 2012, NASA asked companies to propose ways to deliver crews to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2017. Blue Origin didn't submit a proposal for this, but they kept working on their own projects with private money. In 2013, Blue Origin tried to lease Launch Complex 39A (LC39A) at the Kennedy Space Center from NASA. They wanted to share the launchpad with other companies to lower costs. However, SpaceX also bid for the launch complex, wanting to use it only for themselves. Blue Origin protested this, but the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) sided with NASA. In 2014, NASA signed a 20-year lease with SpaceX for Launch Pad 39A.
Blue Origin later made its first bid to NASA's Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) competition. They led a team called the "National Team" to develop a lunar lander for astronauts. In April 2020, Blue Origin and its partners won a $579 million contract to start developing a Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon. However, on April 16, 2021, NASA chose SpaceX to develop their version of the HLS for Artemis missions 2, 3, and 4.
In early 2021, Blue Origin received over $275 million from NASA for lunar lander projects and sub-orbital research flights.
On December 6, 2022, Blue Origin submitted a second bid for NASA's Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) competition. They again led a "National Team" to develop another lunar lander. This team included companies like Draper, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Honeybee Robotics.
On May 19, 2023, NASA hired Blue Origin to develop and test its Blue Moon landing system for the agency's Artemis V mission. This mission will explore the Moon and help prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. The project includes an uncrewed test mission followed by a crewed Moon landing in 2029. The contract is worth $3.4 billion.
Funding for Blue Origin
By July 2014, Jeff Bezos had put over $500 million of his own money into Blue Origin. Most of the company's funding for technology and operations came from Bezos's private investments. In April 2017, it was reported that Jeff Bezos was selling about $1 billion of Amazon stock each year to invest in Blue Origin. Some people have criticized Jeff Bezos for spending so much of his money on space travel.
In 2019, the United States Air Force gave Blue Origin $181 million for developing launch vehicles. The company could also get more money, up to $500 million, from the U.S. Space Force for national security launch contracts. On November 18, 2022, the U.S. Space Systems Command announced an agreement with Blue Origin. This agreement allows the company's New Glenn rocket to compete for secret military launch contracts once it is certified.
In a 2023 interview, Bob Smith, the former CEO, said that Blue Origin had "hundreds of millions in revenue" and "billions of dollars in orders."
Blue Origin is also part of the DARPA lunar programs, specifically Luna10, which studies how to operate on the Moon's surface.
Early Test Vehicles
Charon
Blue Origin's first test vehicle was called Charon, named after Pluto's moon. Instead of rockets, it was powered by four jet engines. This vehicle was used to test how the company would guide and control its future rockets. Charon made its only test flight on March 5, 2005, in Moses Lake, Washington. It flew up to 316 feet (96 meters) and then landed safely. As of 2016, Charon is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.
Goddard
The next test vehicle was named Goddard (also known as PM1). It first flew on November 13, 2006, and the flight was successful. According to records, Goddard flew two more times. The Blue Engine 1, or BE-1, was the first rocket engine made by Blue Origin and was used in the Goddard test vehicle.
PM2
Another early test vehicle, PM2, had two test flights in 2011 in west Texas. The first flight on May 6, 2011, was a short hop, taking off and landing vertically. The second flight on August 24, 2011, failed when ground control lost contact with the vehicle. The company explained that the vehicle became unstable at a speed of Mach 1.2 (about 1,480 km/h or 920 mph) and an altitude of 14 kilometers (46,000 feet). This caused the safety system to shut down the engine, and the vehicle was lost. The Blue Engine 2, or BE-2, was an engine that used kerosene and peroxide fuel and produced 31,000 pounds-force (138 kilonewtons) of thrust. Five BE-2 engines powered the PM-2 test vehicle on its two flights in 2011.
See also
In Spanish: Blue Origin para niños
- Billionaire space race, Blue Origin vs. SpaceX vs. Virgin Galactic
