Blue Origin facts for kids

Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company. It is based in Kent, Washington. The company uses the New Shepard rocket for trips just to the edge of space. It also uses the New Glenn rocket for sending things into orbit.

Blue Origin builds engines for its own rockets. It also provides engines for other rockets, like the Vulcan Centaur from United Launch Alliance. The company is also working on a Moon lander for NASA's Artemis program. Other projects include the Blue Ring spacecraft and the Orbital Reef space station, which it is building with other companies.

Jeff Bezos, who also started Amazon, founded Blue Origin in 2000. For many years, the company worked quietly. In 2015, Blue Origin successfully launched and landed its New Shepard rocket without a crew. They also announced plans for the New Glenn rocket that year.

In 2021, Jeff Bezos himself flew on the first crewed New Shepard mission. They crossed the Kármán line, which is 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level and is considered the start of space. In January 2023, the company delivered its first BE-4 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance. Blue Origin has sometimes been seen as slow compared to other space companies like SpaceX. To help with this, Dave Limp became the new CEO in September 2023.

On January 16, 2025, the New Glenn rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time. On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin completed its 11th human spaceflight with New Shepard. This flight had an all-female crew of six.

History of Blue Origin

Blue Origin was started in 2000 by Jeff Bezos. Rob Meyerson was the CEO until 2018, followed by Bob Smith until 2023. The current CEO is Dave Limp.

In its early years, not much was known about Blue Origin's work. In 2006, the company bought land in Van Horn, Texas, for its New Shepard missions. This site is called Launch Site One (LS1). In November 2006, they launched their first test rocket, called Goddard. It flew up to 285 feet (87 meters).

Before 2012, Blue Origin began developing a rocket system to reach orbit. In 2015, they publicly announced their plans for an orbital launch vehicle. In January 2016, they shared that this new rocket would be much bigger than New Shepard. In September 2016, they named it "New Glenn". The New Glenn rocket can be set up with two or three stages. It had its first successful launch in January 2025.

On July 20, 2021, New Shepard made its first flight with people on board. This sub-orbital flight 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.

Blue Origin likes to build on its past work, moving from sub-orbital flights to orbital ones step by step. In 2014, the company started making rocket engines for other companies. They agreed to build the BE-4 engine for United Launch Alliance (ULA). ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket uses two BE-4 engines. On June 7, 2023, ULA tested the Vulcan Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The two BE-4 engines worked as expected.

In 2024, Blue Origin won its first contract to launch national security satellites. The New Glenn rocket will be used for these launches.

Blue Origin's Rockets

The New Shepard booster rocket.

A New Shepard capsule that has flown to space.

New Shepard Rocket

New Shepard is a reusable rocket designed for space tourism. It is named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space. This rocket can take off and land vertically. It can carry people and experiments 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 passengers, cargo, or both. The booster rocket uses one BE-3PM engine. This engine sends the capsule to about 100.5 kilometers (62.4 miles) high, above the Kármán line. Passengers and cargo can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth.

The New Shepard 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. There was one partial failure and one full failure. The rocket is 19.2 meters (63 feet) long and 3.8 meters (12.5 feet) wide. It weighs about 75 short tons (68,000 kg) at launch. The BE-3PM engine creates 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds) of thrust at takeoff. Using reusable rockets helps Blue Origin lower the cost of space tourism.

On February 25, 2025, Blue Origin launched its 10th space tourism mission. Six paying passengers flew to suborbital space. This was the company's 10th human flight and 30th overall flight for New Shepard.

New Glenn Rocket

New Glenn's first launch on January 16, 2025.

A drawing of the New Glenn rocket from 2018.

New Glenn is a heavy-lift rocket that first launched successfully in January 2025. Its launch date had been delayed many times. It is named after NASA astronaut John Glenn. Work on its design started in early 2012. Pictures and details of the rocket were first shown 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 is powered by seven BE-4 engines. The part that holds the cargo, called the fairing, is said to be the biggest in the world for a commercial launch system.

Like the New Shepard, New Glenn's first stage is also designed to be reusable. In 2021, the company started thinking about ways to make the second stage reusable too. This project was called "Project Jarvis".

On February 9, 2023, NASA announced that it chose the New Glenn rocket to launch two Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) spacecraft. The New Glenn rocket launched ESCAPADE in the second quarter of 2025. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will reach Mars's orbit about one year after launch.

In 2024, the USSF gave Blue Origin money to see if New Glenn could launch national security payloads. On January 16, 2025, Blue Origin successfully launched New Glenn from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 36. The main goal of the mission was to put the Blue Ring Pathfinder test satellite into orbit, which was successful.

Blue Moon Lander

In May 2019, Jeff Bezos showed 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 made for soft landings on the Moon.

In 2020, Blue Origin teamed up with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper. They proposed the Blue Moon lander for NASA's Artemis program. NASA chose SpaceX for the human landing system (HLS) contract in 2021. Blue Origin challenged this decision. This led to NASA giving 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 prepare for future missions to Mars. The contract is worth $3.4 billion. It includes an uncrewed test mission, followed by a crewed Moon landing planned for 2029.

In mid-2024, Blue Origin announced that it had finished testing the thrusters for the MK1 version of the Blue Moon lander.

Rocket Engines

Blue Origin develops its own rocket engines.

BE-1 Engine

Blue Origin's first engine was the Blue Engine-1 (BE-1). It used peroxide fuel and created 2,000 pounds (8.9 kilonewtons) of thrust.

BE-2 Engine

The Blue Engine-2 (BE-2) used kerosene and peroxide. It produced 31,000 pounds (138 kilonewtons) of thrust.

BE-3 Engines (BE-3U and BE-3PM)

The BE-3 is a family of rocket engines from Blue Origin. It has two types: BE-3U and BE-3PM. These engines use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. They can produce 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds) and 710 kilonewtons (160,000 pounds) of thrust, respectively. Testing for these engines began at NASA Stennis in 2013. By late 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.

• The BE-3U is a version of the BE-3. Two of these engines power the second stage of the New Glenn rocket. The BE-3U produces 710 kilonewtons (160,000 pounds) of thrust.
• The BE-3PM uses a pump-fed design. It takes a small amount of gas from the main engine to power its pumps. One BE-3PM engine powers the New Shepard rocket. It produces 490 kilonewtons (110,000 pounds) of thrust. This engine can be slowed down to 110 kilonewtons (25,000 pounds) for controlled vertical landings.

BE-4 Engine

The BE-4 is a rocket engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas. It can produce 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 pounds) 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 BE-4 engines on its first stage. Development of the BE-4 engine started in 2011.

On October 31, 2022, Blue Origin announced that the first two BE-4 engines had been sent to ULA. They were then put onto a Vulcan rocket. On June 7, 2023, the two BE-4 rocket engines worked as expected during a test of the Vulcan Rocket at Cape Canaveral, 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 Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to use the BE-4 engine.

BE-7 Engine

The BE-7 engine is being developed for the Blue Moon lander. It uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The engine produces 44 kilonewtons (10,000 pounds) of thrust. Its first tests happened in June 2019. Testing of its main parts continued through 2023.

Pusher Escape Motor

Blue Origin worked with Aerojet Rocketdyne to create a special escape system for the New Shepard crew capsule. This "pusher" system helps the capsule get away safely if there is a problem during launch. Aerojet Rocketdyne makes the solid rocket motor for the escape system. Blue Origin designs and builds the system that steers the capsule during an emergency.

Blue Origin Facilities

NASA Deputy Administrator tours Blue Origin Headquarters.

Blue Origin has facilities across the United States. These include five main locations and five field offices:

• Kent, Washington (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. This is where they develop rockets. Since 2016, Blue Origin has been expanding its offices and rocket production facilities in the Seattle metropolitan area. On June 6, 2020, the company opened a new headquarters and research facility called the O'Neill Building.

Launch Site One (LSO)

The entrance to Launch Site One.

Corn Ranch, also known as Launch Site One (LSO), is Blue Origin's launch site. It is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Van Horn, Texas.

This site has the launchpad and landing pad for the New Shepard rocket. LSO also has several test stands for rocket engines. These stands support testing of engines that use different types of fuel. There are three test cells for the BE-3 and BE-4 engines. These cells can handle full-power tests and shorter, high-pressure tests.

Blue Engine Facility

Engine production happens in Huntsville, Alabama, at a large facility called "Blue Engine". This facility makes many BE-4 and BE-3U engines.

The company is planning a third major expansion in Huntsville. They bought 14.83 acres (6 hectares) next to their current campus.

Orbital Launch Site (OLS)

The Orbital Launch Site (OLS) is at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Here, Blue Origin develops rockets and does a lot of testing. The company changed Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) to launch New Glenn into orbit. This facility was finished in 2020. It is used to build New Glenn rockets, test them, and work on designs.

The facility covers 306 acres (124 hectares) of land. This land used to be parts of other launch complexes. Blue Origin built a test stand for the BE-4 engine, a launch mount, and a facility to fix and reuse the New Glenn booster. The booster is expected to land on a special ship and return to Port Canaveral for repairs. Large parts of the New Glenn rocket, like its stages and cargo fairings, 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 launch pad there. This will allow the rocket to launch satellites into polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit.

Other Blue Origin Projects

Blue Ring Spacecraft

Blue Origin announced the Blue Ring vehicle in October 2023. It has its own engine and is designed to help with orbital logistics and deliveries. In March 2024, Blue Origin partnered with the United States Space Force. They announced that Blue Ring's abilities would be tested soon on a mission called DarkSky-1.

Orbital Reef Space Station

Blue Origin and its partners, including Sierra Space, Boeing, Redwire Space, and Genesis Engineering Solutions, received $130 million. This money was to help design their Orbital Reef commercial space station. The project is planned as a business park in space. Boeing's Starliner and Sierra Space's Dream Chaser will carry passengers to and from low Earth orbit (LEO). This station will be used for tourism, research, and making things in space.

Orbital Reef's design will be made of different parts that can be added or changed. This allows for lots of customization. It will be able to connect with almost any spacecraft, like SpaceX Dragon 2, Soyuz (spacecraft), Dream Chaser, and Boeing Starliner. The first parts will be the Life, Node, Core, and Research Modules.

In 2024, NASA increased funding for Orbital Reef by $42 million. This brought 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 fission 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 can power both life support and propulsion systems. This could greatly lower the cost and flight time for space exploration.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency gave contracts to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin. These contracts were to fund and build nuclear spacecraft for the DRACO program (Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations). Blue Origin received $2.9 million to develop parts for these spacecraft.

Blue Origin also partnered with Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation and others. They won a $5 million contract from NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This contract is to develop a long-range nuclear propulsion system called PADME (Power Adjusted Demonstration Mars Engine).

Space Technology

In 2023, NASA gave Blue Origin $35 million for its work on lunar regolith. This is the dust and crushed rock found on the Moon. Blue Origin plans to use it for 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 create unlimited electricity and power cables anywhere on the Moon. It also produces oxygen, which is useful 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 for use on Earth. He also mentioned that the company is finding new ways to use the vast resources of outer space.

Blue Origin Flights Before 2025

In 2025, Blue Origin achieved orbital spaceflight with the first launch of New Glenn. Below is a summary of Blue Origin flights before 2025. For flights after January 1, 2025, you can find them in the articles for New Glenn and New Shepard.

Blue Origin has had many successful test flights and missions. The company's first flight test vehicle, Charon, flew in 2005. It was powered by jet engines and tested guidance systems. The next test vehicle, Goddard, first flew in 2006. It used Blue Engine 1 (BE-1), Blue Origin's first rocket engine. Another early test vehicle, PM2, had two flights in 2011. One of these flights failed when control was lost.

The New Shepard rocket began test flights in 2015. Its first flight to space reached 93.5 kilometers (58 miles). The capsule was recovered, but the booster crashed. However, on November 23, 2015, the New Shepard 2 booster successfully flew to space and landed back on Earth. This was a big step for reusable rockets. The same New Shepard 2 booster was reused multiple times, flying and landing successfully. In October 2016, the New Shepard 2 booster completed its fifth and final flight, successfully testing an in-flight abort system.

The New Shepard 3 booster began flying in December 2017 with a new crew capsule. It also performed several successful flights and landings, including tests of the in-flight abort system at high altitude. These flights carried research payloads for NASA and other organizations.

The New Shepard 4 rocket and its "RSS First Step" capsule had their first uncrewed qualification flight in January 2021. This was followed by a rehearsal flight with Blue Origin staff. On July 20, 2021, New Shepard 4 made its historic first crewed flight with Jeff Bezos and others. This marked the beginning of human spaceflight for Blue Origin. Many more crewed flights followed in 2021 and 2022, carrying various passengers to space.

On September 12, 2022, an uncrewed New Shepard flight (NS-23) experienced a booster failure. The capsule's escape system worked, and the capsule landed safely. Blue Origin found that a part of the engine nozzle failed. After this, Blue Origin returned to flight on December 19, 2023, with the successful NS-24 mission. This flight carried payloads and postcards from students. In 2024, New Shepard continued with more successful crewed and uncrewed flights, including NS-25, NS-26, NS-27, and NS-28.

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 technologies for future human spaceflight. This included testing a "pusher" escape system for capsules, which is reusable and safer. They also worked on a strong, lightweight cabin for astronauts.

In April 2011, NASA gave Blue Origin another $22 million. This funding helped them review their orbital Space Vehicle design. It also helped them further develop the pusher 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 ISS by 2017. Blue Origin did not submit a proposal for this, but they kept working on their own projects with private money.

Blue Origin tried to lease Launch Complex 39A (LC39A) from NASA in 2013. They wanted to share the launchpad with other companies, like United Launch Alliance (ULA). However, SpaceX also bid for the complex, wanting exclusive use for their crewed missions. Blue Origin protested NASA's plan to give exclusive use to SpaceX. In December 2013, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) sided with NASA. They said NASA could choose a single-user plan. NASA then chose SpaceX's proposal and signed a 20-year lease with SpaceX in April 2014.

Blue Origin also bid for NASA's Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) program. This program funds the development of lunar landers for astronauts. Blue Origin led a team called the "National Team," which included Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper. On April 30, 2020, this team 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 officially chose SpaceX to develop their version of the HLS for Artemis missions.

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) program. They led another "National Team" that included Draper, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics.

On May 19, 2023, NASA contracted Blue Origin to develop and test its Blue Moon landing system for the Artemis V mission. This mission will explore the Moon and 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 invested over $500 million into Blue Origin. Most of the company's funding for technology development and operations came from Jeff Bezos's private investment fund. In April 2017, it was reported that Jeff Bezos was selling about $1 billion in Amazon stock each year to invest in Blue Origin. Some people have criticized Jeff Bezos for spending so much of his money on spaceflight.

In 2019, the United States Air Force gave Blue Origin $181 million for developing launch vehicles. The company was also able to get more grants as part of the U.S. Space Force's Launch Services Agreement competition. 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 national security launch contracts once it is certified to carry Top Secret military payloads.

In a 2023 interview, Bob Smith, the former CEO, said that Blue Origin had "hundreds of millions in revenue as well as billions of dollars in orders."

Blue Origin is also part of the DARPA Lunar Programs. Specifically, they are involved in Luna10, which studies how to operate on the Moon's surface.

Early Test Vehicles

Charon Test Vehicle

Charon on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

Blue Origin's first flight test vehicle was called Charon, named after Pluto's moon. It used four jet engines instead of rockets. This low-altitude vehicle was built 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 to 316 feet (96 meters) high before landing safely. As of 2016, Charon is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

Goddard Test Vehicle

The next test vehicle was named Goddard (also known as PM1). It first flew on November 13, 2006, and the flight was successful. Blue Engine 1 (BE-1), Blue Origin's first rocket engine, was used in the Goddard vehicle.

PM2 Test Vehicle

Another early suborbital test vehicle, PM2, had two flight tests in 2011 in west Texas. The first flight was a short hop on May 6, 2011. The second flight, on August 24, 2011, failed. The company lost contact and control of the vehicle. Blue Origin later explained that a flight problem caused the safety system to shut down the engine. The vehicle was lost. Blue Engine 2 (BE-2) powered the PM-2 vehicle. It was a pump-fed engine that used kerosene and peroxide, producing 31,000 pounds (138 kilonewtons) of thrust.

Images for kids

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  The New Shepard booster rocket.

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  A New Shepard capsule that has flown to space.

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  New Glenn's first launch on January 16, 2025.

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  A drawing of the New Glenn rocket from 2018.

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  NASA Deputy Administrator tours Blue Origin Headquarters.

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  The entrance to Launch Site One.

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  Charon on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

See also

In Spanish: Blue Origin para niños