On Tuesday, Blue Origin signed its first contract. The rocket company owned by Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos hired Eutelsat Communications SA. Blue Origin is currently working on its reusable orbital rocket “New Glenn.” The Rocket is expected to be used for the first time before 2020.
Eutelsat’s contract boosted Blue Origin’s plans to break into the rocket industry. The rocket market is one of the most complicated to break into due to the established competition and the high costs and risks. Blue Origin’s owner, Jeff Bezos, described Eutelsat as the best first partner they could have hoped.
The first launch is set to be made around 2021, announced Eutelsat’s CEO
The New Glenn rocket is Blue Origin’s latest project. It is a follow-up version of the New Shepard launch system; Rocket created to deliver payloads and passengers up to 62 miles above the planet. Blue Origin hopes to begin its test flights later this year.
Rodolphe Belmer, Eutelsat’s Chief director, praised Blue Origin approach, Belmer described Blue Origin as a hard-working and steady paced company.
“Blue Origin has been forthcoming with Eutelsat on its strategy and convinced us they have the right mindset to compete in the launch service industry,” said Belmer
Like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, New Glenn aims for reusability. Reusing the rocket after it flew back to Earth should dimish the costs drastically for Blue Origin. To this day, most rocket boosters are only thrown into the ocean after being used.
Space X’s customers are getting worried on its tight timelines. Musk’s company has pushed back its estimated date for flying crewed missions.
On the other hand, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said that SpaceX has a whole reputation on doing what they said they would do but always several years behind schedule. McDowell is confident that SpaceX will succeed in sending tourists to the moon and all the way back to earth. These missions could represent a huge boost in rocket companies revenues.
McDowell is confident that SpaceX will succeed in sending tourists to the moon and all the way back to earth. These missions could represent a huge boost in rocket companies revenues.
Jeff Bezos is planning on colonizing the moon
Bezos sent a paper to the Trump administrations and NASA about colonizing the moon. The paper describes a rocket called “Blue Moon.” This rocket will be able to perform deliveries to the lunar surface starting in 2020.
“It is time for America to return to the Moon — this time to stay…A permanently inhabited lunar settlement is a difficult and worthy objective. I sense a lot of people are excited about this,” said Bezos.
Source: Business Insider