Move over Elon Musk, Amazon wants into the space exploration business too…
(Colorado Springs, CO) Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, has announced that he will be selling approximately $1 Billion worth of Amazon stock every year in order to fund his aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight service company Blue Origin. He also said that he expects to spend upwards of $2.5 Billion developing a rocket with the capability to launch satellites (and eventually human beings) into orbit. These announcements come from the 33rd Annual Space Symposium, where Bezos was a scheduled speaker.
The announcement comes as Blue Origin seeks to position itself as competitive with rival SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space transportation company. SpaceX is currently developing a system to transport astronauts to the International Space Station; Musk recently announced SpaceX’s plans to begin transporting private citizens to the Moon by the end of 2018. This contrasts with Blue Origin’s plans to begin sending passengers in suborbital trips around Earth during the same time frame.
However, Bezo’s funding will be utilized to develop a rocket which will accomplish much more than space tourism. The New Glenn will enable Blue Origin to begin working in the commercial space transport industry. This move would fall in line with the trend to privatize space, alongside SpaceX and Orbital ATK. There is no indication on how these plans will be affected by President Trump’s budgetary commitment to space exploration, or his previous comments that “human exploration of our entire solar system by the end of this century should be NASA’s focus and goal.” President Trump has also spoken positively about the private companies who are committed to the same purpose.
Chris Erickson is an OpsLens Contributor and former US Army Special Forces Weapon Sergeant. He spent over 10 years in the Army before being Honorably Discharged as a promotable E-6. Erickson performed multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and various other locations throughout southeast Asia with 1st Special Forces Group.
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