Jeff Bezos eyes space conquest as Blue Origin launch nears, rekindles rivalry with Musk’s SpaceX Peppermint

Blue Origin, the space company founded by Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, is preparing to launch its inaugural orbital rocket, New Glenn, next week, marking a key moment in the commercial space race. The milestone comes as the rivalry between Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk intensifies.

New Glenn is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Wednesday, with Friday reserved as a backup launch window, according to Federal Aviation Administration advice. Although Blue Origin has not yet officially confirmed the date, excitement is building after the successful “hot-fire” engine test on December 27.

“Next stop launch,” Bezos announced on social media platform X, sharing a video of the giant rocket’s engines activating.

NG-1 Mission: A Defense Prototype

The mission, called NG-1, will carry a prototype of the Blue Ring spacecraft, funded by the US Department of Defense. Designed as a versatile satellite deployment platform, the spacecraft will remain on the rocket’s second stage for a six-hour test flight.

The launch marks Blue Origin’s long-awaited entry into the competitive orbital launch market, building on its previous suborbital achievements with the smaller New Shepard rocket, which would have carried passengers and payloads on brief trips to the edge of space. Is.

“The market is really orbital. Suborbital can only take you so far – there are limited payloads and customers for a quick ride into space,” said Laura Forzik, founder of space consulting company Astralytical.

Rivalry between space giants

The milestone will heighten the rivalry between Bezos, the world’s second-richest person, and Musk, who currently holds the top spot. Musk’s SpaceX has firmly established itself as an industry leader with its Falcon 9 rocket, which serves a variety of customers including NASA, the Pentagon and commercial satellite operators.

The new Glenn, named after astronaut John Glenn, is set to challenge this dominance. Standing at 320 feet (98 meters), the rocket dwarfs the 230-foot Falcon 9 and is designed to carry larger payloads. Its reusable first stage will attempt a vertical sea landing, with the landing vessel being arbitrarily named “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

Using liquefied natural gas instead of kerosene, New Glenn’s engines provide cleaner combustion and require less engine power overall. “If I were still a senior executive at NASA, I would be happy to finally have some competition with the Falcon 9,” said G. Scott Hubbard, a former NASA official who now works at Stanford University, commented.

Founded in 2000, Blue Origin predates SpaceX by two years, but has proceeded more cautiously. This deliberate approach has drawn criticism within the space community, as competitors such as SpaceX have moved forward.

Despite these challenges, analysts highlight the importance of competition. “New Glenn provides the U.S. government with unequaled redundancy – which is critical to ensuring backup systems in the event of failure,” said space policy expert Scott Pace.

As SpaceX plans to phase out its Falcon 9 rockets in favor of the experimental Starship by the end of the decade, New Glenn’s debut could prove timely, offering an alternative to the rapidly growing market. Can.

For Bezos, who dreams of space colonies rather than colonizing Mars, New Glenn represents an important step forward. If successful, it would not only secure Blue Origin’s place in the lucrative orbital market, but also reignite its rivalry with SpaceX, setting the stage for the next chapter in the commercial space race.