Logo: Blue Origin, Public domain

Blue Origin

Privately held aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company.

AerospaceSpace launchLunar explorationSpace tourism

Active^{Source [4]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [3]}Last verified Oct 2, 2026

About Blue Origin

Blue Origin is an aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded and owned by Jeff Bezos. It is headquartered in Kent, Washington, and had more than 10,000 employees there and at other sites in states including Texas, Florida and Alabama as of January 2025.^{Source [4]}^{Source [2]}

Its first vehicle, the suborbital New Shepard, flew its first crew, including Bezos, on July 20, 2021, from the company's launch site in West Texas. Its heavy orbital rocket, New Glenn, reached orbit on its first flight on January 16, 2025, and on its second flight in November 2025 launched NASA's Escapade Mars mission and landed its first-stage booster at sea.^{Source [7]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}

NASA selected Blue Origin in May 2023 to build its Blue Moon lander for the Artemis V crewed Moon mission. Amazon also buys launches from it for its satellite network, a related-party arrangement disclosed in Amazon's proxy statements.^{Source [6]}^{Source [4]}

In 2026 the company paused New Shepard tourism flights for at least two years to focus on lunar work, and a New Glenn rocket exploded during pad testing at Cape Canaveral in late May 2026. CEO Dave Limp said in June 2026 that the company planned to fly New Glenn again that year.^{Source [9]}

Watch

Blue Origin 2019: For the Benefit of Earth by Blue Origin on YouTube

What happened

Founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, it announced plans in 2005 to set up its headquarters and primary operations in Kent, Washington. It is owned by Bezos; in 2022 Amazon entered a $2.7 billion agreement with Blue Origin to launch satellites.^{Source [1]}^{Source [5]}^{Source [4]}^{Source [3]}

Timeline

2026-06CEO Dave Limp said New Glenn would fly again in 2026 after a launch pad explosion during testing.^{Source [9]}
2026-04New Glenn's third flight reused a booster, but an upper stage failure lost the customer's AST SpaceMobile satellite.^{Source [9]}
2026-01Paused New Shepard tourism flights for at least two years to focus on lunar missions.^{Source [9]}
2025-11-13Launched NASA's Escapade Mars mission on New Glenn's second flight and landed the booster at sea for the first time.^{Source [8]}
2025-01-16New Glenn reached orbit on its first flight.^{Source [2]}
2023-12Former Amazon executive Dave Limp became CEO, succeeding Bob Smith.^{Source [10]}
2023-05-19NASA selected its Blue Moon lander for the Artemis V mission under a $3.4 billion contract.^{Source [6]}
2022Signed a $2.7 billion agreement with Amazon to launch satellites.^{Source [4]}
2021-07-20Flew its first crew, including Jeff Bezos, on New Shepard.^{Source [7]}
2005Announced plans to base its headquarters and primary operations in Kent, Washington.^{Source [5]}
2000Founded by Jeff Bezos.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}

Products and brands

New Shepard: Suborbital rocket and capsule for crewed and research flights to the edge of space.^{Source [7]}^{Source [2]}
New Glenn: Heavy-lift orbital rocket with a reusable first stage, named after John Glenn.^{Source [2]}^{Source [8]}
Blue Moon: Lunar lander selected by NASA for the Artemis V mission.^{Source [6]}
Blue Ring: Orbital transfer vehicle designed to carry and deliver satellites in space.^{Source [2]}

How it makes money: Blue Origin sells launch services on New Glenn, carries paying passengers and research payloads on New Shepard, and builds spacecraft under government contracts, including a $3.4 billion firm-fixed-price NASA lander contract. Customers include NASA and Amazon.^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}^{Source [8]}^{Source [4]}

Leadership

Dave Limp	CEO^{Source [10]}^{Source [9]}	Since 2023
Jeff Bezos	Founder and owner^{Source [4]}^{Source [11]}

People on Founded, and where they went next

1 person on record, connected to 4 other companies.

Person	Here	Also built
Jeff Bezos	Founder, Owner2000 to now	Project Prometheus2025 to nowActiveBezos ExpeditionsActiveThe Washington Post2013 to nowAcquiredAmazon1994 to nowIPO

Sources

Amazon founder's space venture takes shape, NBC News (The Associated Press), 2005-12-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Blue Origin's first New Glenn rocket reaches orbit, misses booster landing, CNBC, 2025-01-16. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Blue Origin, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Amazon.com, Inc. 2026 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), Amazon.com, Inc. via SEC EDGAR, 2026-04-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Secretive rocket firm plans new HQ, NBC News (Space.com), 2005-11-09. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander Provider, NASA, 2023-05-19. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Jeff Bezos reaches space on Blue Origin's first crewed launch, CNBC, 2021-07-20. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
New Glenn launch: NASA's Escapade mission to Mars is the first big test for Blue Origin's rocket, CNN, 2025-11-13. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Blue Origin plans to launch New Glenn again this year after explosion, TechCrunch, 2026-06-02. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon exec Dave Limp, CNBC, 2023-09-25. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
With a new company, Jeff Bezos will become a CEO again, Ars Technica, 2025-11-17. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

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