Facts about Blue Origin
- 09
Founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, Blue Origin is headquartered in Kent, Washington, and operates launch facilities at Cape Canaveral and in West Texas.
- 08
Since 2016, Blue Origin's BE-4 engines have powered more than 80 launches across ULA's Atlas V and upcoming Vulcan rockets, establishing the company as a critical supplier in the global space industry.
- 07
New Shepard's autonomous flight system can safely abort and return the capsule to Earth within 60 seconds if any anomaly occurs during ascent or at peak altitude.
- 06
The BE-4 engine, manufactured by Blue Origin since 2016, powers both United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rockets and Vulcan rockets, making it one of the most widely used heavy-lift rocket engines globally.
- 05
Twelve paying customers flew aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its first crewed commercial flight on July 20, 2021, each paying approximately $250,000 per seat for their suborbital journey.
- 04
Amazon's $10 billion Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, completed in 2021, features a Blue Origin-inspired architectural design with curved lines resembling spacecraft and serves as the home venue for the Kraken NHL team.
- 03
In 2015, Blue Origin successfully landed its New Shepard booster rocket vertically for the first time, achieving a major reusable spacecraft milestone before SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 first stage.
- 02
Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle, currently in development, is designed to carry up to 45 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit when it debuts in the mid-2020s.
- 01
On July 20, 2021, founder Jeff Bezos rode his New Shepard rocket to cross the Kármán line at 100.5 kilometers altitude, becoming the third billionaire in space that month.