Although many people were skeptical in the past decades, the commercial space travel industry has made giant strides in recent years. Different commercial companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have actualized several plans. However, after the unexpected break, Blue Origin is just trying to meet up with its competitors. This article highlights what the company is planning for 2024.
What caused the company’s hiatus?
The last time we heard from Blue Origin was in late 2022 when the company went on an unexpected break. An accident that occurred in September 2022 caused the uncrewed rocket to go up in flames.
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the rocket until Blue Origin took corrective actions. It’s a no-brainer that making these corrections made Blue Origin fall behind other commercial space travel companies.
Focusing on Blue Origin and nothing else
In 2000, some years before other commercial space companies were established, Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin. Ironically, Blue Origin has always been behind its competitors in terms of notable milestones.
However, a few years ago, Jeff Bezos left his role as the CEO of Amazon to create more time for Blue Origin. Now that the company is back from its hiatus, we can expect Jeff Bezos to double his focus on the space travel company.
The first of many more achievements
After the 2022 launch that led to a fiery disaster, Blue Origin has made another major achievement. This month, the company successfully launched its New Shepard rocket, which was also uncrewed.
The launched rocket carried science experiments from NASA and other institutions; it also took 38,000 postcards from students as part of Blue Origin’s club for the future program. It’s safe to say the company is getting ready to cover ground next year.
SpaceX: Blue Origin’s closest competitor
Two years after Bezos founded Blue Origin, Elon Musk founded SpaceX. However, SpaceX has been making waves in the 21st-century space race. While Blue Origin is still working on its New Glenn rocket, SpaceX had its first orbit years ago.
In 2017, SpaceX sent its first reused Falcon 9 rocket into orbit. Furthermore, SpaceX was chosen by NASA for its lunar lander contract. However, things are looking upward for Blue Origin as Bezos has said the company will move a lot faster.
Gaining strides and making up for lost time
After a few postponements, Blue Origin’s orbit rocket, New Glenn, is scheduled to be launched in 2024. Also, NASA gave Blue Origin the contract to build an Artemis lunar lander- which is a backup for SpaceX’s lander.
This shows the possibility of both giant companies collaborating on some projects soon. According to Bezos, Blue Origin will become the world’s most decisive company by getting good at taking appropriate tech risks and making quick decisions.
