Blue Origin · SpaceX · Elon Musk · Artemis Program · Fortune Technology
With a record-setting IPO in a few weeks, SpaceX saw its rival in a contest to put astronauts
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On Thursday, a New Glenn rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during an engine-firing test at the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, ahead of a satellite launch scheduled for next week.
Key facts
- Whitman Cobb warned that if SpaceX can’t get Starship ready in time, then NASA may need to delay the Artemis III orbital-docking test by a year to 2028—meaning the Artemis IV mission to put
- But a mishap highlighting NASA’s reliance on SpaceX could not come at a better time for CEO Elon Musk, whose company is expected to go public on June 12 in what will likely be the largest IPO ever
- Starlink is SpaceX’s cash cow as the satellite business more than doubled its profit last year to $4.4 billion
- Blue Origin’s inability to launch Blue Moon anytime soon is likely to put the company out of the running for Artemis III,” wrote Wendy Whitman Cobb, a professor at the U.S. Air Force School
Summary
With a record-setting IPO in a few weeks, SpaceX saw its rival in a contest to put astronauts on the lunar surface go up in flames, reinforcing its dominance in the space race and its primacy in NASA’s plans to go back to the moon. Blue Origin also planned to use the rocket to launch landers to the moon for NASA, delivering payloads and astronauts to the surface. Next year, NASA plans to send astronauts into Earth orbit via the Orion and Space Launch System as part of its Artemis III mission. But the New Glenn is supposed to launch the Blue Moon into space, and the rocket is now grounded as the cause of the explosion is investigated.