Jeff Bezos’ space start-up takes off – The Wall Street Journal
DUBLIN – In fiction, one meets the proverbial old sea salt whose life, love, and lady is the sea. Many of those who know him say that Elon Musk is an old space salt and that SpaceX, his aerospace manufacturing and space transportation services company, is his one true love. If so, he may be pleased at the news that Blue Origin, a space transportation company run by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, has won a juicy contract to provide engines for a next-generation rocket that will likely be used to launch satellites into space. After all, the presence of Bezos in the space-transportation market suggests that Musk's enthusiasm for the potential for rocket technology is not misplaced. Musk has pioneered the concept of reusable rockets and SpaceX has successfully launched a number of satellites. Blue Origin has taken a more traditional approach to rockets, but both companies are in the running to win lucrative contracts from the US government, which is trying to modernise and update its launch capacity. It looks like this century's space race may not be between countries, but between tech billionaires. – Felicity Duncan
By Andy Pasztor and Doug Cameron
(The Wall Street Journal) Blue Origin LLC, the space-transportation company run by Jeff Bezos, has won a contract to provide engines for a potential rival's next-generation rocket, according to people familiar with the matter, vaulting Mr Bezos into the lucrative market for Pentagon satellite launches.
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