Blue Origin

Blue Origin is a private spaceflight company based in Kent, Washington that is working to send tourists to space on its reusable suborbital rocket called New Shepard. The company was created in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

In 2015, Blue Origin made history by successfully launching and landing a reusable rocket for the first time. The company is currently developing a lunar lander called Blue Moon that will make robotic cargo deliveries to the lunar surface, and it is partnering with SpaceX and Dynetics to develop a human-rated moon lander that will carry astronauts to the lunar surface in 2024 under NASA's Artemis Program.

See the latest Blue Origin images, videos and other space news here.

Latest Updates

Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle lifts from the company's West Texas launch site on a suborbital test flight. Blue Origin has set July 20 for its first crewed flight, including founder Jeff Bezos and the auction winner who placed a $28 million bid.

First seat to space on Blue Origin's New Shepard sells for $28 million

By Robert Z. Pearlman

With a high bid of $28 million, an unnamed individual has won the chance to join the richest person on Earth on a flight into space.

Blue Origin's New Shepard Spacecraft First Step launches on a suborbital spaceflight from West Texas on April 14, 2021.

Watch Blue Origin auction a seat on its 1st crewed spaceflight today

By Elizabeth Howell

You can watch live this Saturday (June 12) as people all over the world bid for the chance to go to space with Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos.

A crop from Blue Origin's website shows the current bid (as of Monday, June 7, 2021) on the first seat aboard New Shepard at $2.8 million. The auction ends Saturday, June 12.

Behind Blue Origin bids: RR Auction vets viers for New Shepard seat

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Boston-based firm RR Auction is vetting the people bidding to fly to space this summer on Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle.

Founder Jeff Bezos has announced he and his brother will be among the passengers of Blue Origin's first crewed flight.

Jeff Bezos will join passengers launching into space on Blue Origin's 1st crewed flight

By Meghan Bartels

The Amazon.com and Blue Origin founder announced on Instagram that he and his brother would fly on the New Shepard vehicle's first crewed flight, scheduled for July 20.

An illustration of SpaceX's Starship on the moon. On April 16, 2021, NASA announced that SpaceX had won a contract to build the lunar lander for its Artemis program.

Protests, trolling and more: Drama swirls around NASA's next moon lander for astronauts

By Mike Wall

The lunar-landing kerfuffle has many layers, including another round in the long-running battle between space billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

One of the nearly 200 dinosaur fragments launched by Blue Origin into space. The fossils were flown for the company's nonprofit Club for the Future and its Dream Big Alabama initiative.

Blue Origin launches dinosaur bones into space for 'Dream Big' initiative

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin recently sent dinosaur bones into space to support its nonprofit's Dream Big Alabama initiative and the Huntsville Science Festival.

Blue Origin’s auction for a ride on its 1st crewed launch hits $2.6 million

By Mike Wall

The first customer to fly on Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital spacecraft will pay millions.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches the crew capsule RSS First Step on an uncrewed suborbital test flight from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas on April 14, 2021.

Want to bid on Blue Origin's space tourist seat auction? Be sure to read the fine print

By Elizabeth Howell

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to auction off a seat for its debut crewed spaceflight on July 20, but you should read the conditions carefully before applying.

The view from a seat on Blue Origin's New Shepard Spacecraft First Step during a suborbital test flight on April 14, 2021.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will launch its 1st astronaut flight on July 20 and you can bid for a seat

By Mike Wall

Blue Origin is targeting July 20 for the debut astronaut launch of its New Shepard vehicle, which is designed to take people and scientific experiments on brief trips to suborbital space.

Blue Origin will start selling seats on its New Shepard spacecraft next week

By Mike Wall

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is about to start selling seats on its New Shepard spacecraft, which is designed to people on brief trips to suborbital space.

NASA has picked SpaceX's Starship spacecraft, seen here in an artist's depiction, to land Artemis astronauts on the moon.

Blue Origin and Dynetics file protests to GAO after SpaceX wins NASA's moon lander contract

By Chelsea Gohd

Blue Origin aces 'astronaut rehearsal' New Shepard test flight

By Meghan Bartels

Blue Origin has another clean test flight under its belt.

Blue Origin's first upgraded New Shepard rocket and crew capsule launches on an uncrewed suborbital flight from the company's West Texas test site on Jan. 14, 2021.

Blue Origin to launch 'astronaut rehearsal' New Shepard test flight today. How to watch live.

By Mike Wall

Blue Origin plans to launch an uncrewed test flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle today (April 14), and you can watch the action live.

JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, a member of the Association of Space Explorers executive committee, displays a Universal Astronaut Insignia on the International Space Station.

Universal Astronaut Insignia to unite world space explorers and travelers

By Robert Z. Pearlman

Sixty years after Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly into space, a new symbol seeks to unite the hundreds of people who have followed his trajectory.

A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket and capsule launch on the suborbital NS-14 mission from the company's West Texas site on Jan. 14, 2021.

Blue Origin will simulate moon gravity on rocket launches for NASA

By Elizabeth Howell

NASA has tapped Blue Origin to simulate moon gravity on suborbital rocket launches.

An artist's illustration of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket in flight.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin won't launch its 1st New Glenn rocket until late 2022

By Mike Wall

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is pushing the target date for the debut launch of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from late 2021 to late 2022.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos will step down as Amazon CEO

By Samantha Mathewson

Amazon's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday (Feb. 2) that he is stepping down this year to focus on other initiatives, including his spaceflight company Blue Origin.

Blue Origin's 1st upgraded New Shepard spacecraft for astronauts aces launch (and landing)

By Mike Wall

Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle just aced another suborbital test flight, keeping it on track to start launching people in the relatively near future.

Liftoff of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on its twelfth suborbital mission to space and back from the company's West Texas launch site on Dec. 11, 2019. On board for this flight was the first batch of thousands of Club for the Future postcards.

Blue Origin will launch its upgraded New Shepard space capsule today. Here's how to watch live.

By Elizabeth Howell

"Mannequin Skywalker" will fly to space Thursday (Jan. 14) as part of a big test for Blue Origin's budding human spaceflight program — and you can watch the event live.

An artist's depiction of Blue Origin's heavy-lift New Glenn launch vehicle.

NASA adds Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket as a launcher for future missions

By Meghan Bartels

Blue Origin's future New Glenn rocket will join NASA's fleet of commercial launch vehicles for flights in the mid-2020s, the agency and company have announced.