Blue Origin

Blue Origin has successfully completed its NS-25 mission, resuming crewed flights for the first time in nearly two years. The mission brought six tourist crew members to the edge of…

Blue Origin successfully launches its first crewed mission since 2022

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket will take a crew to suborbital space for the first time in nearly two years later this month, the company announced on Tuesday.  The NS-25…

Blue Origin to resume crewed New Shepard launches on May 19

NASA is kicking off a formal environmental assessment of its facilities on Wallops Island, Virginia, to increase the number of authorized rocket launches at the site by almost 200%, according…

NASA is expanding its Wallops Island facility to support three times as many launches

Mars exploration has always been the exclusive purview of national space agencies, but NASA is trying to change that, awarding a dozen research tasks to private companies as a prelude…

NASA orders studies from private space companies on Mars mission support roles

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin raised a test version of its massive orbital rocket on its launch pad for the first time Wednesday, inaugurating the start of a major test campaign…

Ahead of testing, Blue Origin raises New Glenn on the launch pad for first time

Interlune, a stealth startup headed by ex-Blue Origin executives, is focused on mining the moon for a rare isotope of helium that could be used to scale quantum computing and…

Ex-Blue Origin leaders’ secretive lunar startup Interlune has moonshot mining plans

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Happy Monday, everyone!

Ex-Blue Origin leaders want to mine the moon

A stealth startup led by ex-Blue Origin leaders, focused on harvesting resources from the moon, has quietly closed a sizable new tranche of funding, according to regulatory documents. Interlune, a…

Secretive moon startup led by ex-Blue Origin leaders raises new tranche of funding

Sierra Space has completed a key test of its inflatable space habitat, as the company progresses toward launching and operating a private space station with Blue Origin before the end…

Successful failure: Sierra Space’s inflatable habitat blows up as planned

It was a jaw-dropping year for the space industry, and while we all know by now that progress isn’t linear, we feel pretty confident that 2024 will be even more…

What we’re looking forward to seeing from the space industry in 2024

Blue Origin’s New Shepard is officially back in action, with the company today successfully launching the suborbital rocket for the first time in more than 15 months. The rocket lifted…

Blue Origin’s New Shepard makes triumphant return flight

Blue Origin is aiming to finally conclude a more than 15-month pause in operations of its New Shepard suborbital rocket, with the company announcing today that it will fly an…

Bezos’ Blue Origin aiming to make long-awaited return to launch next week

Establishing commercial markets on the moon is going to require thinking a little differently. That’s DARPA’s hunch, anyway. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the U.S. Department of Defense’s…

Commercial companies to collaborate for DARPA’s new lunar economy study

The former program manager of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging whistleblower retaliation after he spoke up about safety issues. The complaint was…

Former Blue Origin rocket engine manager alleges wrongful termination for whistleblowing on safety

Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic’s first lunar lander is set to take off on United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket on Christmas Eve, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said. Bruno told the audience…

ULA aims to launch Astrobotic lunar lander on Christmas Eve

Three leading space companies told Congress this week that the industry needs time to mature before federal regulators introduce new safety guidelines for human spaceflight — but that existing regulatory…

Three leading space companies agree: No new regulations on human spaceflight

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has closed the investigation into a mishap that occurred last September during a launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, with the regulator saying that…

Regulators close investigation into Blue Origin’s New Shepard anomaly

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith is retiring at the end of the year and his replacement is coming from Jeff Bezos’ other company. Dave Limp, an Amazon veteran who had…

Amazon’s outgoing Echo head is Blue Origin’s new CEO

An institutional investor is suing Amazon and its board, including founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, over hefty launch contracts they awarded to Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin. The suit,…

Lawsuit alleges no due diligence in Amazon’s Project Kuiper launch contracts to Blue Origin, ULA

NASA awarded new funding to 11 companies today for advanced space tech projects ranging from advanced power generation on the lunar surface to additive manufacturing for space habitats. The awards,…

Blue Origin, Astrobotic, Varda Space and others win NASA funding to develop advanced space tech

Amazon will spend $120 million on a new satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), as the company gears up to launch the first batch of Project Kuiper…

Amazon is building a $120M facility in Florida for Project Kuiper satellite processing

Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is looking to expand into international markets, with the company in the early stages of eyeing up a launch site outside of the United…

Blue Origin eyes international expansion

NASA has announced Space Act agreements with seven private space companies in the hopes of spurring tech developments the government may invest in down the line, from space stations to…

NASA hits up 7 space companies to take on orbital squad goals

It’s been nearly six months since Blue Origin’s 23rd suborbital launch experienced an anomaly, and the company has finally released the results of its investigation. The good news is the…

Blue Origin releases report on launch anomaly and plans to fly again ‘soon’

Two separate lawsuits have been filed against Blue Origin alleging discriminatory hiring practices based on age, TechCrunch has learned. The first suit was filed last summer by a former Blue…

Two separate lawsuits allege ageist hiring practices at Blue Origin
Space

Max Q: Only a matter of time

In this issue of Max Q: Intuitive Machines enters the public market; Silicon Valley goes to war; news from Transcelestial, Umbra and more.

Max Q: Only a matter of time

NASA is planning a science mission to Mars that will ride up aboard a New Glenn — Blue Origin’s first big government contract for the as-yet-untested launch vehicle. New Glenn…

NASA will launch a Mars mission on Blue Origin’s New Glenn

Jeff Bezos-headed company Blue Origin is getting its own kid-friendly animated space adventure series called “Blue Origins Space Rangers,” production companies Genius Brands and SMAC Productions announced today. A premiere…

Jeff Bezos and GMA host Michael Strahan star in new Blue Origin kids’ space show
Space

Max Q: Icy

Thousands of people traveled to Paris for the International Astronautical Congress 2022, one of the world’s largest space conferences. Alas, I was not one of them.

Max Q: Icy

Orbital Reef, the in-progress private space station headed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space, is coming to the big screen. The companies announced today that the space station will be…

Blue Origin’s private space station is starring in a new movie — but it’s firmly grounded for now