Articles about Blue Origin

Podcast

Elon Musk’s Starlink swagger, SpaceX vs. the cloud giants, and Seattle’s tech universe revisited

SpaceX reports its first quarter as a public company, and Elon Musk says Starlink could deliver a majority of the world’s internet within a decade. Also on the GeekWire Podcast: two Washington tech universe posters, 17 years apart, and a timely question about Google’s first office. Read More

Podcast

What’s going on with Seattle startup funding, a Kalshi setback, Impinj’s long game, and a smartphone detox

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Seattle startup funding fell about 40% in the first half of 2026 as AI reshaped the venture market — plus a Kalshi court setback, Impinj’s 10 years on the Nasdaq, and could you go without your smartphone for five weeks? Read More

Venture funding drops in Seattle area as AI boom reshapes startup world

Seattle-area startups raised $2.7 billion in the first half of 2026, down 40% from a year ago, even as U.S. venture funding hit a record $412.7 billion. The disconnect: AI mega-rounds are driving the national boom, and Seattle’s biggest deals were in fusion, space, and cybersecurity. Read More

Blue Origin decides not to re-create ruined pad but will move on to a different launch concept

Jeff Bezos’ space venture still plans to return to flight this year, with a hybrid launch processing system that can be used for two Florida pads. Read More

Blue Moon Mark 2 lander on lunar surface with astronauts and with crescent Earth in sky above

NASA backs dozens of projects on the space frontier, including some with Northwest connections

Space agency selects 37 companies as partners to develop technologies that will support moon bases and Mars exploration. Read More

Bezos’ AI startup Prometheus raises $12B at $41B valuation, and the CEOs explain what they’re doing

Prometheus, the AI startup co-led by Jeff Bezos and Vik Bajaj, raised $12 billion in Series B funding at a roughly $41 billion valuation. The co-CEOs discussed the company’s plans in their first joint interview. Read More

Before-and-after pictures of Blue Origin New Glenn launch pad explosion

Blue Origin CEO pledges to repair ruined launch pad and return to flight by the end of the year

CEO Dave Limp shares ‘good news’ about the Florida launch pad’s condition after New Glenn rocket explosion. Read More

Atlas 5 blasts off beneath cloudy skies, carrying Amazon Leo satellites into space

Blue Origin’s rocket blowup could cause big problems for NASA — and a satellite slowdown for Amazon Leo

With New Glenn rocket and its pad sidelined, NASA faces added complications in its moon exploration plans, while Amazon must turn to other launch providers to get satellites in orbit. Read More

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on pad. (Credit: Spaceflight Now)

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes on pad during test; Jeff Bezos vows to rebuild

Blast deals a heavy blow to Florida launch pad — and to Blue Origin’s plans to send up Amazon Leo satellites and a lunar lander. Read More

New Glenn rockets sitting inside Blue Origin processing facility

Blue Origin readies New Glenn rocket to launch 48 Amazon Leo satellites after FAA clearance

Five weeks after previous New Glenn launch failed, two companies founded by Jeff Bezos announce a mission that would add to Amazon’s satellite broadband constellation. Read More

Illustration: Blue Origin Blue Moon lander with Astrolab CLV-1 rover deployed to lunar surface

NASA taps Blue Origin to deliver lunar rovers for Moon Base initiative

Blue Moon lander will carry Astrolab and Lunar Outpost moon buggies, while Firefly will drop off NASA’s rocket-powered drones. Read More

Podcast

SpaceX IPO filing reveals Starlink’s impact, Bezos sounds off on CNBC, and Gemini owes John a beer

SpaceX’s IPO filing includes new details about the Starlink satellite factory in Redmond. Jeff Bezos talks wealth, inequality, and AI on CNBC. And John turns to ChatGPT and Gemini when FIFA’s ticketing support falls short. Read More

SpaceX is churning out 70 Starlink satellites a week in Redmond, and other tidbits from its IPO filing

SpaceX disclosed in its S-1 filing that its Redmond, Wash., facility produces approximately 70 Starlink satellites per week, putting hard production numbers on the operation for the first time. The filing also reveals Starlink’s financials and names several Pacific Northwest companies as competitors. Read More

Jeff Bezos describes his $38B startup Prometheus for the first time: ‘Nothing to do with robotics’

In a CNBC interview, Jeff Bezos offered the most detailed public description yet of Project Prometheus, calling the secretive startup an “artificial general engineer” building next-generation design tools for physical objects. Read More

New Glenn rocket liftoff from Florida launch pad

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture reportedly considers seeking outside investment for the first time

The Financial Times quotes sources as saying external fundraising might be needed to support increased launch cadence. Read More

In a first, Blue Origin uses a recycled rocket to send a satellite into orbit — unfortunately, it’s the wrong orbit

After liftoff, New Glenn booster makes its second successful touchdown, but AST SpaceMobile says its satellite will have to be deorbited. Read More

Amazon payments to Bezos’ Blue Origin reach $1.8B as shareholders cite conflicts of interest

Amazon paid about $1.8 billion last year to Blue Origin, the aerospace company owned by its founder and board chair Jeff Bezos — nearly triple the amount the year before — as shareholders weigh a proposal citing his business interests outside Amazon as potential conflicts of interest. Read More

51,600 more satellites? Blue Origin adds another twist to the data center space race with Project Sunrise

Jeff Bezos’ space venture seeks FCC’s go-ahead for a constellation that would complement TeraWave network — and set up another rivalry with SpaceX. Read More

NASA overhauls Artemis moon program — and Blue Origin’s lander may be given a bigger role

NASA is reworking its Artemis moon program to add a test mission for commercial lunar landers in low Earth orbit… Read More

Illustration: Cutaway view of lab workspace on Starlab space station

How to design a space station: Meet the Seattle company that’s helping define the look of the final frontier

Teague’s designers help the builders of commercial space stations accommodate the ups and downs of life in zero gravity. Read More

Blue Origin New Shepard rocket ship lifts off

Blue Origin puts space tourism on hold to bet big on the Moon

In a statement Friday, the Kent, Wash.-based company said the move as aligning with U.S. government goals to return astronauts to the Moon and establish a long-term human presence there. Read More

Blue Origin unveils TeraWave, a global satellite network designed to handle terabits of data center traffic

Proposed 5,408-satellite constellation promises data speeds of up to 6 terabits per second — and raises questions about competition with Starlink and Amazon Leo. Read More

Illustration: Orion engine firing during lunar flyby

Year in Space: Get ready for moon missions to take center stage in 2026

In the coming year, NASA is due to send four astronauts around the moon, and Blue Origin will put a lander on the lunar surface. Read More

Blue Origin hires United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno to head its national security group

One of Jeff Bezos’ longtime collaborators in the commercial space industry is now one of his high-level executives, potentially ratcheting up competition with SpaceX. Read More

Drone capital of the world? Seattle could be a big winner in the U.S. crackdown on DJI and others

New U.S. restrictions on foreign-made drones could reshape the industry — and give Washington state a major opening. Brinc Drones CEO Blake Resnick says the region’s existing players and aerospace talent position Seattle to benefit as domestic manufacturers scale up. Read More

Michaela Benthaus spreads her arms as she sits in a wheelchair outside the Blue Origin crew capsule

Blue Origin breaks the accessibility barrier by sending the first wheelchair user to space

Jeff Bezos’ space venture sends German engineer Michaela Benthaus and five other crew members on a brief suborbital trip. “It was the coolest experience,” Benthaus says. Read More

Podcast

Bezos is back in startup mode, Amazon gets weird again, and the great old-car tech retrofit debate

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Jeff Bezos steps back into startup life as co-CEO of a new AI venture. Plus, Amazon’s surprising experiment at Seattle-area thrift stores, and a debate over GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop’s plan to bring new tech to his old car. Read More

Illustration: New Glenn 9x4 rocket lifting off, with moon in the sky above

Blue Origin supersizes New Glenn rocket to send heavier payloads to Earth orbit and beyond

Jeff Bezos’ space venture ups the ante for launch industry by offering a bigger rocket with more engines Read More

Blue Origin New Glenn rocket rises from pad, as seen from above

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launches twin probes on trip to Mars — and scores a booster touchdown

The trouble-free launch of NASA’s Escapade probes, plus today’s first-ever recovery of a New Glenn booster, bolstered Blue Origin’s status as a worthy competitor for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has come to dominate the space industry. Read More

Why the prime minister of this European nation sees Amazon as a partner, not a problem

Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden visited Seattle this week, offering a glimpse into how his country — Amazon’s European headquarters — manages its relationship with the tech giant. In an interview with GeekWire, he called Amazon “a strategic partner,” reflecting a markedly different approach than Seattle’s own. Read More