Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, is an American aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company. It develops reusable rocket engines, launch vehicles like New Shepard and New Glenn, in-space systems, and lunar landers such as Blue Moon. Blue Origin is also a NASA partner, collaborating on the Artemis program for lunar exploration and working towards a sustainable human presence on the Moon, with partners like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Draper. Key activities include space tourism, satellite deployment capabilities, and advancing technologies to lower space travel costs.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Blue Origin and NASA set up a full-size mock crew cabin modeled after the Blue Moon Mark 2 crewed lunar lander for ground-based astronaut testing and feedback.
Blue Origin can compete for the first Artemis landing mission after NASA reopened the contract.
NASA removed the requirement for Starship or Blue Origin to orbit the Moon in Gateway’s specific NRHO orbit after effectively canceling the Gateway lunar orbital habitat earlier in 2025.
Blue Origin has integrated the NG-4 rocket onto the transport erector and will move it to LC-36 soon for a hotfire test.
Blue Origin implemented corrective measures for the NG-3 failure.
The FAA approved Blue Origin’s NG-3 report and corrective measures.
Blue Origin was grounded by the FAA beginning on April 30.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket placed AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite into a lower-than-planned orbit on April 19, 2026, causing its de-orbit and destruction.
The Blue Origin Human Landing System contract had grown by less than 1 percent in the March 2026 report.
SpaceX and Blue Origin are each under contract with NASA to design, build, and own their respective Human Landing System landers.
NASA revised Artemis 3 into a low Earth orbit test of lunar landers by Blue Origin and/or SpaceX.
Jared Isaacman said Blue Origin and SpaceX responded to NASA's request for a late 2027 rendezvous, docking, and lander interoperability test for Artemis 3.
Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef remains part of the post-ISS commercial low Earth orbit station field.
Blue Origin has a manufacturing campus in Kent, Washington.
Blue Origin announced its orbital data center program in late 2025.
Orion will attempt to dock with at least one commercial lander from Blue Origin and SpaceX during Artemis III.
Operating Artemis III in low Earth orbit rather than lunar orbit expands the launch windows needed to align the Space Launch System launch with SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon pathfinder vehicles.
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon is the other crewed landing system NASA selected for the Artemis program.
The Artemis III mission concept is being defined largely by SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 human landing system prototypes.
Artemis III will validate hardware from NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin before deep space deployment.