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☆ Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is about to fly people to space for the first time in 2 years. Here's why it took so long.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewJeff Bezos' private space company, Blue Origin, recently announced its plans to launch a crew of six aboard its New Shepard rocket this Sunday. Still, late last year, Jeff Bezos told Lex Fridman on Fridman's podcast that "Blue Origin needs to be much faster." About one minute into the flight, Blue Origin lost the first-stage booster due to a faulty nozzle in the booster's engine. Blue OriginVirgin Galactic and Blue Origin are both in the suborbital space tourism business. Bezos says Blue Origin's culture isn't fast enoughJeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000.

Persons: —, Jeff Bezos, Sara Sabry, Lex Fridman, Shepard, New Shepard, That's, ULA, Ted S, Warren, Bezos, Fridman Organizations: Service, Shepard, Business, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Origin, Federal Aviation Administration, Italian Air Force, Virgin, Glenn, United Launch Alliance, Rocket, NASA, US Space Force, AP Locations: Texas, New, Glenn, ULA

☆ Obama takes a shot at the likes of Musk and Bezos, says we must protect Earth before colonizing Mars
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Earth would be more liveable than Mars "even after a nuclear war" and climate change, he said. It comes as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos test mega-rockets that could take humans to the red planet. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. The prototype rocket, which is a crucial part of Musk's plan to colonize the red planet, blew up on its previous attempts. The rocket could compete with Starship for NASA's plans to return to the moon ahead of heading to Mars.

Persons: Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Obama, Jeff Bezos's, Glenn Organizations: Service, SpaceX, Amazon Locations: Silicon, Paris, Mars

☆ K2 Space, a startup with SpaceX veterans building monster satellites, raises $50 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Los Angeles-based startup K2 Space raised $50 million in new funding as the company works to build monster satellites to match the massive rockets that are coming to market. The company's latest fundraiser was led by tech investor Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital and joined by Alpine Space Ventures, adding to the $8.5 million in seed funding it raised from investors including First Round Capital and Republic Capital. K2 declined to specify its valuation after the most recent round. "This round is effectively built for the demand that we're seeing for launching constellations of the Mega class satellites," Karan Kunjur told CNBC. K2's Mega class satellite bus — the physical structure of a spacecraft that provides power, movement and more — is sized to fit in "heavy" and "super heavy" rockets.

Persons: Karan Kunjur, Neel Kunjur, Brad, Glenn Organizations: K2, Alpine Space Ventures, First, Capital, Republic Capital, CNBC Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Investing in Space: How bankers read a potential sale of rocket builder ULA
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. It's been widely reported over the last year that ULA parent companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin are considering offloading the rocket business. That's despite the successful debut of ULA's Vulcan rocket in early January, which I assumed would galvanize a sale. In the meantime, I've been curious to understand how ULA's sale is likely to play out. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are, and have been, looking to sell the rocket business for some time.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, It's, Lockheed Martin, ULA, Tory Bruno, Jeff Bezos, hasn't, I've, it's Organizations: Boeing, Lockheed, Origin, Textron, SpaceX, U.S ., Glenn, Vulcan Locations: ULA

☆ Amazon taps SpaceX for satellite launch even though Jeff Bezos has his own rocket company
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Amazon just inked a deal with chief competitor and Elon Musk-helmed SpaceX to launch internet-beaming satellites — a move that comes even as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pursues his own space dreams with his own rocket company, Blue Origin, and as SpaceX builds its own internet constellation. Some Amazon satellites will still ride on a large rocket made by Blue Origin, dubbed the New Glenn. Amazon is working to build a constellation of thousands of internet satellites, called Project Kuiper, that is planned to beam connectivity across the planet. The Jeff Bezos-founded company made headlines in April 2022 when it signed a contract worth billions of dollars to launch Kuiper satellites on 77 rockets built by Blue Origin — another Bezos-founded venture — as well as ULA and European launch provider Arianespace. In an interview last month, Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper, told CNN the prototypes were wholly successful.

Persons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Musk, Glenn, it’s, SpaceX’s, Lockheed Martin, “, ”, Amazon, Rajeev Badyal, Kuiper, ” Badyal, Badyal Organizations: CNN, SpaceX, Amazon, SpaceX Falcon, United Launch Alliance, Boeing, Lockheed, —, Cleveland Bakers, Teamsters, Fund Locations: ULA, European

☆ Bezos' Blue Origin sees third executive departure amid restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Eilola's departure follows plans announced last month by Bezos to replace Smith, who has been Blue Origin's CEO since 2017, with longtime Amazon executive Dave Limp by the end of the year. Blue Origin did not respond to a request for comment. Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the vision of having millions of people living and working in space. In the past several months, Blue Origin's corporate structure has changed substantially as its leadership gets a revamp. Blue Origin this year also spun its moon lander program into a new independent business unit.

Persons: Jeff Bezos's, Ivan Pierre Aguirre, Origin's, Jeff Bezos, Bob Smith, Mike Eilola, Bezos, Smith, Dave Limp, Brent Sherwood, Shepard, Limp, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham Organizations: Shepard, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Elon, SpaceX, Blue, Amazon, Honeywell Aerospace, Glenn, NASA, Space Systems, Thomson Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S, United States

☆ Exclusive: Bezos' Blue Origin expects split on space station partnership -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A Blue Origin spokesperson said Sierra will remain a partner on Orbital Reef but declined to say in what capacity. Last week, Bezos told Blue Origin employees that longtime Amazon executive Dave Limp would replace Blue Origin's current CEO by year's end. In 2021, Blue Origin announced its partnership to build what it envisions as a "business park in space" with Sierra Space, a spinoff from defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp. Blue Origin secured $3.4 billion from NASA this year for that lander as part of the agency's Artemis program. Blue Origin said at the time it planned to privately invest "well north" of that amount.

Persons: Shepard, Jeff Bezos's, Ivan Pierre Aguirre, Jeff Bezos, Sierra, Brent Sherwood, Sherwood, Bezos, Dave Limp, Glenn, Joey Roulette, Ben Klayman, David Gregorio, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Sierra Space, NASA, Space, CNBC, Blue Origin, Amazon, year's, Sierra Nevada Corp, Origin, Industry, Sierra, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S

☆ Bezos's Blue Origin names former Amazon executive as CEO -internal email
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 25 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin, Bob Smith, will step down at the end of the year to be replaced by former Amazon executive Dave Limp, who ran products such as Kindle, according to emails seen by Reuters. Limp, a former senior vice president at Amazon who led the company's consumer devices unit, will become Blue Origin's CEO on Dec. 4, an email from Bezos, Blue Origin's founder, said. "Jeff and I have been discussing my plan for months," Smith told employees in an email sent Monday. He added he would remain with the company until Jan. 2 "to ensure a smooth transition with the new CEO." Limp, a more than 13-year veteran of Amazon, had overseen some of Amazon's well-known consumer devices, such as Echo products.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Blue, Bob Smith, Bezos, Joe Skipper, Jeff Bezos's, Dave Limp, Jeff, Smith, Limp, Elon, New Glenn, Joey Roulette, Pooja Desai, Sonali Paul Organizations: Billionaire, Blue Origin's, REUTERS, Amazon, Reuters, Blue, SpaceX's, NASA, Honeywell Aerospace, SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, Thomson Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S, New

Limp joins Blue Origin at a key phase of the company's multiple space projects. Earlier this year Blue Origin won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a lunar lander for the agency's astronauts. However, Blue Origin has since hired aggressively. Read Bezos' message to Blue Origin employees on Monday:I'm excited to share that Dave Limp will join Blue starting December 4th as CEO, replacing Bob, who has elected to step aside on January 2. JeffRead Smith's message to Blue Origin employees:Team Blue, It's been about six years since I joined Blue Origin.

Persons: Limp, Shepard, Smith, Panos Panay, Bezos, Alexa, Limp's, Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos, Blue, Bob Smith, Origin's, Glenn, –, Read, Dave Limp, Bob, I'd, we've, We've, I've, Dave, Jeff Read, It's, Jeff, I'm, Ferociter, Dave Limp's Organizations: Amazon, Alexa, CNBC, NASA, Blue Origin, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Billionaire, Blue Origin's, Origin, Honeywell, Shepard, Pentagon, U.S . Space Force, Elon, SpaceX, Blue, Amazon Devices, Services, Apple Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S, Alabama, Florida, California , Arizona, Colorado, Kent

☆ Blue Origin: Longtime Amazon executive to take over Jeff Bezos’ rocket company
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Jeff Bezos’ space tourism and rocket company is replacing its chief executive officer with a longtime Amazon executive. The current Blue Origin CEO, Bob Smith — a former Honeywell executive who took over the role in 2017 — will step down and make way for Dave Limp, the senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon, a spokesperson for Blue Origin said in a statement Monday. In the statement, Blue Origin said that Limp is “a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset. Blue Origin has several other high-profile projects in the works. Blue Origin struggled to deliver the BE-4 engines, encountering months of delays.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Bob Smith —, Dave Limp, Limp, Smith, ” Limp’s, Shepard, New Shepard, Glenn, Lockheed Martin, ULA, Artemis — Organizations: CNN, Amazon, Honeywell, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Vulcan, United Launch Alliance, Lockheed, Boeing, Blue, NASA, Origin

☆ Telesat buys SpaceX launches for Lightspeed internet satellites
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS – Competitors or not, SpaceX continues to be willing to launch for other satellite internet companies. The agreement covers 14 launches of the Canadian venture's Lightspeed internet satellites. SpaceX has used its rockets to launch communications satellites for companies that compete directly or indirectly with its global Starlink internet network. These deals come as an Amazon shareholder alleges the company snubbed SpaceX for launch contracts of the tech giant's Kuiper internet satellites. Earlier this summer Telesat announced a swap in the manufacturer of its Lightspeed satellites, with Canadian space company MDA taking the place of French-Italian manufacturer Thales Alenia Space.

Persons: Elon Musk's, Dan Goldberg, Goldberg, Jeff Bezos, Glenn, Starlink, Telesat Organizations: PARIS, SpaceX, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Canadian, Lightspeed, CNBC, Viasat, Glenn, New Glenn, SpaceX's, MDA, Thales Alenia Space Locations: Italian

☆ Bezos snubbed Musk's SpaceX for huge satellite launch contract, Amazon shareholder says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit says the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos' personal rivalry with Elon Musk , who has taunted his fellow billionaire's space ambitions for years. Last year, Amazon announced what it called the biggest rocket deal in the commercial space industry's history, signing launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, and Bezos' Blue Origin. Blue Origin has yet to provide a statement in response to CNBC's request for comment on the lawsuit. In January 2022, the suit says Bezos' team told the Amazon audit committee that two contracts had been fully negotiated with Blue Origin and ULA. "Bezos, it must be assumed, could not swallow his pride to seek his bitter rival's help to launch Amazon's satellites," the suit adds.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bezos, –, Andy Jassy, Eisenhofer, Origin's, ULA Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Origin, Cleveland Bakers, Teamsters Pension Fund, Amazon, Elon, United Launch, CNBC, CB, Blue, FCC, Foods Locations: Delaware, New York

☆ The moon is open for business, and entrepreneurs are racing to make billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

"Definitely the moon is going to be a big business," said Prachi Kawade, a senior analyst at NSR, a research-and-consulting company focused on the space market. At first, lunar missions could be limited to a couple of weeks or months in a lunar base camp. Another lead for moon mining is the rare-earth elements that millennia of meteorites crashing into the moon may have left behind. Fly me to the moonHowever, the most lucrative part of the moon market by far is rocket development, said Kawade, who leads NSR's lunar-market report. NASA built its own system for its upcoming Artemis moon missions, the Space Launch System (SLS) mega-rocket with its Orion spacecraft.

Persons: Artemis, Brendan Rosseau, Lockheed Martin, Prachi Kawade, that's, Rosseau, Steve Creech, Creech, Kawade, NASA We're, George W, Bush, Rousseau, landers, Per, NASA's, NASA Ames, Daniel Rutter, Elon Musk's, Artemis III, Musk, NASA isn't, Glenn, III, VIII, Bill Nelson, Svetla Ben, Itzhak, Ben Organizations: NASA, Service, Harvard Business School, SpaceX, Origin, Nokia, Lockheed, General Motors, NSR, Apollo, ESA, Payload, Astrobotic Technology, Rover, Exploration Rover, Polar Resources, Mining, Orion, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Politico, Artemis, China, Air University Locations: Wall, Silicon, China, Pittsburg, Texas, California, Colorado, Japan, Russia, Latin America, Central Asia, Pakistan

☆ China beats SpaceX and Blue Origin to reach orbit with a methane-fueled rocket, edging ahead of the US in the space race
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China pulled ahead in the space exploration race by reaching orbit with a methalox rocket first. The fuel, based on methane, is coveted by companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin. SpaceX's own methalox-fueled rocket Starship exploded before reaching this milestone in April. Chinese firm LandSpace launched their Zhuque-2 rocket from the Gobi Desert on Tuesday, reaching orbit shortly after. Meanwhile, the future of New Glenn, Blue Origin's methalox rocket, is uncertain after its BE-4 engine exploded during testing in June, per Space.com.

Persons: LandSpace, Jonathan McDowell, Relativity, New Glenn, Blue, Jonathan Newton Organizations: SpaceX, Service, Privacy, China, US Space Force, Washington, Getty, Reuters Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, New, Starbase, Jiuquan, Gansu Province

☆ Investing in Space: Here are the rockets chasing to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

SpaceXCNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Overview: Chasing the FalconNo rocket has been better-described as a "workhorse" than SpaceX's Falcon 9. Aside from Blue Origin's New Glenn, the early theme is rockets that are close to the capability of Falcon 9 and less expensive. – CNBC, which the lawsuit says were used for NASA projects including the International Space Station and the Space Launch Systems rocket. – Firefly Aerospace: The rocket builder says the deal will bolster its launch, spacecraft, and lunar lander businesses.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, Phil Smith, SpaceX's, Glenn, Smith, –, Smith doesn't, CNBC ULA, Tory Bruno, Jeff Bezos, ULA, – Read, Shepard, Bob Smith, Jim Free, Artemis, HawkEye, – Hydrosat, Leonardo DiCaprio, – Momentus, Westinghouse EchoStar's Hughes, – EchoStar, Iris Lan, Sumara Thompson, King, Lan, – NASA Celeste Ford, Ford, – SpiderOak Melissa Quinn, Quinn Organizations: SpaceX CNBC's, SpaceX, Falcon, Boeing, NASA, CNBC, CNBC Department of Defense, Ukraine, Starlink, Pentagon, –, Space Station, Systems, CNBC SpaceX, Cargo, International Space, FAA, Intelsat, Japan Airlines, Embraer, – Intelsat, Rocket, ONE, Washington, Spaceflight, Aerospace, Aerospace Spacecraft, York, MaC Venture Capital, Broom Ventures, Veto, TechCrunch Viasat, Air Force, Viasat, Westinghouse, U.S . Department of Justice, – NASA, Ford, Stellar Solutions Locations: Florida, China, Russia, Colorado, Ukrainian, Bellevue , Washington, Cortado, Cornwall

☆ Analysis: Boeing, Northrop face obstacles in commercializing flagship US rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is shown on its launch pad as it is prepared for launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 12, 2022. NASA's SLS vision has its skeptics. NASA currently manages SLS production, with Boeing and Northrop its top contractors, each having contracts under which the space agency bears any delay costs. Boeing and Northrop executives have declined to discuss plans for cutting SLS costs under the proposed commercial contract. Boeing has said the SLS program has created 28,000 jobs.

Persons: Joe Skipper, Colonel Douglas Pentecost, Glenn, Jeff Bezos's, Cristina, Jim Free, Artemis, Amit Kshatriya, Kshatriya, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham, Ben Klayman Organizations: Orion, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Pentagon, Northrup, U.S . Department of Defense, DoD, U.S, military's Space Force, NASA, SLS, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Office, U.S . Congress, Northrop, Artemis, Space, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, Florida

☆ Elon Musk once praised a rocket CEO who didn't go to college for beating Jeff Bezos to orbit, new book reveals: 'Bezos has spent a shitload of money, and he hasn't made it'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new book reveals Elon Musk once praised a rival New Zealand rocket CEO in a 2018 phone call. Musk said it was "impressive" that Rocket Lab launched a rocket into orbit before Blue Origin, per the book. Like SpaceX, Rocket Lab has been able to launch rockets into orbit — something Bezos' Blue Origin company has not yet achieved. In March, Rocket Lab launched its 35th Electron rocket just a week after launching its 34th Electron rocket. Neither Rocket Lab, Blue Origin, nor Musk responded to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Investing in Space: Relativity CEO bets on bigger rockets, A.I. capabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While it didn't reach space, the most powerful rocket ever built marked a milestone and shined a light on a broader industry trend: building bigger rockets. Take Relativity Space, a CNBC Disruptor 50 company valued at more than $4 billion, that has emerged as the posterchild of the trend. Even Rocket Lab is busy developing a more powerful rocket than its current small launch-focused Electron. CNBC's weekly "Manifest Space" podcast focuses on the billionaires and brains behind the ever-expanding opportunities beyond our atmosphere. In "Manifest Space," sit back, relax and prepare for liftoff.

☆ Elon Musk holds the keys to the moon because SpaceX's Starship megarocket launch is crucial to NASA's return
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The rocket, which NASA has tagged for upcoming missions, is crucial to NASA's return to the moon. The highly anticipated Starship launch will determine whether NASA's Artemis moon program is on track for success. NASA's SLS relies on Starship for the moon landingA Starship prototype being launched. NASA's SLS rocket, by contrast, has a high price tag for the taxpayer: The project has cost $50 billion in development since the program's inception in 2006. All of this makes NASA's SLS a poor competitor to SpaceX's shiny new rocket.

☆ Meet the brothers building massive spacecraft to leverage SpaceX’s Starship
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

What we're finding is that, with the new launch capabilities of vehicles like Starship, there's actually an interesting opportunity to go the opposite direction," Karan Kunjur told CNBC. Los Angeles-based startup K2 Space, co-founded by CEO Karan Kunjur and CTO Neel Kunjur, is setting out to build satellite buses — the physical structure of a spacecraft that provides power, movement and more. A pair of brothers is aiming to challenge the way spacecraft are built, by going against the industry trend and designing massive satellites in a bet that towering rockets such as SpaceX's Starship are the way forward. K2 Space, a play on the brothers' surname and a nod to astronomer Nikolai Kardashev's scales of civilization, marks Karan and Neel's first venture together and fuses their previously divergent careers. For K2, the company is targeting prices that would be unheard of for satellite buses of these sizes.

☆ Space Force is taking a 'mutual fund approach' to buying rocket launches
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Earlier this month the Space Force kicked off the process to buy five years worth of launches, under a lucrative program known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3. The U.S. military is preparing to buy another round of rocket launches from companies next year, and Space Force leadership says they're taking a new "mutual fund approach" to the acquisition strategy. But, with a number of companies bringing rockets to market, Space Force is splitting NSSL Phase 3 into two groups for about 70 launches. Space Force leadership named several companies that can now compete in the dual-track process, including Rocket Lab , Relativity and ABL Space. Separately, Space Force is closely watching the growing demand for commercial launches.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Blue Origin, the private space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was awarded its first interplanetary NASA contract on Thursday to launch a mission next year to study the magnetic field around Mars, the U.S. space agency and company said. Blue Origin has flown previous NASA missions with its smaller, suborbital New Shepard rocket, which can carry research payloads on short, microgravity trips to the edge of space and back. Blue Origin, known for its astro-tourism business for wealthy customers and celebrities, is one of 13 firms NASA chose last year for its Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare missions (VADR) program. VADR essentially is intended to spur private development of private space launch vehicles by assigning lower-cost NASA science missions to new rockets with an unproven record and higher chance of failure. Blue Origin also declined to discuss financial details.

☆ Astronauts explain why nobody has visited the moon in 50 years — and the reasons are depressing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dave Mosher | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The last time a person visited the moon was in December 1972, during NASA's Apollo 17 mission. But those stays during the Apollo program didn't establish a lasting human presence on the moon. Researchers and entrepreneurs have long pushed for the creation of a crewed base on the moon — a lunar space station. But many astronauts and other experts suggest the biggest impediments to making new crewed moon missions a reality are banal and somewhat depressing. During NASA's Apollo program, 12 people landed on the moon.

☆ United Launch Alliance's debut Vulcan mission slips to 2023 -CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - United Launch Alliance has pushed the debut launch of its new Vulcan rocket to early 2023 at the request of one of its customers, the company's chief executive said, further delaying a benchmark mission crucial to the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture's launch business. Vulcan, a roughly 200 foot-tall rocket in the final stages of development, will be the centerpiece to ULA's launch business. Vulcan, priced at roughly $110 million per launch, already has some 80 contracted missions lined up. It will compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9, priced roughly $62 million per launch, and Blue Origin's forthcoming New Glenn rocket, which uses the same engines as Vulcan. If Astrobotic's lander is delayed beyond Q1 2023, ULA would replace it with a pickup truck-sized dummy payload in order to meet the narrowing window of time to demonstrate Vulcan for the Space Force.

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