Blue Origin: Everything to Know About Jeff Bezos' Space Tech Company

In 2000, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos created the space technology company, Blue Origin. Six years later, Goddard — its first true rocket named after Robert Goddard — marked its first successful flight as the company continuously worked on its New Shepard program, named after Alan Shepard.

Blue Origin expanded its operations when it established its two-stage orbital rocket, New Glenn, and started developing Blue Moon lunar landers.

"It's this generation's job to build a road to space, so that future generations can unleash their creativity," Bezos said, according to the company's About page.

In September 2022, the uncrewed Blue Origin NS-23 mission suffered an anomaly after an issue in the rocket's engine nozzle occurred before it reached an altitude of 30,000 feet. Around six months later, the company confirmed the direct cause of the mishap was "a thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle."

"The resulting thrust misalignment properly triggered the Crew Capsule escape system, which functioned as designed throughout the flight," the update in March 2023 read. "The Crew Capsule and all payloads onboard landed safely and will be flown again."

It added, "All systems designed to protect public safety functioned as planned. There were no injuries. There was no damage to ground-based systems, and all debris was recovered in the designated hazard area."

Blue Origin made history with its first human flight on July 20, 2021, which earned four Guinness World Records. The company's first crewed mission carried four people — Jeff, his brother Mark Bezos, aviator Wally Funk and Olivier Daemen — and crossed the Kármán line.

Following the trip, the Bezos brothers became the first siblings to go to space at the same time. Meanwhile, Wally, who was 82 years and 169 days old at the time, was named the oldest person to go to space.

The Guinness World Records also certified Olivier, who was 18 years and 334 days old during the flight, as the youngest person to travel to space.

In addition, the July 2021 mission became the first suborbital spacecraft to carry paying customers.

On April 14, Blue Origin's first all-female flight crew successfully completed the company's 11th human spaceflight for the New Shepard program. The six passengers included Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez.

Phil Joyce, the company's senior vice president for the New Shepard program, celebrated the successful mission in a statement on a blog post, which read, "What a privilege to witness this crew of trailblazers depart the capsule today. Each of these women is a storyteller who will use their voices — individually and together — to channel their life-changing experience today into creating lasting impact that will inspire people across our planet for generations. Thank you to this remarkable crew for uplifting so many on their historic journey toward the stars and back."

After the April 14 flight, New Shepard has officially flown 58 people to space, including four people who have been part of the missions twice.

While Blue Origin has yet to confirm the exact cost of a spaceflight ticket, The New York Times revealed Oliver's father, Joes Daemen, came in second place after he paid $28 million when the company auctioned off a seat on its first crewed flight in the summer of 2021.

After the all-female mission, Blue Origin spokesperson Bill Kircos told CNN that some passengers flew "free of charge," while others paid for their seats. William Shatner also flew as a guest on the New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle in October 2021.

Blue Origin allows anyone to book a flight on the company's website through a reservation page. It does not provide the exact ticket prices of the seats, but it notes that a "fully refundable deposit" of $150,000 will be collected "to begin the order process."