Blue Origin scrubbed the debut launch of its New Glenn rocket on Monday over a vehicle subsection issue. If Elon Musk had his way, he would also scrap the company’s Blue Moon from landing NASA astronauts on the lunar surface in 2030. However, Amazon billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos doesn’t view Musk and his relationship with Donald Trump as a threat to his space company.
Between NASA and the Pentagon, the federal government is the most significant customer for private space companies. Blue Origin received $3.4 billion in contracts for just the Artemis program, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX was handed two contracts for $4 billion. Despite his financial stake in returning America to the Moon, Musk has been fixated on getting to Mars. In a tweet earlier this month, he even called the Moon “a distraction.”
Bezos appeared to be doubling down on the Artemis program in recent months. Blue Origin emerged as a potential buyer of Boeing’s space division after the failed Starliner crewed test flight. Ahead of the New Gleen’s debut launch, he told Reuters:
“Elon has been very clear that he’s doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I take him at face value.”
“My own opinion is that we should do both – we need to go to the moon and we should go to Mars. What we shouldn’t do is start and stop things. We should continue with the lunar program for sure.”
While Bezos can believe whatever he wants, Musk holds a massive influence on the incoming administration. He donated at least $250 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Musk also became a jumping sideshow during Turmp rallies. He’s basically tied to a former reality TV host at the hip, becoming a less-than-welcome resident at Mar-a-Lago. The Artemis program’s future hinges on it being a legacy project started by Trump.
