Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos is launching a reusable rocket through his other company, Blue Origin.
The e-commerce entrepreneur hopes to rival SpaceX — run by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk — which has been testing a rocket that can be reused and refurbished. SpaceX’s project has mostly been a success, barring an incident during takeoff that caused a rocket to explode, costing the company $200 million.
The Blue Origin creation is called New Glenn in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. He was one of NASA’s Mercury Seven astronauts.
Bezos said New Glenn will fly commercial satellites and send humans to outer space. Both designs of the spacecraft will use seven BE-4 engines that run on methane. The rockets will launch through a test facility at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is neighbors with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
New Glenn is capable of going out into space, returning and landing. Blue Origin workers can then do maintenance work on the rocket to send it back out to space.
Another of the company’s initiatives is New Shephard, a smaller rocket that can also be reused. It is designed to carry passengers to an altitude of 62 miles, flying to the edge of the Earth.
Skydiving will only be the second most exciting thing in this planet once the initiative is rolled out, which will carry passengers — astronauts and regular citizens — far enough so they can see outer space.
AMZN stock is up 1.5% Monday.
