From Amazon to the Stars: New Head of Jeff Bezos' Rocket Company Revealed

Jeff Bezos' space tourism and rocket company, Blue Origin, is undergoing a leadership change as it appoints a new chief executive officer. Bob Smith, the current CEO and former Honeywell executive, who assumed the role in 2017, will be stepping down. Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, will take over as the new CEO, according to a statement released by a spokesperson for Blue Origin on Monday.

Blue Origin stated that Limp is an innovative leader with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. He possesses considerable expertise in the high-tech sector and has successfully managed the growth of complex organizations, including Amazons satellite business, Project Kuiper.

Additionally, the company highlighted Smith's role in transitioning Blue Origin from a research and development-focused firm into a versatile space enterprise, having garnered almost $10 billion in customer orders and employing over 10,000 individuals.

Limps will officially begin working at Blue Origin on December 4, as confirmed by the company. However, Smith will continue to support the transition process until January 2, as stated in the official statement.

Over the course of more than ten years, Blue Origin has focused on the development of New Shepard, a suborbital rocket and spacecraft. This advanced technology allows for the transportation of both paying customers and scientific experiments to the outer limits of space. In 2021, the company achieved its first successful crewed spaceflight, with Bezos himself being among the passengers. Since then, New Shepard has successfully completed an additional five missions with people on board.

The vehicle, however, has not resumed flight after an unsuccessful uncrewed science mission in September 2022.

Blue Origin is currently working on several other significant projects. One of them is the development of a powerful heavy-lift rocket named New Glenn, which aims to compete with SpaceX for satellite launch contracts by reaching Earth's orbit. Additionally, the engines designed for New Glenn, known as BE-4, will be used to power the new Vulcan rocket, currently being developed by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture established by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Blue Origin faced considerable challenges and delays in providing the BE-4 engines. However, ULA has now set its expectations for the Vulcan Centaur rocket, powered by the BE-4 engines, to launch this year and transport a NASA-supported spacecraft to the moon.

In another development, Blue Origin finally secured the highly anticipated contract for NASA's moon exploration program, Artemis, in May. This contract includes a funding of $3.5 billion for the development of a spacecraft that can transport astronauts to the lunar surface.