{"id":19044,"date":"2017-03-07T17:06:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T09:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-introduces-eutelsat-as-blue-origins-first-new-glenn-rocket-customer\/"},"modified":"2017-03-07T17:06:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T09:06:38","slug":"jeff-bezos-introduces-eutelsat-as-blue-origins-first-new-glenn-rocket-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-introduces-eutelsat-as-blue-origins-first-new-glenn-rocket-customer\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos introduces Eutelsat as Blue Origin\u2019s first New Glenn rocket customer"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_315465\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-315465\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-315465\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170307-bez-rod-3-630x427.jpg\" alt=\"Bezos and Belmer\" width=\"630\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170307-bez-rod-3-630x427.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170307-bez-rod-3-768x520.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/170307-bez-rod-3-1240x840.jpg 1240w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-315465\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon as well as the Blue Origin space venture, takes the stage with Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos revealed&nbsp;satellite operator&nbsp;Eutelsat as the first paying customer for his Blue Origin space venture\u2019s&nbsp;New Glenn orbital rocket, and showed off a new animation depicting the rocket taking off, delivering a satellite&nbsp;to orbit and landing on a barge at sea.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos and the&nbsp;chairman of this week\u2019s Satellite 2017 conference, Jeffrey Hill,&nbsp;brought the Paris-based satellite operator\u2019s CEO, Rodolphe Belmer, on stage as a surprise guest during today\u2019s keynote chat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe couldn\u2019t hope for a better first partner,\u201d Bezos said.<\/p>\n<p>In a news release, Eutelsat said the first payload would be a geostationary satellite, to be launched in the 2021-2022 time frame. New Glenn\u2019s specifications are compatible with virtually all of Eutelsat\u2019s spacecraft, which gives the company&nbsp;enough flexibility to wait until a year before launch to determine the specific mission.<\/p>\n<p>Eutelsat is one of the world\u2019s biggest satellite operators, providing video and data coverage for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlue Origin has been forthcoming with Eutelsat on its strategy, and convinced us they have the right mindset to compete in the launch service industry,\u201d Belmer said. Neither company provided financial details.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"New Glenn: Building the Road to Space\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5ukGXfH-eyg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>New Glenn is slated to begin flying&nbsp;by 2020, from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The video that made its debut today at the Satellite 2017 conference showed the takeoff of a two-stage&nbsp;New Glenn rocket, equipped with aerodynamic fins (technically known&nbsp;as strakes) and six deployable landing legs.<\/p>\n<p>After stage separation, the first-stage booster is designed to fly itself back to an oceangoing platform \u2013 a maneuver similar to that used by SpaceX for its Falcon 9 boosters. In fact, Blue Origin and SpaceX were once locked in a legal tussle over the patentability of the procedure. (Blue Origin\u2019s patent ended up being thrown out.)<\/p>\n<p>For Blue Origin as well as SpaceX, the reason for recovering the first stage&nbsp;is to maximize the reusability of spacecraft hardware and drive down the cost of access to space.<\/p>\n<p>During today\u2019s keynote, Bezos&nbsp;stressed the importance of \u201ctrue operational reusability\u201d in spacecraft, saying the company&nbsp;will not only recover rockets through vertical landings but aim to use them again with minimal work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to get to a place ultimately that is much more like commercial airliners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement came a week after Bezos acknowledged floating a proposal to NASA suggesting that Blue Origin could make payload deliveries to the lunar surface, starting as early as 2020. The aim would be to build a permanent base for humans in the moon\u2019s south polar region.<\/p>\n<p>While Bezos\u2019 work with Amazon has transformed the retail industry, his work with Blue Origin is meant to pursue Bezos\u2019&nbsp;long-held vision of having millions of people living and working in space.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=839112645957541890&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fjeff-bezos-announces-eutelsat-blue-origins-first-new-glenn-rocket-customer-unveils-video-depicting-future-mission%2F&amp;sessionId=ee867474b9866703e80ea62753ab67597c2ecc16&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"839112645957541890\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782803356888147847=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Excited to announce we have signed our 1st #NewGlenn customer. Welcome to the launch manifest @Eutelsat_SA pic.twitter.com\/fTeKKneYnJ<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 7, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000, only a few years after founding Amazon in Seattle. Today Bezos said more than 1,000 employees are working at the company\u2019s headquarters in Kent, Wash., and at its test range on ranchland that he owns in West Texas. Blue Origin is also building a 750,000-square-foot rocket factory near its launch complex in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the top projects on Blue Origin\u2019s agenda are the New Shepard suborbital spaceship and the advanced BE-4 rocket engine.<\/p>\n<p>One New Shepard craft has already made five successful uncrewed test flights to space and back from the West Texas launch site. If the development process continues according to plan, an upgraded New Shepard could start carrying test astronauts late this year, and start flying paying passengers next year.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Eutelsat_SA\/status\/839119160722526208<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 engines are expected to go through full-scale testing soon. The BE-4 is slated to be used on United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan rocket as well as Blue Origin\u2019s own New Glenn rocket, whose name pays tribute to the late space pioneer John Glenn.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos has also talked about an even more powerful rocket, the New Armstrong, which is named after moonwalker Neil Armstrong. That rocket, which hasn\u2019t yet gotten off the drawing boards, would take on deep-space missions.&nbsp;However, Bezos said last week that a beefed-up version of the New Glenn would have enough oomph to get payloads to the moon. NASA\u2019s Space Launch System and ULA\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket could also be used.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos is funding Blue Origin from his personal fortune, not Amazon revenue. Last year he acknowledged that he\u2019s put well more than half a billion dollars into the company. His current net worth is estimated at $73 billion, or nearly four times NASA\u2019s annual budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon as well as the Blue Origin space venture, takes the stage with Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos revealed&nbsp;satellite operator&nbsp;Eutelsat as the first paying customer for his Blue Origin space venture\u2019s&nbsp;New Glenn orbital rocket, and showed off a new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,291,1046],"class_list":["post-19044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-commercial-space","tag-jeff-bezos"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}