{"id":19436,"date":"2016-03-09T01:46:47","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T17:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-lifts-curtain-on-blue-origin-rocket-factory-lays-out-grand-plan-for-space-travel-that-spans-hundreds-of-years\/"},"modified":"2016-03-09T01:46:47","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T17:46:47","slug":"jeff-bezos-lifts-curtain-on-blue-origin-rocket-factory-lays-out-grand-plan-for-space-travel-that-spans-hundreds-of-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-lifts-curtain-on-blue-origin-rocket-factory-lays-out-grand-plan-for-space-travel-that-spans-hundreds-of-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jeff
Billionaire Jeff Bezos stands beside the copper nozzle for a BE-4 rocket engine at Blue Origin\u2019s production facility in Kent, Wash., while journalists snap pictures. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KENT, Wash.<\/strong> \u2013 For the first time, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos guided a pack of journalists around his Blue Origin rocket factory today and showed off hardware that could send people on suborbital rides to outer space as early as next year.<\/p>\n

The billionaire tech entrepreneur also laid out a vision for space commercialization that stretches out for hundreds of years, leading to an era when millions of people would be living and working in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think space is chock full of resources,\u201d Bezos told reporters. \u201cThis is all my view, and I\u2019ll be dead before I\u2019m proved wrong, so it\u2019s a very safe prediction to make. But my view is that there will be a \u2018Great Inversion.’\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span> We need space to make sure nothing bad happens to the Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, huge industrial complexes on Earth build components that are sent into space, at a cost of thousands of dollars per pound. Bezos foresees an inversion in that flow of goods. \u201cWe\u2019ll make the microprocessors in space, and then we\u2019ll send the little tiny bits to Earth,\u201d Bezos said.<\/p>\n

In the long term, Blue Origin could set the stage for moving heavy industries completely off Earth, leaving our planet zoned strictly for \u201cresidential and light industrial\u201d use.<\/p>\n

The trends pushing in that direction include the need for space-based energy generation to fill industrial demands, the need to reduce the pollution caused by industrial activity, the falling cost of access to space and the eventual ability to use asteroids and other space resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are fundamental limits, and we\u2019re within a few hundred years of finding those fundamental limits \u2026 Some people say, and I think it\u2019s a reasonable point, that you need a Plan B. What happens if something bad happens to Earth?\u201d Bezos said. \u201cBut I look at this in the opposite direction. I say we need space to make sure nothing bad happens to the Earth. Plan B is, make sure Plan A works. So that\u2019s one. And the second thing is, it will just be an incredibly fun, inspiring part of humanity\u2019s future to go exploring the solar system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to do that? Sign me up,\u201d Bezos said.<\/p>\n

Showing off robots and lasers<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Today\u2019s tour was incredibly fun for Bezos \u2013 who spent about three hours showing 11 journalists around the factory, and spent another hour answering questions over lunch. His signature laugh rang out often.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you can sense that I like this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At one point, he showed off a huge, laser-equipped robotic arm that did the welding on the huge copper nozzles for Blue Origin\u2019s BE-4 rocket engine, still in development. \u201cIt\u2019s all robots and lasers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When one reporter asked how rocket engines were delivered from the Kent factory to Blue Origin\u2019s test range in West Texas, Bezos joked that the shipment might be eligible for two-day Amazon Prime delivery. (The real answer is that the components are trucked down to Texas.)<\/p>\n

Bezos and other Blue Origin engineers explained the workings of the 16-year-old company\u2019s engines and spacecraft in geeky detail.<\/p>\n

\"BE-4
Engineers examine the BE-4 rocket engine\u2019s main combustion chamber. (Credit: Blue Origin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 12-foot-tall BE-4 engine is in development for United Launch Alliance\u2019s next-generation Vulcan rocket, which is due to have its first launch in 2019.<\/p>\n

The engine, which will be fueled with liquefied natural gas, is also destined for use on Blue Origin\u2019s \u201cVery Big Brother\u201d orbital launch vehicle. Bezos said he expects the orbital vehicle to start flying from the company\u2019s Florida launch facility by 2020. It could be used to put commercial payloads in orbit, or send people to the International Space Station and other destinations.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Blue Origin is continuing to test its reusable New Shepard suborbital rocket ship, which had its first successful spaceflight and return to Earth in November. After minimal maintenance, the New Shepard flew again in January. Bezos said there\u2019ll soon be another uncrewed test flight at the Texas test range.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to fly it until we lose it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sending humans into space in 2017?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The plan is to test the spaceship many, many times without humans aboard. At some point, Blue Origin will run a test in which the crew capsule will have to blast itself clear from the propulsion module at maximum dynamic pressure \u2013 a scenario during which the propulsion module will almost certainly be destroyed.<\/p>\n

Not to worry, though: More crew capsules and propulsion modules are already under construction at the factory.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time anybody gets on, I think you should be willing to bring your mom,\u201d Bezos said.<\/p>\n