Blue Origin Sparks the Race to Move Millions of Tons Into Space

Jeff Bezos' rocket company has shown it is the closest contender to match or surpass Elon Musk's SpaceX. This marks the emergence of true market competition in space for the first time in history.

New Glenn rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in November 2025. Source.

In November 2025, Blue Origin became the second organization in the world to demonstrate reusability of an orbital space rocket, with the vertical landing and recovery of the first stage or “booster” of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket.¹ The first organization to accomplish this feat was Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which demonstrated reusability of its Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket in December 2015 and, as a result, has greatly reduced the cost of launching mass to orbit, accounting in 2024 for roughly 90% of all mass launched to orbit worldwide.² With New Glenn, Blue Origin has become the closest contender in the international race to match or surpass SpaceX. Blue Origin was founded and remains generously funded by the personal fortune of Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, who is the de facto leader of Blue Origin although he does not hold the title of CEO.