History of Blue Origin in Timeline

Blue Origin, based in Kent, Washington, is an American space technology company. It operates the New Shepard suborbital rocket and is developing the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket. Besides producing engines for its own launch vehicles, it also supplies engines for other vehicles, such as the United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. Blue Origin is involved in projects like the Blue Moon lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program, the Blue Ring spacecraft platform, and the Orbital Reef space station in collaboration with other organizations.

March 5, 2005: Charon makes its only test flight at Moses Lake, Washington

On March 5, 2005, Blue Origin's first flight test vehicle, Charon, made its only test flight at Moses Lake, Washington. It flew to an altitude of 96 m (316 ft) before returning for a controlled landing.

November 13, 2006: Goddard (PM1) first flight test successful.

On November 13, 2006, Blue Origin's test vehicle, named Goddard (also known as PM1), first flew successfully.

2009: NASA awards Blue Origin funding for Commercial Crew Development

In 2009, NASA awarded Blue Origin $3.7 million in funding via a Space Act Agreement under the first Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. This funding supported the development of concepts and technologies for future human spaceflight operations, including a 'pusher' escape system and a composite pressure vessel cabin.

November 8, 2010: Blue Origin completes CCDev Space Act Agreement milestones

On November 8, 2010, Blue Origin announced that it had completed all milestones under its CCDev Space Act Agreement with NASA.

April 2011: NASA commits $22 million to Blue Origin under CCDev phase 2 program

In April 2011, NASA committed $22 million of funding to Blue Origin under the CCDev phase 2 program. The milestones included performing a Mission Concept Review (MCR) and System Requirements Review (SRR) on the orbital Space Vehicle, maturing the pusher escape system, and accelerating the development of its BE-3 LOX/LH2 engine.

May 6, 2011: PM2 short hop flight test

On May 6, 2011, Blue Origin's early suborbital test vehicle, PM2, had a short hop flight test (low altitude, VTVL takeoff and landing mission) in west Texas.

August 24, 2011: PM2 second flight failed

On August 24, 2011, Blue Origin's PM2 second flight failed when ground personnel lost contact and control of the vehicle.

2012: Blue Origin does not submit a proposal for CCiCap

In 2012, NASA's Commercial Crew Program released its follow-on CCiCap solicitation for crew delivery to ISS by 2017. Blue Origin did not submit a proposal for CCiCap, but continued work on its development program with private funding.

September 2013: Blue Origin protests NASA's plan to award exclusive lease of Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX

In September 2013, Blue Origin filed a protest with the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) over NASA's plan to award an exclusive commercial lease to SpaceX for Launch Pad 39A.

October 1, 2013: NASA planned to transfer Launch Pad 39A

NASA originally planned to complete the bid award and have Launch Pad 39A transferred by October 1, 2013, but Blue Origin's protest delayed the decision.

December 2013: GAO denies Blue Origin's protest over Launch Pad 39A lease

In December 2013, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) denied Blue Origin's protest and sided with NASA, stating that the solicitation contained no preference on the use of the facility as either multi-use or single-use.

2013: Blue Origin bids to lease Launch Complex 39A

In 2013, Blue Origin submitted a bid to lease Launch Complex 39A (LC39A) at the Kennedy Space Center for shared and non-exclusive use but lost to SpaceX who submitted a bid for exclusive use for their crewed missions.

April 2014: NASA signs 20-year lease contract for Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX

In April 2014, NASA selected the SpaceX proposal and signed a 20-year lease contract for Launch Pad 39A to SpaceX.

July 2014: Jeff Bezos invests over $500 million into Blue Origin

By July 2014, Jeff Bezos had invested over $500 million into Blue Origin.

2016: Charon on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

As of 2016, Charon is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

2016: Jeff Bezos funds technology development and operations for Blue Origin

By July 2014, Jeff Bezos had invested over $500 million into Blue Origin. and the vast majority of further funding into 2016 was to support technology development and operations where a majority of funding came from Jeff Bezos' private investment fund.

April 2017: Jeff Bezos sells Amazon stock to invest in Blue Origin

In April 2017, an annual amount was published showing that Jeff Bezos was selling approximately $1 billion in Amazon stock per year to invest in Blue Origin.

2017: CCiCap aims to develop crew delivery to ISS by 2017

In 2012, NASA's Commercial Crew Program released its follow-on CCiCap solicitation for the development of crew delivery to ISS by 2017.

2019: Blue Origin receives funding from the United States Air Force

In 2019, Blue Origin received $181 million from the United States Air Force for launch vehicle development.

April 30, 2020: Blue Origin wins NASA contract for Human Landing System development

On April 30, 2020, Blue Origin and its partners won a $579 million contract from NASA to start developing and testing an integrated Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon.

April 16, 2021: NASA selects SpaceX for Human Landing System development

On April 16, 2021, NASA officially selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) to develop, test and build their version of the Human Landing System (HLS) for Artemis missions 2 (II), 3 (III) and 4 (IV). Blue Origin lost their bid.

2021: Blue Origin receives funding from NASA for lunar lander projects and sub-orbital research flights

In early 2021, Blue Origin received over $275 million from NASA for lunar lander projects and sub-orbital research flights.

November 18, 2022: Blue Origin agreement paves way for New Glenn rocket to compete for national security launch contracts

On November 18, 2022, the U.S. Space Systems Command announced an agreement with Blue Origin that "paves the way" for the company's New Glenn rocket to compete for national security launch contracts.

December 6, 2022: Blue Origin submits second bid for NASA's Sustaining Lunar Development competition

On December 6, 2022, Blue Origin announced that it had submitted a second bid via the NASA Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) competition to fund and develop a second lunar lander. Blue Origin is leading the "National Team" which includes Draper, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics and Blue Origin.

2023: Blue Origin reports hundreds of millions in revenue and billions in orders

In 2023, Blue Origin's Bob Smith said that the company had "hundreds of millions in revenue as well as billions of dollars in orders".

2023: NASA awards Blue Origin $35 million for lunar regolith work

In 2023, NASA awarded Blue Origin $35 million to support the company's work on utilizing lunar regolith for solar power systems on the moon. Blue Origin proposed "Blue Alchemist", a solution to produce solar cells and oxygen from lunar regolith using molten regolith electrolysis. This process would bootstrap unlimited electricity and power transmission cables anywhere on the surface of the Moon and also produce oxygen as a useful byproduct for propulsion and life support.

January 2025: Blue Origin achieves orbital spaceflight with New Glenn maiden launch

In January 2025, Blue Origin achieved orbital spaceflight with the maiden launch of New Glenn.

August 12, 2025: Blue Origin proposes Mars Telecommunications Orbiter mission

On August 12, 2025, Blue Origin announced a proposed Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) mission that would fulfill NASA's new requirements. The mission would be based on Blue Origin's Blue Ring Satellite Platform.

2028: Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) mission proposed to be operational by 2028

On August 12, 2025, Blue Origin announced a proposed Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) mission that is envisioned by Blue Origin to be operational by 2028.

2029: Crewed Moon landing scheduled for 2029

On May 19, 2023, NASA contracted Blue Origin to develop, test and deploy its Blue Moon landing system for the agency's Artemis V mission, which explores the Moon and prepares future crewed missions to Mars. The project includes an uncrewed test mission followed by a crewed Moon landing in 2029.