History of Blue Origin in Timeline

Blue Origin, an American space technology company based in Kent, Washington, develops and operates space vehicles. Key projects include the New Shepard suborbital rocket, the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, and engines for other vehicles such as United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. Blue Origin is also involved in lunar exploration with its Blue Moon lander for NASA's Artemis program. Additionally, they are developing the Blue Ring spacecraft platform and collaborating on the Orbital Reef space station.

March 5, 2005: Charon Test Flight

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: First Flight of Goddard (PM1)

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

2009: NASA Awards Funding via Space Act Agreement

In 2009, NASA awarded Blue Origin $3.7 million via a Space Act Agreement under the first Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. The award was for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations and risk-mitigation activities related to ground testing of an innovative 'pusher' escape system and an innovative composite pressure vessel cabin.

November 8, 2010: Completion of 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 Funding Under CCDev Phase 2 Program

In April 2011, NASA committed $22 million of funding to Blue Origin under the CCDev phase 2 program. 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 development of its BE-3 LOX/LH2 440 kN (100,000 lbf) engine through full-scale thrust chamber testing.

May 6, 2011: First Flight of PM2

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

August 24, 2011: Second Flight of PM2 Resulted in Vehicle Loss

On August 24, 2011, the second flight of Blue Origin's PM2 failed when ground personnel lost contact and control of the vehicle. As the vehicle reached a speed of Mach 1.2 and 14 km altitude, a "flight instability drove an angle of attack that triggered [the] range safety system to terminate thrust on the vehicle". The vehicle was lost.

2012: Did not submit a proposal for CCiCap

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

September 2013: Filed Protest with GAO over Launch Pad 39A Award

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

October 1, 2013: Planned Transfer of Launch Pad 39A Delayed

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

December 2013: GAO Denied Protest Over Launch Pad 39A

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

2013: Completion of NASA Development Contracts

By 2013, Blue Origin had completed work for NASA on several small development contracts, receiving total funding of $25.7 million.

2013: Failed attempt 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 was not awarded the lease. Commercial use of the launch complex was awarded to SpaceX, which submitted a bid for exclusive use.

April 2014: NASA Signed a 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: Investment by Jeff Bezos Exceeds $500 Million

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

2016: Charon on Display at Museum of Flight

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

2016: Funding Primarily Supports Technology Development and Operations

In 2016, the vast majority of funding was to support technology development and operations, with a majority of funding coming from Jeff Bezos' private investment fund.

April 2017: Jeff Bezos Invests $1 Billion Annually

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

2017: CCiCap target year for crew delivery to ISS

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

2019: Received Funding from United States Air Force

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

April 30, 2020: Contract Awarded for Human Landing System Development

On April 30, 2020, Blue Origin and its partners (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper) won a $579 million contract to start developing and testing an integrated Human Landing System (HLS) for the Artemis program.

April 16, 2021: SpaceX Selected for Artemis Program Human Landing System

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

2021: Received Funding for Lunar Lander Projects and Sub-Orbital Research

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

November 18, 2022: Agreement with U.S. Space Systems Command

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: Submitted Second Bid for Lunar Lander Development

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. The Blue Origin led team called the "National Team" includes Draper, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics and Blue Origin.

2023: Hundreds of Millions in Revenue

In 2023, Bob Smith mentioned that Blue Origin had "hundreds of millions in revenue as well as billions of dollars in orders".

2023: NASA awards contract for lunar regolith solar cell development

In 2023, NASA awarded Blue Origin $35 million to develop solar cells from lunar regolith. Blue Origin's "Blue Alchemist" proposes a system to produce solar cells from lunar regolith via molten regolith electrolysis, generating electricity and oxygen on the Moon.