Blue Origin, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company, announced this Friday (30) that it will temporarily pause flights on its space tourism rocket to allocate more resources to its lunar ambitions. The company said in a statement that it will “pause New Shepard flights for at least two years,” with the aim of “further accelerating the development of the company’s lunar human capabilities.”
O New Shepard is a reusable rocket that has already taken dozens of people to the Kármán lineinternationally recognized as the limit between the atmosphere and outer space. “The decision reflects Blue Origin’s commitment to the national goal of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent and sustained presence,” the statement adds.
Mass Blue Origin also intends to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceXin the market for flights to orbit. Last year, the company successfully carried out two unmanned orbital flights with its giant New Glenn rocket, which is more powerful than the New Shepard.
Also in 2025, NASA reported that it opened bids for a mission to the Moon, the third phase of the Artemis program. Blue Origin is the current contractor for the program’s fifth planned mission, valued at billions of dollars.
In his second term in the White House, President Donald Trump has increased pressure on NASA to accelerate progress on sending a manned mission to the Moon, while China steps up similar efforts.
*With information from AFP
