For the first time, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is raising money from outside investors. This comes after the setback in May that took out the only launch pad Blue Origin had for launching its New Glenn rocket (Launch Complex 36), which is expected to cause at least a 6-month delay, if not longer (based on what I have heard from coworkers, it's much, much more likely to be longer). The rocket explosion does not seem to have affected investor appetites, though, as Coatue Management is the lead for this round with a $4 billion commitment.
According to Andrew Ross Sorkin, $10 billion is being raised at a $130 billion valuation. Coatue Management is committing $4 billion, as mentioned above, and Bezos himself is contributing another $2 billion. The remaining $4 billion is coming from various large institutional investors.
Blue Origin seems to be benefiting from the jaw-dropping SpaceX IPO last month, even though SpaceX has pulled back in share price (it is still above the IPO price by roughly $15 a share). It will be interesting to watch if they are going to tap the outside market for more money this year given their current projects, future projects, and, well, the damage to their facilities from the New Glenn explosion. After, in theory, almost catching up with SpaceX in the launching capabilities area, they are once again behind SpaceX by a significant margin.
Hahaha is Blue Origin any where near space x as far as tech and a serious revenue stream (Starlink)
What I meant was that with New Glenn seemingly ramping up in both production and launches, Blue Origin was pretty close to matching SpaceX since their heavy lift is Falcon Heavy (we also see that SpaceX does not use Falcon Heavy nearly as much as it was first expected). Blue Origin also is about par with SpaceX when it comes to the Blue Moon human lander. Blue Moon is a much easier and proven type of lander compared to Starship.
Blue Origin also does have a hell of a revenue stream they are developing with their engines. Unlike SpaceX, Blue Origin is open to selling these engines to other companies, and ULA is already buying them to replace the Russian engines.
ULA?
United Launch Alliance…. They were the only game in town before SpaceX and it’s a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing…
SpaceX and ULA are the only launch providers for National Security launches
I don't think they were particularly close to catching up with SpaceX in the launch capabilities, unless you simply mean that they can seemingly land a booster. They just don't have the manufacturing scale of SpaceX, which helps to drive down launch costs. Blue Origin first have to match what a Falcon 9 launch can be booked for, at a time when SpaceX are already focusing on their next rocket, Starship. Blue Origin have a mountain to climb, but we shall see. The space race will certainly be fascinating to watch.
If you're going to invest, invest in #1. That's not Blue Origin.
Could it be at some point in the future? Anything's possible but the lead is at least 5 years given the combination of infrastructure, demand, and track record.
Spaceships are cool. How else can you get exposure to the rest of the galaxy?