Increased commitment: After leaving Amazon CEO: Jeff Bezos is taking more time for his space company Blue Origin | newsletter

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?? Jeff Bezos spends an extra afternoon every week at Blue Origin
?? Bezos describes the space company as the most important job of his life
?? Seeking closer cooperation between Amazon and Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos devotes more time to Blue Origin

Billionaire and founder of shipping giant Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is turning his eyes more and more to the space company Blue Origin, which he founded. As CNBC reports, Bezos has long been short on the company every Wednesday afternoon for updates and discussions — in person before the pandemic and on the phone ever since. But a few months ago, the Blue Origin entrepreneur also dedicated his Tuesday afternoon. According to CNBC, this additional time investment is a huge investment for the company due to the very limited availability of Bezos, however, there is no accurate information available about how much Bezos is actually involved in Blue Origin.

Bezos: “The most important job of my life”

With extra time invested in Blue Origin, Bezos reiterates his statement that Blue Origin is the most important mission of his life. His current increased focus on the company comes at a time when Blue Origin is generally in a difficult and limiting situation. The company is currently in a court battle over the contract NASA awarded SpaceX to purchase a multi-billion dollar lunar lander, whose development has already been halted due to conflict with its competitors, according to Futurezone.

In addition, Blue Origin is under increasing pressure due to the long delays being experienced by a critical customer of the BE-4 rocket engines. The company’s first orbital rocket is also years behind schedule. In addition, sub-orbital space research and tourism business is currently accelerating. There are also differences within Blue Origin: Because of the feud with CEO Bob Smith, some executives and engineers have recently left the company.

More collaboration between Amazon and Blue Origin?

Some of Bezos’ efforts also flow in to answer the question of how closely Amazon and Blue Origin’s activities are interconnected. As CNBC has learned from people familiar with the situation, Blue Origin’s top management has held regular meetings to secure satellite launch contracts for Amazon’s Kuiper Internet project.

After Amazon’s first launch contract with the United Launch Alliance — the rocket-building joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin — earlier this year, Bezos began attending Kuiper meetings again. With Amazon announcing in April that it had signed a contract with ULA for nine launches, and stressing the need for more launch partners to launch 3,235 Kuiper satellites, Blue Origin has the option to partner with Amazon. The support of the Amazon founder can of course be invaluable to the space company.

Thomas Fishel / editors finanzen.net

Image source: TOMMASO BODDI/AFP/Getty Images, Drew Angerer/Getty Images