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SpaceX and Blue Origin’s Evolving Competition
Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000, has recently shifted strategies to compete with SpaceX more aggressively after previously declining to bid on key NASA contracts. In 2023, Blue Origin won $2.4 billion in National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts and an additional $3.4 billion contract to build lunar landers for NASA, marking a significant turnaround for the company.
SpaceX, established in 2002 by Elon Musk, harnessed government funding early on, securing contracts worth billions, including a $2.6 billion Commercial Crew contract. This funding accelerated SpaceX’s development of rockets, outpacing Blue Origin, which did not conduct its first test flight until 2015.
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