MYNORTHWEST BLOG
How Jeff Bezos came up with the name ‘Blue Origin’
Jun 22, 2019, 11:48 PM
Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center, May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
What’s in a name? A little thought and a good cause, according to Jeff Bezos who was recently pressed about why he named his space company “Blue Origin.”
The Amazon founder recently spoke at the JFK Library for a fireside chat event. During the 50 minute conversation, he was asked about his other company, Blue Origin.
Northwest is primed for the space economy
“It’s called Blue Origin because this is the blue planet and this is the planet that we have to save,” Bezos said. “This is the good planet in our solar system. We’ve sent robotic probes to all the planets now, this is the only good one.”
Blue Origin is partially based in Kent. The company aims to provide private space flight and other services for the space-going industry.
The Puget Sound region is one area slated for massive growth in the coming space economy. Other local companies are already aiming for asteroids to mine. Companies like Blue Origin are specializing in transportation.
In May, Bezos unveiled Blue Origin’s latest model — the Blue Moon Lander. The Associated Press reports that the lander is the size of a small house and is intended to carry rovers to the moon. A yet-to-be revealed updated version could take people. The company also has a vertical takeoff and landing spaceship called the New Shepard, and an orbital rocket called the New Glenn.
Blue Origin vision
Blue Origin sent out a highlights reel of Bezos’ fireside discussion Friday, providing some insight into his vision for his space company, and the emerging space economy. He argues that getting to the moon can’t be done without government support and knowledge. He also says that there won’t be just one company to enter space, but many “not just Blue Origin, it will be collaborative.”
“The real problem with doing interesting things in space is that the price of admission is so high that you can’t have that kind of entrepreneurial dynamism that I witnessed up close, and all of us witnessed happen on the internet on the last two decades … we don’t have the infrastructure to do that in space today,” Bezos said. “If you are in your dorm room, you are not going to start an interesting space company. The starting price tags to do really interesting things in space are hundreds of millions of dollars, going quickly to billions.”
“But if we had reusable space vehicles, that would start to change everything,” he said.
Bezos says that the moon will be an excellent base for space travel. He points to water that is frozen in the shadows of the moon, which can be harvested to make rocket fuel.
“We know one day that we will be refueling (the Blue Moon Lander) on the surface of the moon, from propellants made on the moon, from that water ice,” he said.
