Just a week after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos revealed his grand plan for his rocket company Blue Origin to partner with NASA for cargo trips to the moon, the rocket venture has its first paying customer, a French satellite company.
The Washington Post reports that Eutelsat Communications became the first source of revenue for Blue Origin’s still-under-development New Glenn orbital rocket.
Bezos announced the deal during the Satellite 2017 conference, adding that the company had begun approaching customers just a few months ago. The launch of Eutelsat’s satellite on New Glenn likely won’t occur until 2021 or 2022.
The Post reports that Bezos also revealed additional details of New Glenn during the question-and-answer session, including that the rocket is designed to be reusable and will be able to land on a ship once it returns to Earth.
“Our goal, and we won’t stop until we achieve it, is to dramatically lower launch costs,” Bezos said at the conference, as reported by the Post. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take time.”
Until recently, Bezos has been bankrolling the Blue Origin venture almost exclusively.
Tuesday’s entrance into the commercial satellite market comes after it announced its desire last week to partner with NASA on cargo trips to the moon, and after it began sponsoring a satellite conference.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist