13 A view from a distance of the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket’s trajectory after it took off on January 16, 2025. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 13 The New Glenn rocket project has cost some $2.5 billion so far and each launch costs around $68 million. AFP via Getty Images Musk founded SpaceX as a private company to provide space transportation and, ultimately, colonize Mars. In 2010, the company made its bones by being the first privately held company to put a spacecraft into orbit and recover it. By 2024, he was called into service for one of his SpaceX spacecraft to bail out Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after the Boeing rocket they were due to ride home on was deemed too risky by NASA. Meanwhile, Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and has focused on creating rockets for space tourism and the shipping of heavy payloads into outer space. Blue Origin’s first manned mission took place in 2021 and lasted just 10 minutes. On board for the suborbital flight, which went to the edge of space, were Bezos himself and his brother Mark. Future passengers included celebrities such as Michael Strahan and William Shatner. Bezos spent some 10 years and billions of his own dollars to get his rocket into space, allowing him to realize a childhood dream – as valedictorian at his high school graduation, said Stone, “he described his space ambition” – of being in the burgeoning business of outer space deliveries. Early on in the endeavor, Bezos went so far as to establish a kind of think tank where people philosophized on going to the stars and science fiction writer Neal Stephenson was among those who offered input. As the two billionaire’s wildly ambitious space dream become reality, the big winners are likely to be beyond the two wealthy men and their giant toys. “It’s a very big deal for the US,” said Vance. “In 25 years, the space program here has gone from the doldrums to the envy of the world.” That said, we’re all strapped in, looking forward to seeing where it goes next. Filed under