Jeff Bezos wants to take crews to Moon by 2024
Amazon CEO has often spoken of desire to colonise outer space
Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos says he is going to send a spaceship to the Moon.
Bezos, the world's richest man, said his space company Blue Origin will land an unmanned robotic ship. Known as Blue Moon, the lunar lander is the size of a house and capable of carrying four rovers. It uses a newly designed rocket engine.
Speaking in Washington DC to an audience consisting of potential customers and officials from Nasa, he said he hopes his plans could help return American astronauts to the Moon by 2024.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The New York Times described a “carefully choreographed event akin to an announcement of a new iPhone,” while the Daily Telegraph put the event in a wider context, pointing out that “the 55-year-old has spoken of his desire to colonise space”. The Guardian says “the tech billionaires’ space race is heating up”.
“It's time to go back to the Moon, this time to stay,” said Bezos. “We are going to build a road to space. And then amazing things will happen.”
US Vice President Mike Pence earlier this year directed Nasa to return American astronauts to the surface of the Moon within the next five years. “I love Vice President Pence's 2024 lunar landing goal,” Bezos said, adding that his company can meet that timeline “because we started this three years ago”.
There is little love lost between Bezos and the White House administration. He has been the subject of repeated criticism from President Donald Trump, who refers to him as Jeff “Bozo”. Trump has often described the Washington Post, which Bezos owns, as “fake news”.
Sky News points out that Bezos’ vision is “shared by other billionaire-backed private space ventures including Elon Musk's SpaceX and aerospace incumbents such as United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin”.
Bezos forecast in February that the solar system could support a population of one trillion humans. “Then we'd have 1,000 Mozarts, and 1,000 Einsteins. Think how incredible and dynamic that civilization will be,” he said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Indian space mission's moment in the Sun
Under the Radar Emerging space power's first solar mission could help keep Earth safe from Sun's 'fireballs'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an ocean
Speed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nasa mission to probe possibility of life on Europa
Speed Read Exploration of Jupiter's icy moon could reveal how common habitable environments are in the universe
By The Week UK Published
-
Earth may be gaining a temporary moon
Under the radar A planetary plus-one
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Polaris Dawn sets records for private space flight
SpaceX has launched billionaire Jared Isaacman and his crew high above Earth to conduct the first private spacewalk
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Boeing's Starliner to come home empty
Speed Read Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore will return on a SpaceX spacecraft in February
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is billionaire's 'risky' space flight about research or tourism?
In the Spotlight Jared Isaacman takes an all-private crew to space
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Nasa's astronauts: stranded in space
In the Spotlight Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's eight-day trip to the ISS has now stretched into weeks amid concerns over their Starliner spacecraft
By The Week UK Published