Blue Origin: What is this new project, and how can it impact Amazon sellers?
Jeff Bezos is launching yet another ambitious project, but this one is much different from the rest.
Humans have long dreamed of an era where our species could permeate throughout the galaxy and increase our boundless population without any issues.
Jeff Bezos shares that dream and told Geekwire that he is willing to liquidate $1 billion of his Amazon stock every year in order to fully fund lunar colonization through his company, Blue Origin.
Blue Origin is Bezos’ brainchild that became operational in 2017 and states on its homepage that,
“Earth, in all its beauty, is just our starting place.”
Although it was unclear to most outside of the tech world what exactly Blue Origin does for the greater part of a year, Bezos gave some insight about his intentions in late May at a space development conference in Los Angeles where he stated, “We must go back to the moon, and this time to stay.”
Estimated by Forbes to be worth over $130 billion and counting, Bezos recently surpassed Bill Gates as the world’s wealthiest individual and is using some of his wealth to set up programs such as this one, with an emphasis on upping the quality of human life for years to come.
Why Colonize the Moon Now?
As the human population grows and companies increase their supply to meet demand, it is no secret that humans are rapidly destroying ecosystems all over the world through pollution and deforestation.
One theory of how to combat this dilemma is lunar colonization. Bezos’ grand idea is for moon colonization is to have industries that produce high amounts of pollutants conducting their operations solely in space, while the Earth remains zoned for strictly residential purposes.
In a recent meeting with the National Space Society (a non-profit group that strongly advocations colonization of space), Bezos implored the audience to take heed that lunar colonization is necessary and soon may not be a choice, stating that “the alternative is stasis.”
“That’s not the future I want for my grandchildren of my grandchildren’s grandchildren,” Bezos said.
“The Earth is not a very good place to do heavy industry. It’s convenient for us right now. In the not-too-distant future – I’m talking decades, maybe 100 years, it’ll start to be easier to do a lot of the things that we currently do on Earth in space, because we’ll have so much energy.”
We will have to leave this planet. We’re going to leave it, and it’s going to make this planet better.”
As Bezos tries to colonize the moon as quickly as possible, you can bet that Amazon products will gain more exposure as the company creeps further into the public eye. More on that in just a bit, but for now…
How Does this Compare with SpaceX?
Most average Americans who have heard a thing or two about Elon Musk’s space colonization project known as SpaceX might think that Bezos should simply use his efforts to contribute to that program rather than working in a different direction.
Musk recently stated publicly that he plans to sell “major stake” in Tesla in “about 20 years” to help fund SpaceX’s plan to colonize Mars.
While Musk and Bezos both seem ready to shed some of their company shares in order to fund space colonization, their fundamental disagreements on what to colonize first could end up holding each other back.
While Musk has clearly targeted Mars for colonization due to its slight similarities to Earth, Bezos firmly believes that the moon is a much more likely target.
In detailing why lunar colonization makes more sense, Bezos suggested that the moon’s close proximity to Earth would make a massive difference and pointed to the NASA belief that there may be deposits of ice near the moon’s poles.
In theory, these ice deposits could potentially be converted into energy, breathable air, and obviously drinkable water.
“It’s almost like somebody set this up for us,” Bezos joked when talking about the theorized ice deposits.
It will be interesting to see if Bezos and Musk end up teaming up on this endeavor to colonize space. As they are two of the most powerful and forward thinking people on the planet, it may be difficult for either one of them to admit that the other may be right.
Part of the struggle for Bezos to pair with Musk may have to do with branding the lunar colonization as Amazon’s own, which could further legitimize the company name and would brighten the outlook for sellers.
However, if their wish is simply to colonize space for the good of the planet and the human race rather than for bragging rights, teaming up and funding one cohesive project could speed up the development of either one of their programs.
What is Blue Origin’s Next Step?
Blue Origin has created a design for a new project known as Blue Moon, which has been described as a “lunar lander” with capabilities of delivering as much as 5 tons of payload to and from the moon’s surface.
Bezos’ idea is for Blue Moon to be the first step in showing companies that they can transport manufactured goods from the moon to Earth in a relatively timely fashion, which could incentivize some companies to make the move eventually and could aid in the transport of supplies to build settlements on the moon.
While Bezos has been rumored to be enamored with the European Space Agency’s concept of a sort of “moon village” where a bundle of concentrated lunar outposts share resources and produce goods. Apparently he feels that using Blue Origin to lower the costs of lunar cargo delivery is the first step towards colonization, which would make it a sort of “Outer Space Amazon.”
Though Bezos suggested that he would love to pair up with the U.S. government and the European Union on his Blue Origin project, he told the Wall Street Journal that he is willing to take on the project on his one.
“By the way, we’ll do that, even if NASA doesn’t do it,” Bezos said of lunar colonization.
“We’ll do it eventually. We could do it a lot faster if there were a partnership.”
While Bezos is willing to go alone on this project and even called his work with Blue Origin, “the most important work I am doing,” he also admitted that he will need to other companies or government entities to help along the way, otherwise the wealthiest man on Earth will “run out of money.”
Imagining someone with the untold riches that Bezos has running out of money is laughable, but shows just how much capital, time and effort must go into this project in order to make space colonization a reality.
Another key detail that cannot be overlooked about this program is the amount of robotics and rocketry jobs that Bezos will have to create for this endeavor, which will undoubtedly help spur the economy.
If Bezos cannot secure funding with NASA or any high form of government, finding a compromise with Musk may be the only viable option.
How Does this Affect Sellers?
The work that Blue Origin is doing may not have a direct impact on sellers, but there are some things about it that might pay off in unexpected ways, such as subtle advertising that news about Blue Origin creates for Amazon.
Any time Amazon is in the news, it’s basically a small reminder to everyone to use Amazon for their next shopping venture. With this moon colonization news taking up a large part of the news cycle recently, Bezos and his world-renowned company get free advertising through the world’s media.
Additionally, the creation of Blue Origin could make some sellers’ companies net worth go up over time on a long-scale timeline like Bezos suggested. While that may not be the most exciting news for online sellers today, it may work in favor of their grandchildren should their business be passed along for multiple generations.
Blue Origin and its programs may open other doors for certain sellers right away, however.
Sellers may want to research what kind of operations will be going on with lunar colonization and could invest in products that will be sent to the moon for the beginning of colonization.
Considering that this could be an entirely Amazon-funded endeavor, it seems obvious that most of the products used would be Amazon products. Since Bezos is the one leading the charge here, Amazon would no doubt get first bidding when it comes to product use on building a potential space colony.
Furthermore, if Blue Origin is successful in taking off with its programs, that opens the doors to more jobs with Amazon and for Bezos. As Amazon continues to profit, some of that money will go towards more features in Amazon’s business which will help sellers down the line. Programs have to come from somewhere, so profiting on big ventures like this would be important in helping some of those programs get the funding they need.
For large-scale retailers, getting in on the ground floor with Blue Origin and putting their company in place to move operations to the moon could be a way to secure that their company will be around for the long haul. This could be the first step in a decades-long process, so sellers who can find a way to dig their heels into this would be paving a road – or perhaps a launch – to success.
Cyril Zackary Penn IV is a soon-to-be graduate of Hofstra University with a Journalism degree from Sonoma, California. He started his own blog in high school and has been writing about sports, news and entertainment since. He is currently a staff writer at AXcess Baseball as well as the Hofstra Chronicle and formerly was the Sports Editor at Man of the Hour Magazine.