Jeff Bezos Plays Politics: Blue Origin Woos Trump for NASA Deals as SpaceX Rivalry With Musk Boils Over
Space just got shadier. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is making a power move—lobbying the Trump administration for lucrative NASA contracts while Elon Musk’s SpaceX fumes. The billionaire space race just turned into a political cage match.
Behind the scenes: Bezos knows the game. With Musk’s recent PR disasters (remember the ‘cocaine cowboy’ leaks?), Blue Origin smells blood in the water. Trump’s pro-business stance? Pure opportunity. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Starlink valuation keeps moonwalking—up 300% since 2023, but who’s counting?
The kicker: This isn’t about rockets anymore. It’s about old-school lobbying, backroom deals, and two egos writing checks the universe can’t cash. And taxpayers? They’re just along for the ride—as usual.
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Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp has also met with Susie Wiles, Trump’s Chief of Staff, to secure more contracts for the company. Currently, SpaceX holds a larger share of the lucrative government contracts market, having recently signed a $5.9 Space force deal for 28 flights, while Blue Origin was awarded $2.4 billion for seven launches.
Blue Origin and SpaceX Compete for Space Contracts
Notably, SpaceX is currently far ahead of Blue Origin in the race. Musk’s space exploration company has successfully launched numerous rockets. SpaceX was also instrumental in bringing back stranded astronauts, Sunia Williams and Butch Wilmore, safely to Earth. Additionally, SpaceX’s Dragon rocket regularly transports both astronauts and vital supplies to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
After the public showdown between Musk and Trump, the president decided to withdraw Musk’s nominee for the head of NASA and replaced him with his own choice. Meanwhile, Trump also threatened to cancel billions of dollars’ worth of government contracts with SpaceX to reduce the budget deficit. On the other hand, Bezos is trying to get into Trump’s good books by inviting him to his star-studded wedding, though Trump is not expected to attend.
However, a bigger challenge awaits Blue Origin: demonstrating the company’s ability to successfully launch multiple rockets to space. So far, the company has conducted only one mission, in January 2025, where its New Glenn rocket achieved a successful flight to orbit on the first attempt. The second attempt, originally planned for Spring, did not take place, and Blue Origin is now targeting a mid-August launch. Meanwhile, SpaceX has committed to 170 launches in 2025, including flights for its Starlink satellite services.
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