Advanced Television

Jeff Bezos

Flawless launch for 1st Project Kuiper satellite batch

United Launch Alliance (ULA) placed a batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites into orbit at 7.01pm Florida time on April 28th. The undisclosed number of broadband satellites will eventually challenge SpaceX’s Starlink system. The KA-01 launch took place from Cape Canaveral. Starlink and now Project Kuiper are both part of an effort to transform global […]

April 29, 2025By Chris Forrester

Project Kuiper plans first satellite launch

The United Launch Alliance (ULA), which is the joint-venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is readying its first rocket launch for the Jeff Bezos-backed Project Kuiper broadband-by-satellite mega-constellation. ULA will loft the first 27 Kuiper satellites, probably on April 9th subject to the usual weather and technical considerations. Amazon confirmed on April 2nd that it […]

April 3, 2025

Blue Origin lays-off 10% of staff

Blue Origin, the rocket launch business backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, is laying off 10 per cent of its workforce. Some 1,400 staff will go. Positions in engineering, R&D, and programme/project management are being eliminated, and layers of management are being thinned. In a memo to staff, CEO Dave Limp said: “Over the last few […]

February 14, 2025By Chris Forrester

Success for Bezos and New Glenn

The Jeff Bezos-backed New Glenn reusable rocket made a successful debut flight (NG-1) just after 07.00 GMT from Launch Pad 36 at Cape Canaveral in Florida on January 16th. The launch schedule suffered a couple of pauses including a 20 minute ‘hold’, and then a further 30-minute delay when a boat entered the splash-down zone. […]

January 16, 2025By Chris Forrester

Bezos and Musk rockets delay launches

The expected double launch of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket as well as Elon Musk’s giant Starship, both initially expected to launch on January 10th, have been delayed. The problem is the weather which for the Jeff Bezos-backed New Glenn rocket is at least one of the problems. One report says that the Florida […]

January 10, 2025

New Glenn will challenge SpaceX

January 6th should see the Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin-built New Glenn recoverable rocket make its debut flight. The business received its Commercial Space Transportation Licence from the Federal Aviation Administration on December 27th. The New Glenn rocket had a successful test engine firing and ‘wet’ dress rehearsal on the same day. Blue Origin has several […]

January 2, 2025

AST SpaceMobile orders Bezos rockets

AST SpaceMobile (AST) has contracted with Jeff Bezos-backed rocket company Blue Origin, as well as SpaceX, to get its satellites into orbit. Blue Origin will handle up to 45 satellites with options for a further 15. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket can handle 8 satellites per launch. SpaceX, which with its Starlink broadband system, is […]

November 15, 2024

Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket “has a chance”

Up until now it is Elon Musk’s SpaceX that has added snappy names to its floating landing vessels. Musk’s fleet is named ‘Just Read the Instructions’, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ and ‘Of Course I Still Love You’. Now The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket business is getting into the act. For example, Blue Origin’s New […]

October 13, 2024

Bezos eyes ULA

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is said to be the frontrunner to buy United Launch Alliance (ULA), the joint-venture giant rocket business backed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ULA wanted up to $4 billion (€3.7bn) for its assets, but reports suggest that the final price might be much nearer $2-2.5 billion. CNBC says that signed agreements […]

February 23, 2024By Chris Forrester

Blue Origin eyes ULA

The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket company is reported to be the front runners in the purchase of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket business. ULA is a joint-venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin and their Delta and Atlas rocket versions. ULA holds many Nasa and US military contracts for satellite launches. The Blue Origin […]

November 20, 2023By Chris Forrester