The Battle for Space: Bezos wants to use Trump-Musk conflict to promote Blue Origin
26 June 17:15
Amid the deteriorating relations between US President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, billionaire Jeff Bezos is trying to seize the moment to strengthen the position of his space company Blue Origin in the fight for government contracts, including those from NASA. This was reported byThe Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to Trump and Bezos, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the WSJ, Bezos is actively building political bridges with the Trump administration, with which he had tense relations during his first term. At the time, Trump accused the owner of The Washington Post of using the media for political attacks and criticized Amazon as a monopoly. However, the situation has now changed: Bezos has restored relations with the Trump family, supported The Washington Post ‘s neutrality in the election, and even invited the president to his wedding.
The key goal is to displace Elon Musk’s SpaceX from the position of NASA’s main contractor. Currently, Musk’s company dominates the launch market and has received $5.9 billion under a contract with the US Space Force for 28 flights. For comparison, Blue Origin received only $2.4 billion for seven missions.
Amid the escalating rhetoric of Trump, who recently canceled the candidacy of Musk’s ally for the head of NASA and threatened to revise space contracts with SpaceX, Bezos has intensified negotiations with the White House. According to sources, he spoke with the president at least twice in June, and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp met with Trump’s chief of staff.
However, Blue Origin still does not have a stable history of regular launches. The first flight of the New Glenn heavy rocket took place only in January 2025. Although the mission was successful, the second launch in the spring did not take place. The next attempt is scheduled for mid-August. The company also plans to land a cargo module on the Moon by the end of the year.
Internal sources in the company say that Limp is demanding a faster pace of development and is focusing on Blue Origin proving its ability to carry out large-scale government missions.
