Blue Origin Update, Sort of

It's an odd thing. Jeff Bezos made his billions founding and running Amazon.com, the online retailer that depends on a strong relationship with the public for its success, but Bezos' NewSpace company, Blue Origin, has been notable so far for the heavy veil of secrecy surrounding its operations. The secrecy has been so black it could inspire conspiracy theories and stories of aliens from other star systems.

A Blue Origin spokesman did appear at a conference regarding suborbital research recently, but he shed little light on the company or its plans. He did say the company has flown its Goddard prototype suborbital spacecraft several times, not just the once acknowledged publicly. He did say the company has a contract with NASA to develop a crew escape system that is superior to the old Apollo system. He did say the company is exploring research and applications opportunities for suborbital flight, not just space tourism. And he did say the company's New Shepard suborbital craft does not necessarily resemble Goddard, but it will launch and land vertically.

It's a start.