By Micah Maidenberg

Jeff Bezos' space company is finally getting momentum in orbit.

Blue Origin is planning more orbital missions, including an early 2026 cargo flight to the moon, following its recent New Glenn rocket launches and booster catch. A bigger, more powerful version of New Glenn is in the works, the company said last month.

The 25-year-old company has long conducted research on hardware and developed missions in a methodical and, at times, plodding manner. Chief Executive Dave Limp and other senior leaders are pushing to capitalize on the company's recent wins as it pushes to operate faster and fly more.

"Blue Origin did have this reputation of moving slower, being steady and making sure we can get things right," said John Couluris, a senior vice president leading the company's lunar campaign, at an industry event in May. "We're now transitioning into a production organization."

Limp has tried to reset expectations for speed since becoming Blue Origin CEO in December 2023. In January, when the first New Glenn launch attempt was postponed, he pushed the launch team to try again faster than initially planned, people familiar with the matter said.

The Kent, Wash.-based company has gotten leaner, shedding about 10% of its employees earlier this year. Limp has also shaken up the company's management ranks and assigned more tasks to Ian Richardson, a former SpaceX executive now serving as senior vice president for operations.

Lunar rivalry

In trying to become more agile, Blue Origin aims to challenge SpaceX. Elon Musk's company has prospered in recent years as it assumed a dominant position operating rockets and satellites, and flying crews to space.

Despite SpaceX's experience with launch and in-space transport, Blue Origin sees the moon as an opportunity to gain an edge over its rival.

It has invested in technology aimed at converting the dusty material on the lunar surface into solar cells, power-transmission wire and other resources that would facilitate long-term stays there. The company also won a National Aeronautics and Space Administration contract in 2023 to deliver a larger moon lander for astronauts on a mission expected a few years from now.

Early next year, Blue Origin plans to launch a smaller cargo vehicle, called the Blue Moon Mark 1, to the dusty lunar surface. The mission is designed to give the company a trove of data and deliver a NASA research device to the moon.

In response to a request from NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, Blue Origin also recently outlined to officials how it could land astronauts on the moon on a faster timeline. SpaceX shared proposals to pull that off and has said its lander remains the fastest method to complete the task.

Many elected officials in Washington want the U.S. to land Americans on the moon before China does. President Trump has discussed with Bezos his desire to see a crewed visit there during his term, The Wall Street Journal has reported. NASA's program for making returning crews to the lunar surface, called Artemis, has faced setbacks and delays.

Blue Origin's accelerated plan would involve developing a version of the cargo lander it will launch early next year to transport astronauts for a short lunar stay, people familiar with the matter said. The goal would be to conduct a human landing toward the end of 2028, according to people tracking the company's efforts.

The modified vehicle would use so-called storable propellants. That means Blue Origin wouldn't need to master in-space fuel transfers for this potential mission, a difficult task it is working on for a different NASA astronaut flight. Ars Technica earlier reported on Blue Origin's ideas for a simplified lunar mission.

Limp said the company's pitch to NASA for a simpler human landing was to lean on hardware already proven or equipment about to be tested.

"What we've proposed is not dramatic variations of something new," he said in a recent interview. "It's taking things that we have already been thinking about manufacturing, and we have parts on order."

NASA will evaluate proposals for a simpler astronaut landing on the moon from Blue Origin and SpaceX, as well as pitches it may receive from other companies, an agency spokeswoman has said.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2025 12:03 ET (17:03 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.