SpaceX has sucked up most of the oxygen lately when it comes to space companies, thanks in large part to its blockbuster initial public offering this summer. But let's not forget about the other heavyweight orbiting the space -- Blue Origin.

An explosion this spring destroyed its New Glenn rocket during testing just a few weeks ahead of a planned launch, but that setback hasn't throttled the ambitions of the rocket company into which Jeff Bezos has poured $30 billion of his personal wealth.

Instead, the company is quietly laying the groundwork to become a stronger competitor to SpaceX's rocket business -- eventually.

After reaching a staggering $140 billion valuation last month, Blue Origin announced Friday that it is investing $330 million in its "Rocket Park" in Florida to support manufacturing of the second stage of its New Glenn 9×4 rocket. That is its most powerful rocket, designed to carry over 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, used by internet satellites, and 14 metric tons to orbits, used by weather and television satellites.

The buildout will enable Blue Origin to create 150 of the rocket's upper stages. (The first stage, or booster containing the engines needed for liftoff, is reusable.) It will need them to launch satellites for Amazon and other customers like AST SpaceMobile, as well as to handle launches for the U.S. Space Force as part of the $2.4 billion deal it secured in 2025.

Of course, Blue Origin is still a long way from catching up with SpaceX, which has completed more than 700 missions in total, including more than 100 in 2026 alone. By comparison, Blue Origin has only completed two this year and just a few dozen total, many of which were suborbital.

But armed with new capital -- it is raising $10 billion in its latest round, including $2 billion from Bezos -- along with large contracts from the federal government, it's looking to get back on track.

While Blue Origin hasn't had a launch since April, Bezos said last week that the next one will happen in December. It's also asking the Federal Aviation Administration for clearance to conduct up to 50 launches a year from a single launch pad.

Don't count on an IPO anytime soon, though. Bezos said last week that might not happen for "several years," adding, "exactly when that will be, I don't know."