Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, says he’s “very optimistic” about the incoming White House administration. This is despite President-elect Trump’s close relationship with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Early Monday, Blue Origin scrubbed the New Glenn rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. The company cited a “vehicle subsystem issue” and is reviewing new launch opportunities.
The New Glenn rocket stands 30 stories tall. It’s expected to challenge SpaceX’s dominance and mark Blue Origin’s long-awaited entry into satellite launches.
“Elon has been very clear that he’s doing this for the public interest and not for his personal gain. And I take him at face value,” Bezos said in an interview with Reuters.
Musk, who invested over $250 million campaigning for Trump, has influenced the president-elect’s views on space.
Recently, Musk suggested skipping moon missions and heading straight to Mars. This stirred concern about potential changes to NASA’s space exploration plans.
“My own opinion is that we should do both – we need to go to the moon and we should go to Mars,” Bezos responded. He emphasized the importance of sticking to NASA’s lunar plans.
“What we shouldn’t do is start and stop things. We should continue with the lunar program for sure,” Bezos added.
Bezos, founder of Amazon, is worth $233.1 billion, making him the world’s second-richest man. Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and will stream the event on Prime Video.
While Bezos has met Trump, he said they “really haven’t talked about space.” Trump’s second term is expected to shift NASA’s focus from the moon to Mars.
Trump previously established the U.S. Space Force in December 2019, during his first administration.