Jeff Bezos says he sees 'no threat' from Tesla billionaire Elon Musk in space race
The two biggest names head to head in the space race are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But according to the Amazon founder, he’s not losing any sleep over Musk’s progress.
According to Reuters, Bezos shared his optimism about the US government’s space agenda and made it clear he’s confident in Blue Origin’s mission.
Bezos' company is currently prepping its New Glenn rocket, a towering 30-story spacecraft that's tasked with eventually launching the company's moon lander for NASA.
It was due last Monday after several delays, but was postponed for at least another day due to a last-minute issue with the vehicle.
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"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," the Blue Origin founder told Reuters on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Tesla CEO has invested over a quarter billion dollars in supporting Trump whilst keeping up to date on space matters.
Last month, Musk said the US should skip the moon and head straight for Mars which aligns perfectly with his ambitious plans to colonise Mars.
During his second term as president, Trump is expected to overhaul NASA's moon program and prioritise missions to Mars.
"My own opinion is that we should do both - we need to go to the moon and we should go to Mars," Bezos said when asked if he was concerned about changes to NASA's moon program.
"What we shouldn't do is start and stop things. We should continue with the lunar program for sure."
Amazon contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and plans to stream the event on Prime Video. Apparently, Bezos has previously met with Trump but told Reuters: "We really haven’t discussed space."
NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis moon program was initiated during Trump’s first term. The project aims to return humans to the lunar surface later this decade and gained the support of President Joe Biden when he was in the White House.
Blue Origin also has ties with NASA in that it has a $3 billion contract to land humans on the moon under Artemis.
"All of these programs take longer than any one presidential administration," Bezos said. "So you do need continuity in these programs if you're going to see progress be made."
All the while Trump has shown a strong focus on Mars missions, fixating on Martian plans and almost hinting at diverting NASA’s space exploration priorities.