{"id":509720,"date":"2024-12-05T03:53:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T08:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spacenews.com\/?p=509720"},"modified":"2024-12-05T06:58:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T11:58:28","slug":"bezos-not-concerned-about-musks-influence-on-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacenews.com\/bezos-not-concerned-about-musks-influence-on-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Bezos not concerned about Musk’s influence on Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 As Blue Origin nears the first launch of its New Glenn rocket, founder Jeff Bezos said he is not worried Elon Musk\u2019s influence on the incoming Trump administration will adversely affect the company.<\/p>

In an on-stage interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit Dec. 4, Bezos downplayed any concerns that Musk might use the current close relationship he has with the president-elect to give SpaceX an edge over competitors, like Blue Origin.<\/p>

\u201cI take at face value what has been said, which is that he is not going to use his political power to advantage his own companies or to disadvantage his competitors,\u201d he said of Musk. \u201cI could be wrong about that, but I think it could be true.\u201d<\/p>

Bezos added he supported the so-called \u201cDepartment of Government Efficiency,\u201d the committee co-chaired by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy that will study ways to reduce federal spending and cut regulations.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of success in life not being cynical. I\u2019ve very rarely been taken advantage of as a result,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy be cynical about that? Let\u2019s go into it hoping that the statements that have been made are correct, that this is going to be done aboveboard and in the public interest, and if that turns out to be na\u00efve, well, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>

The interview took place hours after President-elect Trump announced his intent to nominate Jared Isaacman to be administrator of NASA<\/a>. Isaacman, the billionaire founder of a financial payments company, commanded two private astronaut missions flown by SpaceX, and has close ties to Musk.<\/p>

Isaacman, in a social media post<\/a> earlier this year, said that he didn\u2019t like NASA\u2019s decision to make a second Artemis Human Landing System award to Blue Origin after previously selecting SpaceX. However, he was also complimentary of the company in another comment<\/a> in October, stating that it \u201chas a very committed founder that will invest heavily to ensure there are choices\u201d in launch. Bezos wasn\u2019t asked about Isaacman\u2019s selection to lead NASA in the DealBook interview.<\/p>

Bezos called SpaceX \u201cvery able competitors,\u201d although there is, in many respects, a yawning gap between the two companies. SpaceX has conducted more than 120 orbital launches so far this year of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy vehicles. Blue Origin, by contrast, has yet to attempt its first orbital launch of its New Glenn rocket.<\/p>

He said the company was getting \u201cvery, very close\u201d to a first flight of New Glenn. The rocket is at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Launch Complex 36 for testing that is expected to include a static-fire test of the first stage\u2019s seven BE-4 engines, one of final milestones before a launch.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s literally on the pad now waiting for regulatory approval. It\u2019s waiting for its final regulatory approval to launch, so we\u2019re very, very close,\u201d he said. That approval would be in the form of a Federal Aviation Administration launch license, which the agency has not yet issued. Bezos was not more specific about when the company would attempt a first launch, although executives have previously stated a goal of launching before the end of the year.<\/p>

Bezos remained confident about the future of Blue Origin, saying the company has \u201ca lot of runway\u201d given that he can continue to finance it through sales of Amazon.com shares. \u201cBlue Origin is going to do some amazing things here.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s not a very good business yet,\u201d he acknowledged, but offered high aspirations for it. \u201cFrom a business point of view, from a financial returns point of view, I think it\u2019s going to be the best business I\u2019ve ever been involved in, but it\u2019s going to take a while.\u201d<\/p>

He confirmed that meant he thought the company would ultimately be bigger than Amazon, which had a market cap as of the close of trading Dec. 4 of about $2.3 trillion.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Blue Origin nears the first launch of its New Glenn rocket, founder Jeff Bezos said he is not worried Elon Musk\u2019s influence on the incoming Trump administration will adversely affect the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10940,"featured_media":509721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4148,4161,4151],"tags":[1132,1800,1218,1767,1872],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[544],"class_list":["post-509720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial-archive","category-news-archive","category-policy-politics-archive","tag-blue-origin","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-new-glenn","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nBezos not concerned about Musk's influence on Trump administration - 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