Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos, is close to raising outside capital for the first time, according to a report. The company is expected to raise $10 billion (about 15 trillion won) at a valuation of $130 billion (about 195 trillion won).
On the 8th, The New York Times (NYT) reported that Blue Origin is raising about $10 billion based on a valuation of $130 billion, excluding the new investment.
The new investment round is led by large asset manager Coatue Management, which is contributing $4 billion (6 trillion won), according to the report. Bezos's family office, which manages the assets of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, is a major investor in Coatue Management's "Innovative Strategies Fund," which invests in new technology startups, the NYT said. Bezos himself is also set to contribute an additional $2 billion (3 trillion won).
Bezos founded Blue Origin in September 2000. Since then, it has received continuous investment from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but its pace of commercialization has been slow compared with SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002. However, this outside investment is expected to serve as an occasion to establish Blue Origin's official valuation, and it is highly likely to ease the pressure on Bezos to sell Amazon shares to secure operating funds for Blue Origin, the NYT said.
Earlier, the Financial Times (FT) forecast that Blue Origin would invest about $5 billion (7 trillion won) this year alone, and analyzed that it has invested about $28 billion (42 trillion won) since its founding. Bezos has also suggested that Blue Origin will become a more valuable company than Amazon.
Last May, Blue Origin suffered a setback when its large reusable rocket, New Glenn, exploded during testing, destroying the launch vehicle and damaging the launch pad as well. As a result, its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet business and NASA's lunar exploration plans were disrupted. However, investors appear to be paying more attention to Blue Origin's future businesses, such as new launch services and orbital infrastructure development, than to the accident. In particular, TeraWave, a high-capacity satellite communications network unveiled this January, is cited as a key growth driver like SpaceX's Starlink.
