When Jeff Bezos announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Amazon, his space programme, Blue Origin, became one of his main priorities.

The twentieth century saw a fierce race between the US and the USSR for dominance in the field of space exploration. Now, the world is about to witness the resumption of a space race, this time played out between the two richest men in the world: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Space is no longer the domain of governments, but the playground of billionaires and their ambitions.

Bezos and Musk are not unique in their desire to explore space. Sir Richard Branson, Larry Page, Marc Benioff and Mark Zuckerberg have ventured into this field. Bezos and Musk, however, stand apart due to the immediacy of their goals.

Musk envisages SpaceX taking humans to Mars by 2026. Although this is later than the original 2022 deadline, Musk has set an imminent deadline for a massive undertaking. Bezos, conversely, has his sights set on a planet closer to home: the moon. In 2024, Bezos hopes that his flexible lander Blue Moon will land on the moon, bringing with it a suite of lunar landing systems. So, the world will not have long to wait before the fruits of their labours can be seen.

Where the leader stands

At this moment, we have a clearer idea of the progress made by Musk. Although founded in two years after Blue Origin in 2002, SpaceX has been conducting flights since 2008 when Falcon 1 became the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit. In terms of Musk’s principal goals for SpaceX, his vision is to colonise Mars, establish a self-sustaining city there and then use Mars as a base for further space exploration.

However, Musk’s latest endeavour, named Starship, has not been entirely successful. On February 2 2021, the second test flight of Starship ended in flames when the prototype suffered a crash landing. As with any space project, setbacks are to be expected. Perfecting the technology will not happen on the first attempt and so further failures should be anticipated as Musk strives for success.

Despite this latest setback, the question which is on everyone’s lips is whether Musk will succeed in his endeavours. Space industry expert Grey Autry told Business Insider that he believed Musk would achieve his goals. Only the date is in question. Autry predicts 2029 or 2031 as the date when Musk will get to Mars.

There is another determining factor in the project’s eventual success: Mars only lines up with Earth every 26 months. The two being aligned provides the window for the rocket to be launched, meaning that Musk cannot simply launch when ready. Even Musk’s personal fortune will be unable to overcome this problem. Nevertheless, it appears that Musk is on the path to success.

The challenger

Musk may be setting the pace but he now has a worthy adversary in Jeff Bezos.

His move to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board has redirected Bezos’s focus to Blue Origin. Bezos’s interest in space dates back to his time as a student at Princeton where he headed the local chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Seemingly stemming from this interest, Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 although it remained secretive until 2015. When the company exited its ‘self-imposed silence’, the world became aware of the ambitions Bezos harbours for Blue Origin.

The company’s long-term ambition is to see millions of people living and working in space, thus removing heavy industry from Earth and helping to preserve its future. Furthermore, Blue Origin is interested in expeditions to the moon with the eventual purpose of establishing a permanent base there.

This last goal sees Bezos and Musk overlap in their ambitions. Although they are not fighting over the same planet, the success of their respective missions will be judged against each other. Musk’s desire to colonise Mars is a step into uncharted territory. Bezos, meanwhile, would appear to have his sights set on a more attainable goal since manned flights to the moon have been taking place since 1969. This simple difference would appear to give Blue Origin the inside track for immediate success but there is a long way to go before declaring a winner.

Perhaps what connects Bezos and Musk most of all is their rockets. Both are seeking to create reusable launch vehicles which would decrease the cost of journeys into space. Musk has already achieved in 2017 with Falcon 9. The mission statement of Blue Origin places similar importance on reusability:

‘Blue’s part in this journey is building a road to space with our reusable launch vehicles, so our children can build the future. We will go about this step by step because it is an illusion that skipping steps gets us there faster.’

It is inescapable, then, that the successes and failures of SpaceX and Blue Origin will be compared and contrasted. Given the similarities between their projects and goals, there is a natural correlation which only heightens the intrigue around both projects.

What comes next?

Although they may not view it as a race, neither will want to lose. The very fact that Blue Origin will be among Bezos’s principal concerns only increases the competition between their respective programs.

It would also appear that ‘failure’ is not in the vocabulary of either. Bezos, in particular, has a reputation for relentlessness, ruthlessness and pushing his employees to the limit. Indeed, the workplace culture at Amazon has been described as ‘brutal’. However, under the gaze of Bezos, Amazon has risen one of the largest companies in the world. Musk, meanwhile, has founded multiple successful companies, including guiding Tesla, Inc. to global prominence. Therefore, we can expect them to pursue their space projects with similar myopic determination.

So, in addition to massive funding, the character of traits of each suggests that nothing will deter from achieving their goals. All that remains to be seen is how this will play out.

Let the games begin!

About the Author: James Hingley

James Hingley is a contributing Features Writer with extensive expertise in International Relations, Politics and Culture.