Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos 24 years ago, has a new CEO. Dave Limp, the former head of Amazon’s device division, will take over from Bob Smith, who joined from Honeywell in 2017.
Limp is set to assume the role in December, with CNBC being the first to report his hiring.
While Blue Origin has a grand vision of establishing human colonies in space, its notable achievement thus far has been the development of New Shepard, a small rocket and space capsule that takes experiments and passengers (including Bezos in 2021) to the edge of space for a brief duration.
Limp faces significant challenges in his new position. New Shepard has been grounded for over a year after the failure of an uncrewed mission in 2022. The long-awaited New Glenn orbital rocket, originally scheduled for launch four years ago, may finally make its debut next year. Blue Origin also won a contract to develop a vehicle for lunar surface missions and plans to launch a futuristic space station, but updates on the necessary complex technology for these endeavors have not been shared.
Additionally, the company is awaiting the flight of the BE-4 rocket engines it built for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Although scheduled to launch this year, the vehicle has experienced delays unrelated to Blue’s engines.
In a letter to employees, Smith expressed pride in growing Blue from a research organization to a “large, prominent space business.” However, despite massive investments and successful contracts, the company has been criticized for lacking execution.
Former and current staff have criticized Blue Origin’s culture under Smith’s leadership, citing incidents of sexual harassment and a lack of safety culture. Limp, with his experience leading projects such as the Kindle e-reader and the Fire TV at Amazon, is introduced by Bezos as a leader with a customer-first mindset and a sense of urgency.
The space industry sees Blue Origin as a potential competitor to SpaceX, offering more options for satellite launch and human spaceflight. Limp’s lack of aerospace engineering background is noteworthy, but his involvement in Amazon’s Kuiper satellite project provides valuable insights into satellite launch customers’ needs. However, it may raise legal complexities due to ongoing lawsuits alleging improper awarding of launch contracts to Blue Origin during Limp’s time at Amazon.
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