Jeff Bezos Names Seasoned Amazon Executive As CEO Of Blue Origin To Challenge SpaceX

Blue Origin, the space venture backed by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has appointed a new CEO as it intensifies its efforts to initiate orbital flights and compete with SpaceX, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Dave Limp, a seasoned executive at Amazon Inc., is set to transition to Blue Origin as CEO in early December. He will succeed Bob Smith, the current top leader, who will step down in early January.

Despite being founded by Bezos nearly 25 years ago, Blue Origin has lagged behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX in launching missions into orbit. The company is preparing to launch New Glenn, a powerful orbital vehicle, next year.

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In his announcement, Bezos praised Limp’s “outstanding sense of urgency” and his ability to energize teams. Limp has managed several notable consumer products at Amazon, including the Kindle reader and Alexa device.

Under Smith’s leadership, Blue Origin has grown its workforce to over 10,000 and has established a division that manufactures engines for United Launch Alliance, another rocket launcher, and a suborbital space tourism unit.

As previously reported by CNBC, Limp’s appointment as CEO comes after he successfully managed Project Kuiper, a low-Earth-orbit satellite network that rivals SpaceX’s Starlink fleet.

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Photo: Shutterstock, Flickr