Inside the secret rocket manufacturing factory of the American billionaire

Blue Origin's headquarters, the Amazon corporation's secret rocket manufacturing company, is unnamed in an industrial park in Washington, USA, without roadside signs for visitors.

According to The New York Times, billionaire Jeff Bezos first introduced Blue Origin 's panorama to reporters on March 8.

View inside the Blue Origin rocket factory of billionaire Jeff Bezos.(Photo: Blue Origin).

Blue Origin was born in the transition of aviation from the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) and "big men" such as Lockheed Martin to the private sector, especially smaller-scale companies. . Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, created by Elon Musk, another billionaire from the Internet, is the most successful and representative example of a new generation of rocket manufacturing companies.

Bezos took a picture with a reporter at the Blue Origin factory.(Photo: Frank Morring).

Similar to Space X, Blue Orgin also has a dream of conquering the universe but almost always keeps every move. In 4 hours, Bezos led 11 reporters to tour the factory and answer questions after lunch."This is my whole pleasure. I hope you can see that I love this place," Bezos said.

The billionaire described the image above a wall in the center of the company, depicting two turtles embracing the hourglass, staring at the universe and planets. Below the picture is the Blue Origin Latin slogan "Gradatim ferociter" , meaning "Firmly step by step". "You can move fast, but you can't skip any steps," Bezos explained.

An engineer is assembling though covering the New Shepard spacecraft.(Photo: Blue Origin).

Bezos also exchanged new information about his plan to develop space tourism. New Shepard's re-used spacecraft was launched to the edge of the universe in November last year and returned to Earth in January. The ship will fly to space again in the near future. Depending on the testing process, visitors can start a short trip and enjoy a few minutes of gravity in the universe in 2018.

Occasionally, Bezos stopped speaking and let engineers present new engines called BE-4 in the process of developing. The full version will go into testing later this year.

Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 when very few people knew about the company. He started researching rockets since he was 5 years old."I never expected to have enough capital to set up a space company until I won the lottery ticket called Amazon.com , " Bezos said. Although Bezos refused to disclose a specific number, he shared that he invested a lot of money in his ambition.

In 2005, Bezos began to develop rockets seriously while no one knew what he was doing. For years, what happened here was completely under the veil of secret.

New Shepard spacecraft's crew cabin.(Photo: Blue Orgin).

Occasionally, the news is revealed as a NASA award, a share on Bezos's personal site or a successful launch. Last year, the company made an official announcement at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where Blue Origin launched its rocket into orbit.

According to Bezos, fuel consumption is increasing by 2-3% per year. Even at the most moderate speed, within a few centuries, energy use will approximate the energy generated from high-efficiency solar cells across the entire planet's surface. However, in the Solar System there may still be plenty of energy and other raw fuels, and Bezos predicts it will be a "spectacular reversal step".

Exploiting energy from the universe is the goal in the distant future. The current Blue Origins business plan is divided into three categories. The first is space travel with short trips on the New Shepard from West Texas.

Most current missile companies can only launch up to about 12 times per year. With a small group of missiles that reuse New Shepard, Blue Origins are capable of performing several dozen launches each year.

Engineers check the main combustion chamber of the engine BE-4.(Photo: Blue Origin).

Other business plans include selling rocket engines to companies such as United Launch Alliance, to equip Vulcan, new-generation missiles that will replace Atlas 5, Atlas 4 and a larger version in transports. goods to orbit.

Bezos emphasized that Blue Origins was quite tight-lipped about the moves, not because he wanted to keep it a secret, but to avoid overly promising."The space industry is really very exaggerated," Bezos said. At the end of this year, Blue Origin will provide more details about large rocket design launched from Cape Canaveral.