Discussions about future launch plans for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture have reportedly generated internal acrimony due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak — and that, in turn, has generated reassurances about safety.
The acrimony is laid out in a report from The Verge, based on accounts from unnamed employees as well as an audio recording of a staff meeting at the company’s headquarters in Kent, Wash.
Employees reportedly worried that plans for a test flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spaceflight could put them at risk, because the operation would involve traveling to the company’s West Texas launch facility.
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One employee was said to voice concern for Texas residents as well, considering that Washington state has been a hotspot for COVID-19 infections. “It feels like the company is prioritizing its business goals and schedule above the safety of its employees and the community,” The Verge quoted the employee as saying.
To slow the spread of the virus, authorities in Washington state as well as Texas have called for non-essential businesses to close and for people to stay at home as much as possible. However, Blue Origin and other aerospace companies have generally been exempted from such requirements.
In addition to serving as the site for New Shepard flight tests, Blue Origin’s West Texas facility is a test site for the company’s BE-4 rocket engines, which are slated to be used on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as well as United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
The Verge reported that Blue Origin had been considering a New Shepard launch attempt for as early as April 10, but that Texas’ newly instituted self-quarantine requirements for travelers arriving from Washington state led to questions about that date. According to The Verge, the purpose of this week’s meeting in Kent was to discuss the options for proceeding.
In a statement emailed to GeekWire, a Blue Origin spokesperson said the company’s plans were in flux:
“We don’t comment on internal meetings, but we do have an open and constructive culture where we solicit inputs from every member on the team.
“We hold safety as our highest value. Period. For our employees, for our communities, for our customers, and for our systems. We are still operating at our West Texas Launch Site where we have been running engine tests and will continue to do so. Given our mission-essential designation from Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, we’ve been cleared by federal, state and local officials to continue to operate, and we are doing everything we can to safeguard our workforce and communities. Across all of our sites, we have been teleworking for several weeks, conducting deep cleaning, eliminating non-essential visits, minimizing travel, and practicing social distancing.
“To be clear, we are continuing to monitor this rapidly evolving situation and we don’t have a specific date set for the New Shepard launch as we are still working through testing and technical requirements.”
New Shepard is meant to be a reusable suborbital space vehicle for zero-G tourist flights as well as research missions. Dozens of scientific payloads have already flow on uncrewed test flights, thanks in large part to NASA support. Blue Origin isn’t yet taking reservations or selling tickets for customers to fly, however.
In early March, Axios quoted Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith as saying that the next New Shepard test flight could come later that month, and that three or more uncrewed flights were planned “before we go fly people.” He said Blue Origin was targeting that first flight with crew for later this year, but he cautioned that “there’s a lot of work to be done.”
The spread of the virus, and measures to limit that spread, had a significant impact on Blue Origin’s operations. A week after Axios’ report, Space News quoted Blue Origin’s vice president of sales, Clay Mowry, as saying most employees were working from home and had been asked to conduct only essential travel.
“Fortunately, New Shepard can fly with a very small team,” Mowry said at the time.
