Enlarge / Dave Limp, Blue Origin's new CEO, and founder Jeff Bezos observe the New Glenn rocket on its launch pad Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. (credit: Jeff Bezos via Instagram )

Anyone who has tracked the development of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has been waiting for signs of progress from the usually secretive space company. On Wednesday, engineers rolled a full-scale New Glenn rocket, partially made up of flight hardware, to a launch pad in Florida for ground testing.

The first New Glenn launch is almost certainly at least six months away, and it may not even happen this year. In the last few years, observers inside and outside the space industry have become accustomed to the nearly annual ritual of another New Glenn launch delay. New Glenn's inaugural flight has been delayed from 2020 until 2021, then 2022, and for now, is slated for later this year.

But it feels different now. Blue Origin is obviously moving closer to finally launching a rocket into orbit.

Enlarge / Jeff Bezos, shortly after he rode on New Shepard to space. (credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gives very few interviews, but he recently sat down with the computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman for a two-hour interview about Amazon, Blue Origin, his business practices, and more.

The discussion meanders somewhat, but there are some interesting tidbits about spaceflight, especially when the conversation turns to Blue Origin. This is the space company Bezos founded more than 23 years ago. He has invested an extraordinary amount of money into Blue Origin—likely somewhere between $10 billion and $20 billion—and it truly is a passion project.

But the inescapable truth about Blue Origin is that to date, it has been a disappointment in terms of execution. At present, Blue Origin employs approximately 11,000 people, about the same total as SpaceX. However, Blue Origin has launched zero rockets this year, whereas SpaceX has launched nearly 100, as well as building and launching thousands of satellites.

Enlarge / This picture, taken several months ago, shows different parts for Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket inside the company's manufacturing facility in Florida. (credit: Blue Origin)

For the first time, it's starting to feel like Jeff Bezos's space company, Blue Origin, might have a shot at launching its long-delayed New Glenn rocket within the next 12 months.

Of course, there's a lot for Blue Origin to test and validate before New Glenn is ready to fly. First, the company's engineers need to fully assemble a New Glenn rocket and raise it on the company's sprawling seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. There's a good chance of this happening in the coming months as Blue Origin readies for a series of tanking tests and simulated countdowns at the launch site.

It's tempting to invoke Berger's Law, the guideline championed by my Ars colleague which states that if a launch is scheduled for the fourth quarter of a calendar year—and if it is at least six months away—the launch will delay into the next year. Given Blue Origin's history of New Glenn delays, that's probably the safer bet. New Glenn's inaugural flight has been delayed from 2020 until 2021, then 2022, and for now, is slated for 2024.

Enlarge / A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a reused booster stage and payload fairing is seen rolling out to its launch pad in Florida before a mission last month. (credit: SpaceX )

Amazon announced Friday that it has purchased three Falcon 9 rocket launches from SpaceX beginning in mid-2025 to help deploy the retail giant's network of Kuiper Internet satellites.

In a statement, Amazon said the SpaceX launches will provide "additional capacity" to "supplement existing launch contracts to support Project Kuiper’s satellite deployment schedule." SpaceX has its own broadband satellite fleet, with more than 5,100 Starlink spacecraft currently in orbit, making it a competitor with Amazon.

Last year, Amazon bought up most of the Western world's excess launch capacity from everyone but SpaceX, securing 68 rocket flights from United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to deploy thousands of satellites for the Kuiper broadband network. Amazon previously contracted with ULA for nine Atlas V launches to support the initial series of Kuiper launches, the first of which lifted off in October with Amazon's first two Kuiper prototype satellites. More Atlas Vs will start launching operational Kuiper satellites next year.

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto )

After a yearslong Amazon probe that collected millions of documents and conducted dozens of interviews, the Federal Trade Commission next week will meet with Amazon representatives before likely filing one of the agency's biggest antitrust lawsuits yet, Politico reported .

Known as a "last-rites meeting," these discussions could serve as Amazon's last chance to dodge an FTC lawsuit that Bloomberg has described as "the Big One." No one is sure what aspects of Amazon's business the lawsuit could target, but if the FTC succeeds in court, it could result in a forced breakup or restructuring of Amazon's $1.3 trillion e-commerce operation, The Wall Street Journal reported .

There has been much speculation this year over what the FTC's complaint will cover. The agency has been investigating a wide range of concerning aspects of Amazon's business since 2019, Bloomberg reported . Everything from how Amazon bundles its services to how Amazon treats sellers has drawn FTC scrutiny, as has Amazon's advertising and cloud computing businesses. But the "main allegation," Bloomberg reported in June, "is expected to be that Amazon leverages its power to reward online merchants that use its logistics services and punish those who don’t."

Enlarge / Amazon had Rivian design and build it a custom electric delivery van, which started production in 2021. (credit: Amazon)

Depending on where you live, your Amazon order may have been delivered by one of the company's striking-looking Rivian electric delivery vans. Made by the same company that builds highly capable electric trucks and SUVs for the affluent tech crowd, Rivian has now built more than 5,000 delivery vans for the online retailing giant. The vans have delivered more than 150 million packages to date.

Amazon and Rivian made news together in 2019 when the former led a $700 million investment round into the EV startup. A few months later, Amazon announced an order of 100,000 electric vans from Rivian . At the time, Amazon's then-CEO Jeff Bezos said all 100,000 vehicles would be deployed by 2024—a timeline that even pre-pandemic appeared extremely optimistic; the official press release gave a more circumspect 2030 deadline. The vans began delivering packages in 2021 .

No, I don't think it has Apple CarPlay. (credit: Amazon)

Like the BrightDrop Zevo 600 , the Rivian van is a clean-sheet design, optimized specifically for Amazon's logistics workflow. It's equipped with a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems, and the cab design minimizes blind spots. It even has a charming appearance, much like Rivian's R1 series, thanks to friendly round daytime running lights.