Blue Origin Halts Space Tourism Program to Focus on Human Moon Landing

JAKARTA - Blue Origin is halting its space tourism program with the New Shepard spacecraft for the next two years. This suspension is being carried out so that Blue Origin can accelerate the development of technology for human landing on the Moon.

Since the program was first opened, New Shepard has brought 98 people across the Kármán line, a line defined as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The program was in the spotlight after flying famous celebrities, one of them being pop star Katy Perry.

Now, Blue Origin is more focused on supporting the Artemis mission initiated by NASA. The company is determined to build a permanent and sustainable human settlement on the Moon. In pursuing this vision, Blue Origin competes closely with SpaceX.

The two major space companies are competing fiercely to win the contract to build a manned lunar landing vehicle. This project is very important because the United States wants to land humans on the Moon before China.

"We are willing to do everything to bring NASA back to the moon's surface faster," said Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, launching from PC Mag on Monday, February 2.

With the termination of the flight program with New Shepard, the opportunity for the general public to try the program will be limited in the next few years. This also makes it difficult for people who want to see the Earth from afar because there is no other company that offers a similar service at an affordable price.

Although the tourist service must be temporarily stopped, Blue Origin is still active in working on other space technology projects. Recently, they also introduced TeraWave, a satellite internet system that is claimed to be able to compete in the military and government sectors.