Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos clash as Blue Origin attempts to block SpaceX Starship launches, reigniting their fierce billionaire space feud.
It’s been a busy year for these two tech titans. With Bezos enjoying time on his $700 million superyacht as he prepares for the wedding of the decade and Musk’s haphazard, ketamine-caked takeover of Twitter continues to roll on, it’s almost surprising to hear that the two have found the time to feud…
This week, the space race between them has taken another dramatic turn, with the SpaceX CEO publicly lambasting his Blue Origin counterpart over recent business maneuvers. The dispute, which has quietly simmered for years, erupted with new energy as Blue Origin filed documents with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week, seeking to limit SpaceX’s Starship launch activities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Space-Race Lawfare
Musk responded swiftly and characteristically sharply on his social media platform, X, dismissing Blue Origin’s concerns as a “disingenuous” attempt to thwart SpaceX’s progress.
Blue Origin’s filing with the FAA raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of SpaceX’s ambitious Starship missions, arguing for restrictions to ensure the protection of local ecosystems and communities. Musk, however, saw the move as a deliberate obstruction to his own business operations. In a pointed post on X, he accused Blue Origin of engaging in “lawfare,” a term that describes the quintessentially American use of legal systems to hinder competitors.
Musk didn’t stop there. He took a jab at Bezos by resurrecting an old nickname for Blue Origin, calling it “Sue Origin,” suggesting that Bezos’s company has a history of resorting to lawsuits and regulatory complaints to slow down SpaceX.
History Of Hostility
The animosity between Musk and Bezos is well-documented and has only gotten more intense over time. In 2019, Musk mocked Blue Origin’s “Blue Moon” lander, dubbing it “Blue Balls” in a crude (if hilarious) Photoshop. In 2021, he took another, equally mature, swipe, tweeting that Bezos “can’t get it up,” referencing Blue Origin’s struggles to achieve orbital launches…
Bezos’s legal actions against SpaceX aren’t new either. In August 2021, Blue Origin sued NASA over its decision to award SpaceX a lunar lander contract, arguing that NASA should have given a little more time and consideration to Blue Origin’s own proposals. The lawsuit was dismissed, but it made the intense rivalry between the two space giants explicit to the public.
Amazon-owned Kuiper Systems, another venture of Bezos, has tried to impede SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network expansion. Musk responded by accusing Bezos of retiring from Amazon to focus on filing lawsuits against SpaceX full-time. Unsurprisingly, this has only ratcheted up tensions further.
Environmental Concerns or Competitive Tactics?
The core of the current dispute centres around environmental concerns. SpaceX’s Starship program has already undergone an environmental assessment for its operations in South Texas. Still, the move to Kennedy Space Center has triggered a new review. Blue Origin’s filing with the FAA suggests that these launches could have significant local impacts, a claim Musk vehemently denies.
As the FAA continues its review, the question remains: Are Bezos’s objections genuine environmental concerns, or are they strategic moves in a high-stakes game of space exploration? Given the history of legal battles and public taunts, the reality likely lies somewhere in between…